Featured image for “A (tough) love letter to the Open Movement”

A (tough) love letter to the Open Movement

March 27, 2024
Guest post from Warren Krafchik and Peter Evans The ‘Open Movement’ is 20 years old. This reflection is written with love – one of us was deeply involved from the start, the other a fellow traveller looking from the sidelines. Tough love from firm friends, if you will. As we wrote, the think piece got bouncier and longer as it
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Featured image for “GELI Stories – How a Critical Juncture unlocked the path to reform on duty of care within the aid sector”

GELI Stories – How a Critical Juncture unlocked the path to reform on duty of care within the aid sector

March 25, 2024
In the latest of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to Federico Dessi of Humanity & Inclusion, about a breakthrough in the treatment of national staff in humanitarian settings. Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Federico Dessi on how INGO advocacy won better protection for
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Shifting power through Power Funding

March 21, 2024
Andreas Ulfsax works for IM (www.imsweden.org/en). IM is a Swedish member-based development organization supporting civil society organizations in 10 countries. As a Change Developer, he focuses on getting everyone to experiment more. For contacts andreas.ulfsax@imsweden.org This blog post describes how IM experimented with Power Funding, a new funding modality, and the surprising results. Can we fund better than Core/Institutional funding?
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Featured image for “Could Activists Do Better at Resisting Backlash?”

Could Activists Do Better at Resisting Backlash?

March 15, 2024
Been having a series of conversations on the general theme of ‘backlash’. Some thoughts: Background: a lot of activist thinking is predicated on being on the front foot – this is a law, policy, spending commitment or social norm that we want to change. Lots of case studies, toolkits and experience on how to do that – problem and power
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Featured image for “GELI Stories – Taking Risks as a Leader to protect child rights in Syria”

GELI Stories – Taking Risks as a Leader to protect child rights in Syria

March 13, 2024
In the fifth of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to Panos Moumtzis, who now leads the GELI programme, about some top influencing he did in a previous job as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Panos Moumtzis on how
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Featured image for “RIP Father Frans von Hoff – the co-founder of the Fairtrade Movement”

RIP Father Frans von Hoff – the co-founder of the Fairtrade Movement

March 11, 2024
Guest post from Kelly Hawrylyshyn, Head of Global Resource Mobilization at Fairtrade International; and Harriet Lamb (CEO WRAP, former CEO of Fairtrade International & Fairtrade Foundation UK) On February 13th, the Fair Trade movement mourned the passing away of the liberation-theology worker-priest,  Father Frans von der Hoff,  the co-founder of a global movement that now generates over €8 billion in
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Featured image for “GELI Stories – How to get Early Childhood Development into the SDGs (with a bit of help from Shakira)”

GELI Stories – How to get Early Childhood Development into the SDGs (with a bit of help from Shakira)

March 6, 2024
In the fourth of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to UNICEF’s Pia Britto about how she and a group of colleagues managed to include Early Childhood Development in the SDGs.  Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Pia Brito on getting Early Childhood Development into
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Thirty Years of Anti-Corruption: A Personal Reflection

March 5, 2024
Journalist, activist and anti-corruption legend John Githongo reflects on the shifting story of anti-corruption in Africa, from Western models to new agendas. This is an edited-down version of a piece published in The Elephant. Corruption, however you define it, is so integral to the way human commercial and political affairs play out that all major global developments in its regard
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Featured image for “GELI Stories – How to influence in closed Political Systems like Eritrea”

GELI Stories – How to influence in closed Political Systems like Eritrea

March 1, 2024
In the third of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to OCHA’s Vincent Omuga about the challenges of working in closed and informal political spaces like Eritrea (although I think his experiences are probably much more widely applicable) Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Vincent
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Featured image for “Lisa Nandy on UK’s Future Development Policy Under Labour”

Lisa Nandy on UK’s Future Development Policy Under Labour

February 29, 2024
So, apologies for the anglo-centrism and all that, but the recent series of crystal ball blogs on the future of UK Aid under (as seems likely) an incoming Labour Government has been getting lots of good comments. Here’s Andy Sumner parts one and two, and Tom Wingfield’s response. This week, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development, Lisa Nandy (right),
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Featured image for “Options for UK Aid: DFID survivor Tom Wingfield responds to last week’s posts by Andy Sumner”

Options for UK Aid: DFID survivor Tom Wingfield responds to last week’s posts by Andy Sumner

February 27, 2024
Tom Wingfield got in touch after reading last week’s posts on the future of UK aid, building off his recent post on LinkedIn Before we shut the door on reversing the DFID/FCO merger (See DFID 2.0…? Part 2 of Andy Sumner’s Crystal Balling on the future of UK aid | From Poverty to Power (oxfam.org.uk), we need to be clear-eyed
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Featured image for “DFID 2.0…? Part 2 of Andy Sumner’s Crystal Balling on the future of UK aid”

DFID 2.0…? Part 2 of Andy Sumner’s Crystal Balling on the future of UK aid

February 22, 2024
In this second blog of two, Andy Sumner of King’s College London asks what a change of government in the UK might mean for UK development cooperation and policy: will a new DFID rise from the ashes? Will ODA spend rise back to 0.7% of GNI? And what might a change of government mean for UK development co-operation’s policy focus?
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