April 23, 2018
I recommend USAIDâs recent paper âWhat difference does CLA (Collaborate; Learn; Adapt) make to development: Key findings from a recent literature reviewâ, which provides further evidence that USAID for all its problems with the Administration, continues to do some really interesting work. The 12 key findings are neatly summarized in this graphic: The paperâs only 5 pages, but for those
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How Oxfam and Save changed US aid on local ownership: nice case study in influencing
November 30, 2017
I do love it when NGOs are taken by surprise in a good way â getting results in unexpected ways, rather than grinding through the plan. A neat example came up at Oxfamâs recent Evidence for Influencing conference. Hereâs what happened. Oxfam America and Save the Children wanted to persuade USAID to do more on âlocal ownershipâ of aid. Itâs
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Beer and Tacos with Samir Doshi from USAID
October 5, 2016
Had a fun dinner in Brixton market last week with Samir Doshi, a Senior Scientist at USAIDâs U.S. Global Development Lab, which describes itself as âan innovation hub that takes smart risks to test new ideas and partner within the Agency and with other actors to harness the power of innovative tools and approaches that accelerate development impact.â This
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Doing Development Differently: a great discussion on Adaptive Management (no, really)
November 4, 2015
Went to a fascinating workshop last week on âadaptive managementâ hosted and designed by USAID as part of their work on Knowledge, Information and Data (see final para for more links) and facilitated by Ben Ramalingam, who has just started at IDS as their new digital, technology and innovation czar. A whole load of participants are going to write posts for this
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The US gets serious on the Millennium Development Goals
August 2, 2010
Climate change legislation may have been blown out of the water in Congress, but Barack Obama is still moving forward on reforming the chaotic US aid system (see previous posts here). On Friday the Administration released the US plan for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, ahead of the UNâs September ‘high level event’ on the MDGs. Two paras caught my eye:
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