Aidnography

Hi all, Welcome to a this week's edition of 'around the #globaldev world in (well, not quite...) 80 links'! #globaldev news, insights from global organizations, commentary, reports & more! Happy critical reading! My quotes of the week When asked by the U.K. Parliament’s International Development Committee if the aid cuts had impacted the lack of communication and understanding officials had about the Sudan crisis before it erupted, Kholood Khair, founding director at the think tank Confluence Advisory, said the answer was a “resounding yes.” (Experts link UK aid cuts to crisis in Sudan at parliamentary hearing) Suddenly, community members and people with lived experience of the issues discussing applications and making decisions is not seen as a risky way to make grants. Getting those you fund together and genuinely listening to them talk about the impact they are having, what is working and what is not working becomes a much more reliable way to get a ‘report’. It bec

Hi all, When it comes to failing the Syrian people entities from the Arab League to the IOM & the Australian government feature in this week's newsletter; the Taliban, Mugabe's daughter & Sudanese generals complete a picture of rather undesirable dinner guests...'migration management' meets #globaldev again & getting #globaldev right is hard-especially if you are the World Bank...and should indigenous 'pretendians' in #highered return grant money & honorary degrees? My quotes of the week Now that most foreigners have left the country, resupplies and reinforcements for both parties are pouring in; the battle is set to escalate. This is the revolution no one wanted. (The Revolution No One Wanted) The stoppage has rankled local relief workers, alarmed U.N. relief experts, and triggered allegations that the migration agency had intentionally torpedoed the program, which is deeply unpopular with the government in Damascus, to help patch up its relati

Hi all, This is a quite a bleak newsletter this week, unfortunately. In Sudan, Somalia & Afghanistan crises continue; even Mayotte, a tiny French outpost between Madagascar & Mozambique, is part of European migration enforcement; another week, another #AidToo moment & the likely end of VICE News may have repercussions about how people stay informed about crises, wars & developments at the margins. It's not easy & don't have an uplifting quote handy for the weekend... My quotes of the week Some mothers are deliberately making their children sick so they can take them to government-run health centres in the city where there is a chance of obtaining free therapeutic food. Typically, they force-feed their children water mixed with detergent or salt. “I have six children, and this is the only way I can get food,” explained one mother,‘I poison my children in order to survive’ (The terrible toll of Somalia’s drought) For a few short years, Vice News looked like i

Hi all, Can Andrew Mitchell save UK #globaldev? Can we engage with the Taliban? Can AI empower marginalized people? Can economic development deliver in the future? And what about Sollywood?!? Answers to these questions & much more in this week's curated link review! My quotes of the week In light of the Taliban’s behavior and actions, it is unclear why western leaders would want to risk engaging with the Taliban when they could be excoriated by their own domestic opponents for doing so. Similarly, why would western governments commit scarce aid resources to Afghanistan – funds that the Taliban might be in a position to exploit ­– when they could much more safely provide assistance to vulnerable or needy people in other parts of the world? The lesson here is stark. It is the very nature and character of the Taliban that currently condemns the people of Afghanistan to suffer, and the situation is not going to improve in any meaningful way as long as the Taliban remain in charge.