Guest post by Dominic Vickers, UK Donor Compliance Advisor (me neither) at Oxfam GB ODA – Official Development Assistance. The clue is in the name; or maybe not. There is increasing concern that the UK government is raiding its aid budget to fund activity in the UK. A close examination of the latest statistics on government aid spending (for 2021) reveals the

Beginning and ending with Boris Johnson’s protracted farewell “My director of communications has informed me that no rules have been broken” ht Stig Abell Important new paper on link btw tax cuts and political capture in US ‘African Union takes steps to stamp out witchcraft attacks‘. May sound exotic, but this is an important initiative to shift norms that justify

UK Budget 2023: What the Big Red Box leaves out  Links I Liked Book Review: Lives Amid Violence: Transforming Development in the Wake of Conflict Evidence-informed policy FAQs: dinner party edition What can a Water Project in DRC tell us about Adaptive Management in fragile/conflict affected settings?

My last trip pre-Covid was to the DRC, to look at a water project in Goma, and the resulting research paper (co-authored with Patrycja Stys, Tom Kirk and Tom Mosquera) has just been published (yep, just three and a half years later). It charts an attempt by MercyCorps to drive change in a water sector that has massively failed citizens in the

Guest post by Emily Hayter, with one of the more improbable FP2P opening paras….. “I work in the evidence-informed policy sector” is always an interesting opener at personal and professional gatherings. I started out in the 2013 Building Capacity to Use Research Evidence initiative funded by the UK. Since then I’ve worked on a number of initiatives around the world,

Lives Amid Violence: Transforming Development in the Wake of Conflict, by Mareike Schomerus, (Open Access here) is one of the wisest books I’ve read in a long time. To write it, she became a modern day hermit (‘solitude, storms and music’), retreating to the Shetland Islands to reflect on and synthesize the lessons of a monster 10 year ODI research

This might have to be my new email signature ht Irene Guijt Some excellent-looking content on localization, evidence-informed policy making, markets and more in the latest Development Policy Review (Open Access). Otherwise apologies for UK centrism, but it was that kind of week: The UK government lays out its new development objectives. ‘U.K. development policy “past its nadir”’. Here’s hoping.

Links I Liked x2Bread and roses – why Oxfam is shining a light on feminist movements this MarchWhite Saviorism in International development. Theories, Practices and Lived ExperiencesHow could a Funder help Promote Research for Impact?Does digitalised social protection worsen exclusion for women?Remembering Robin Palmer, a giant in defence of land rights in Africa and beyond

British (or British adjacent) readers will by now probably have digested the main headlines of yesterday’s budget, but Katy Chakrabortty digs deeper in this guest post. Since election manifestos tend to appear only twice a decade, party leadership pledges can be made in TV debates and quietly forgotten and the King’s Speech is delivered with an air of regal deference,

A tribute by Craig Castro Robin Palmer, Oxfam GB (OGB)’s former global land advisor, passed away on Sunday 19 February 2023. He was a wonderful friend and colleague from whom I personally learned so much about land and property rights in Africa. As a regional advisor for OGB in southern Africa, I worked closely with Robin in organizing a landmark

Particularly liked the series of rather splendid blogs for International Women’s Day, written by our amazing LSE students. Here’s my favourite, not least because of the lovely blogging style: Does digitalised social protection worsen exclusion for women? by Divija Samria Here’s the deal: digitisation of delivery mechanisms in public programs is increasingly being used to improve targeted approaches, reduce out-of-system

Had an interesting chat recently (Chatham House rule, so no names) with some people wondering what a philanthropic funder with a bit of money and little/no bureaucratic constraints could do to encourage the uptake of evidence in policy making. After swiftly batting away any suggestion of a new database (cyber tumbleweed), we got onto some practical steps – please add