As he climbs the greasy pole He fears for losing his soul It all ends in tears Betrayed by his peers Now Rory reflects on his role Think that’s my first limerick executive summary – hope you like it. I was a bit late to Politics on the Edge (my copy came via the local Oxfam shop), but was hooked

FCDO governance guru/wonk (gonk?) Ben Powis reflects on some of the whiplash moments he’s experienced in multiple countries. Moments in history come in many forms – and I have seen a few. The 2015 earthquake in Nepal, the 2021 coup in Myanmar, a new government in Zambia in 2021, and the COVID-19 pandemic, well…everywhere. Bangladesh is experiencing one such moment

Guest post by Mike Lewis One of this blog’s foundational themes is that economic facts don’t mean much without an analysis of power. At the same time, over the last fifteen years I’ve watched big NGOs develop specific ways to wield economic facts, perhaps even to fetishise them, as a way of influencing power. With the new government favouring a

Health Warning: Danny Sriskandarajah is both a friend, and my former boss at Oxfam GB, and this blog is hosted by Oxfam, so everything you’re about to read is horribly compromised. Still reading? OK then, here goes. The title pretty much tells you what’s inside. Power to the People is a big picture, determinedly optimistic call to arms that argues

Ducked out of my annual pilgrimage to the Edinburgh Fringe recently (highly recommended, as ever – highlight was being invited up on stage and asked to impersonate a Norwegian comedian’s cervix. Not something I’ll forget in a hurry….) to spend an hour or two with the Scottish Government development team. Really interesting. In some ways, the SG is prototyping post-$

The GELI webinars I’ve been hosting with senior leaders in the aid sector have come to an end for the moment, and I’m going to really miss them. Sitting in on a bunch of frontline bosses exchanging top tips on influencing is a real privilege (see my previous post on ‘How do you Influence the State when Leaders change every

Duncan Green and Tom Kirk are planning a new initiative at the LSE: working title ‘Programme on Intentional Influencing and Advocacy’ (catchy eh?). To kick off, they want to pick your brains on what is already out there both in terms of evidence, and training programmes. Here’s their ask: First, the evidence. What do we know about how citizens and

Interesting session the other night with the incoming UK Minister for International Development, Anneliese Dodds, and a panel of worthies from across the aid and dev sector, who launched into extended elevator pitches to the new minister (it reminded me a bit of the SDG Christmas Tree, in which every lobbyist insisted on their issue being included during the design

Terrible news came through this week – the sudden, unexpected and horribly premature death of my friend and colleague, Pablo Suarez. Pablo was a maverick, Boston-based Argentine who broke boundaries and charted new paths in communicating some of the most pressing challenges of our age. Can’t believe he’s gone, and judging by the outpouring of grief and memories on social

Nothing like a slightly drunken dinner table argument for getting the mental juices flowing. Most recently, I had a slight disagreement (memories a little vague) with a medic friend over child rights. I started holding forth about some work I did in the 90s that totally changed my view of children (I was a relatively new father at the time).

I finished my 20 year stint at Oxfam at the end of April, and as it recedes in the rear view mirror, I’ve been thinking about the future role of INGOs with a bit more distance. Spoiler, I don’t think they should shut up shop in the name of decolonization or anything else – there is important work still to

Will DFID be reborn? When will the UK restore the commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on aid? Andy Sumner of King’s College London casts an eye over the manifestos of the main parties…