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Guest post by Ynis Isimbi, first posted on the LSE International Development blog [note from Duncan: This made my week – a former student of my LSE course on advocacy and campaigns got in touch to say Rwanda’s just done the thing she was calling for in her student project, then interviewed its Minister of Health to find out why/how

It was Martin Luther King day this week, and Save the Kids boss Kevin Watkins tweeted a link to King’s 1963 letter from Birmingham city jail, describing it as ‘a hymn for our times and a reminder of the ties that bind us’. So I took a look. It’s beautifully written, deeply moving, and gives some powerful analytical insights into

The Politics of Public Sector Performance, edited by Michael Roll, brings together some fascinating research on ‘Pockets of Effectiveness’ in developing countries. PoEs are public organizations that ‘deliver public goods and services relatively effectively … scattered islands in seas of administrative ineffectiveness and corruption.’ This kind of approach has a lot to recommend it – a kind of institutional positive

The Developmental Leadership Program is an intriguing research initiative, which I’ve been loosely associated with for many years. Founded in 2006 and largely funded by the Australian aid programme, they recently produced four ‘foundational papers’ summarizing where they’ve got to and what questions they think researchers and practitioners should now be asking on the thorny question of leadership. This is

Davos is here again, which is always a fun time to be working for Oxfam. Every January, the world’s political and economic leaders jet in to Switzerland, and we try to persuade them, and their press entourage, to focus on the way that growing inequality is holding back global poverty reduction. This kicked off in 2014 with ‘85 richest people

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As discussions of the decolonization of academia gain momentum, Duncan Omanga interviews Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, research professor and director for scholarship in the Department of Leadership and Transformation in the Principal and Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of South Africa. These are extracts from a longer (3,000 word) piece published on the SSRC blog. If you have time, we urge

Beatrice Tulagan is the founder of Climate Stories Philippines, a media non-profit aiming to humanize the climate crisis through stories of resistance and survival. She is also the East Asia Field Organizer of 350.org and a fellow at the Climate and Environmental Justice Media program with FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund in partnership with OpenGlobalRights. This piece was published as part

Some books engage and challenge you both emotionally and intellectually, making you feel uncomfortable. You end up arguing with them in your head. A lot. From What is to What If is just such a book, and I really benefited from the argument. In 180 sweetly written pages, Rob Hopkins, environmentalist and founder of the Transition Town movement, makes the

Recently, I’ve been reading up a bit about social change in the UK – I’m wondering if I should embark on some kind of ‘How Change Happens on my doorstep’ project. The stuff I’m finding is both familiar and different to what I’m used to. Take Community Wealth Building, for example, which is all the range among UK activists looking

Ten humanitarian crises and trends to watch in 2020 ‘The retreat of charisma from humanitarian organizations is a challenge for us all’. Hugo Slim brilliant on the bureaucratization of humanitarian aid How Academia Resembles a Drug Gang. LSE Impact blog’s most read post of the decade. Please welcome the newest member of the Edinburgh gritting team ‘Gritter Thunberg‘ IMF boss