The idea that the fight against poverty needs to put women and girls at the top of the agenda has been gaining traction in recent years. This has been a long slog, boosted by the advocacy of people like Sheryl WuDunn and Nick Kristof, the authors of the terrific ‘Half The Sky’. Equally important has […]
Should private donors back-fill for cuts in official aid to the developing world? Should private actors be integrated into aid co-0rdination mechanisms so far dominated by governmental agencies? Do governments need to change how they work to partner with philanthropists? These questions, prompted by the rise of philanthrocapitalism, are in the spotlight at the moment. […]
Back in the day, before Britain was run by the David Cameron-led coalition, many of us assumed that, under the weight of the public spending axe, a Conservative government would wriggle out of its commitment to keep upping the UK government’s aid budget to 0.7% of national income. It seemed like a no-brainer that increasing spending […]
The aid aristocracy of Britain was out in force on Monday evening for a one-night-only gala performance by Bill and Melinda Gates of a lecture on how aid is making a real difference, called ‘The Living Proof’. Much of the hour and half performance was exactly what you would expect from Gates (well, Bill anyway) – oodles of […]
Britain’s coalition government will soon announce the results of its Comprehensive Spending Review, which is short-hand for a massive swathe of cuts in public spending. Though the axe will be swung with vigour, it is believed that David Cameron’s government will stick to an election pledge not only to protect the international aid budget but to continue ratcheting […]
“Our time to change is now, and our time to change is short,” was the message that the new USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah delivered to a Town Hall meeting of the US Global Leadership coalition on May 5th this year. To sustain the commitment to spend billions of federal dollars on aid, he was warning, […]
Philanthropy or capitalism? Nature or nurture? Butter or marmalade on your toast? False dichotomies make fun debating points but shed little light on important questions. So it is with Reuters blogger Felix Salmon’s recent critique of the new Financial Access at Birth (FAB) campaign as top down rather than bottom up. FAB is a simple idea: from 11 […]