This year’s Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking and Practice series kicks off at the LSE this Friday – 1st October. After that it’s every Friday from 4-6pm UK time (except for reading week on 5th November, when we all have a lie down). So why not bunk off work a bit early and start your weekend with some great

What are the most prevalent unintended effects of international cooperation? Dirk Jan Koch, together with the Center for Global Challenges of Utrecht University, analyzed all project evaluations by the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs since the turn of the century. Here’s the top 10. The figures in brackets show the number of

Beyond excited to host a development hero, Jean Drèze, on the blog. He introduces some new research showing that in India, the prolonged closure of schools has taken a heavy toll. A sound strategy to deal with this crisis is nowhere in sight. Indian children have been “locked out” of school for almost a year and a half. This lockout,

It has come to my attention that in some parts of the northern hemisphere, people were away during chunks of late July/August on some retro exercise apparently known as ‘holidays’. Mary Sue Smiaroski suggested I help with their re-entry by linking to some of the best FP2P posts they may have missed while away. No probs – always happy to

Nicola Nixon, Stefaan Verhulst, Imran Matin & Philips J. Vermonte explore a really interesting initiative to crowdsource the most important current issues on the governance agenda. Late last year, we – the Governance Lab at NYU, the CSIS Indonesia, the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, Bangladesh and The Asia Foundation – joined forces across New York, Jakarta, Dhaka, Hanoi,

Next up in our series on the realities of being a researcher in the DRC, Élisée Cirhuza Balolage. Introduction to the Bukavu series here. Search on ‘Bukavu’ for the other posts in the series or see list at end of this piece. Reposted from the Bukavu series original. While researchers from the Global North are granted a guaranteed salary, risk funds,

Next up in our series on the realities of ‘research in the South’, reposted from the Bukavu workshops in the DRC, by Godefroid Muzalia. Introduction to the Bukavu series here. Search on ‘Bukavu’ for the other posts in the series or see list at end of this piece. Original here. Collaborative research is committed to a division of labour. To summarise,

Next up in the series of reposts of Bukavu blogs from the DRC, Emery Mudinga. Introduction to the Bukavu series here. Search on ‘Bukavu’ for the other posts in the series or see list at end of this piece. Original of this post here. I’d like to reflect on three main assumptions that are circulating concerning research assistants and collaborators from

Two short pieces give us the next flavour of on the ground research in the DRC, reposted from the Bukavu Series. First, Eric Batumike Banyanga on ‘When an Armed Guide is Imposed on You: Navigating Research in a Conflict Zone’. Introduction to the Bukavu series here. Search on ‘Bukavu’ for the other posts in the series or see list at end

How do you do research in a war zone? Josaphat Musamba in the latest of our reposts from the Bukavu series. Introduction to the Bukavu series here. Search on ‘Bukavu’ for the other posts in the series. Original post here. To begin with, it’s important to underscore general principles and guidelines, which don’t necessarily relate to the risks of intimidation,

Next in our series of reposts from the Bukavu Series, Vedaste Cituli Alinirhu explains why importing methodologies from outside doesn’t always work. Introduction to the Bukavu series here. Search on ‘Bukavu’ for the other posts in the series. Original post here. One qualitative technique popular among researchers is the use of focus groups. But this technique is also subject to

Next up in this series of posts from the Bukavu workshops, we get into the nuts and bolts of the power differentials within the research ‘supply chain’, with Judith Nshobole. Introduction to the Bukavu series here. Search on ‘Bukavu’ for the other posts in the series. Original post here. Power imbalances between “donor-researchers” and “recipient-researchers” at the outset of a