
Noah’s Ark destroyed by flood. Really. (Update: actually, not really – it’s a fake (see comments). But I’m leaving it up anyway cos it’s funny)
Fancy a week in Bologna in June learning about Adaptive Management and the implications for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)? I’m running a summer school with two of the sharpest minds in Oxfam, Irene Guijt and Claire Hutchings.
For obvious reasons, I am not going to comment on the current furore over Oxfam in Haiti. Here’s the latest press release, and my boss Mark Goldring on Channel 4 News.
Five lessons for researchers who want to collaborate with governments and development organisations but avoid the common pitfalls, by Susan Dodsworth and Nic Cheeseman
Big-screen musical tells story of ‘Pad Man’ – welder Arunachalam Muruganantham, who became a pioneer for menstrual health. And the producer has the glorious name of Twinkle Khanna….

Laurence Chandy draws attention to this ‘striking chart’. Note (i) how much higher Africa stands in 1950 relative to Asia; (ii) how modest the gains from the 2000s/Africa Rising era appear; (iii) Asia’s rapid and relentless advance since 2001; and (iv) Africa’s sharp dropping off the pace since 2009.
What works to reduce child marriage? Interesting Save the Kids experiment in Bangladesh found cash transfers worked, but empowerment programmes (safe space, rights education etc) didn’t. So does empowerment not work, or is the problem not with the girls in the first place?
Is it possible for everyone to live a good life within our planet’s limits? Short answer is no. But you can check for yourself on this useful country-by-country doughnut interactive website from Dan O’Neill.
‘We found that the growth and consolidation of the Sicilian mafia is strongly associated with an external surge in the demand for lemons from 1800 onwards after the discovery of the effective use of citrus fruits to prevent scurvy’
Redrawing stereotypes – simple, brilliant and I’m guessing, transformative for these kids