From Poverty to Power

Yep, this is it. Walking the plank as of next Tuesday, so here are some parting reflections I've been putting up on the blog over the last few days, and links to a bunch of more normal FP2P fare, which I've had to leave out due to lack of time. I'm leaving Oxfam – here's what happens nextSome Reflections on Leaving Oxfam after 20 yearsLearning from Humiliation, Shame and FailureThirty Years of Anti-Corruption: A Personal Reflection by Kenyan legend John GithongoHow the pregnancy penalty supercharges global inequalityRIP Father Frans von Hoff – the co-founder of the Fairtrade MovementCould Activists Do Better at Resisting Backlash?Shifting power through Power FundingUnequal: Why India Lags Behind its Neighbours (Book Review)A (tough) love letter to the Open MovementThe Battle for Tax Justice will be fought country by country: here are five useful tips for activistsHow do we stop Bad Stuff Happening? And does it differ from Supporting Good Stuff?Forgetting Rana PlazaGELI Stories: How to get Early Childhood Development into the SDGs (with a bit of help from Shakira)Taking Risks as a Leader to protect child rights in SyriaHow a Critical Juncture unlocked the path to reform on duty of care within the aid sectorBringing Stakeholders together to tackle Girls' Education in BeninMoving fast and working with Unusual Suspects to Reform the Military in the Republic of Guinea 

GELI Stories: -          Building Coalitions between UN Agencies and Government Ministries in Eswatini-          Working in closed and informal political spaces like Eritrea 4 posts on future of UK Aid under Labour:-          Two from Andy Sumner of Kings-          Options for UK Aid: DFID survivor Tom Wingfield responds to Andy Sumner-          Lisa Nandy on UK's Future Development Policy Under Labour

How Blogs can Change Government PolicySix big humanitarian policy trends for 2024What are the Grounds for Hope in a World of Wrecks?The Rise of 'Trust-Based Philanthropy' - aka Unconditional Cash Transfers to NGOsIs Poverty Porn a thing of the past? Yes and No

I sat down a few months ago to discuss data and development with Clare Melamed, who runs the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. Transcript available on the From Poverty to Power blog.

Links I LikedUN Women makes Norm Change central to its missionWhat's it like Explaining NGOs to Senior Military types from 40 Countries?Feminist Climate Justice – what is it and how could it help?Mia Mottley on Slavery, Poverty, George Floyd, Climate and the Future of the WorldSome last minute Christmas book presents 

Links I LikedVoices of GazaWhat do 70 Masters students from around the world want to campaign on?What to read on the new UK White Paper on International Development?What can we learn from looking at the overlaps between innovations in ways of doing research and neglected development issues? 

Why did the Street Movements of the 2010s fail?What Tactics are most Effective in Non-Violent Protest?Think tanks are struggling. They need to change.Whoop Whoop. Just made a personal Webpage it's super easy. RIP Saleemul Huq, a true climate heroWhy a “humanitarian pause” or “humanitarian corridors” are simply not the answer in GazaPracademics: just a clunky new word, or something more significant/substantial?

Links I LikedWhich book should I review next? You decide please!How do we talk about Older People in Development and Activism?Be Care-full. A poem for the timesLinks I LikedWill growth be enough to end poverty? New Projections of the UN Sustainable Development GoalsWhat would make an Atheist spend a day discussing Faith and Development?

Links I LikedFinishing a 2nd Edition of How Change Happens - here are drafts of two new chapters for you to read. 5 Things we Learned from Evaluating the Impact of ResearchHow Local Women Mobilizers Shaped Ukraine's Invasion ResponseNew Version of the free online 'Make Change Happen' course launched this week - check it outDo our LSE Activism Students know it all already? 

Links I LikedBook Review: Power and Progress. Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, by Daron Acemoglu and Simon JohnsonWhat can we learn from how an Adaptive Management programme has navigated Myanmar's current chaos?Fancy some Good News? Brits are getting nicer.

Links I Liked Who Decides What Constitutes ‘Knowledge' on Climate Change? Links I Liked The World Order Seems to be in Turmoil – What's Going on?How more Open Government can bolster USAID's Localization Agenda 

Top Student Blogs and Vlogs from my LSE Activism course: Valerie Barki: Are you #ManEnoughToSnip?Jessica Louise: There's a chicken in the desert! Martin Caforio: Green to Go: The Better Way to Take AwayVlogs from Carlota Lopez, Debra Francis and Holly IngramA historic global agreement on tax is under threat. Here's why.Amazing new Resource Guide on Humanitarianism

Links I LikedDesigning 'Research for Impact' still seems difficult for a lot of academics. Why?Do Southern-based Transnationals behave worse than Northern ones?How adaptive M&E from the peace sector can help demonstrate the value of aid (truncated due to dog issues - apologies!) Desperately trying to get through this week's posts before going on holiday, while also looking after my son's hyperactive spaniel. 

­­­Links I LikedHow did we get here? Great chronology of citizen and corporate action on climateIn your mid/late career and want to do a PhD? Here's some good news.The Gross Domestic Problem: what would a new economic measure that values women and climate look like?

Links I LikedSchool children are bearing the brunt of the global hunger crisis – just feed themHow the United Nations and the World Bank can turbo charge the effort to reduce InequalityEvaluating the Evaluations: What lessons can Oxfam draw from a Decade of Scrutiny?

Links I LikedThe methodology behind Oxfam's latest killer fact on companies $1 trillion in windfall profitsSome good news on falling global poverty levels (the multi-dimensional kind)Devoted the last week's posts to a new book, How to Engage Policy Makers with your Research: The Art of Informing and Impacting Policy. Lot of stuff to chew on in here, for those of us uncomfortably straddling the academic/advocacy divide.Overall Book ReviewParticularly nice chapter on Research to influence Sustainability Policy in UKThe Role of Critical Friend (something I do a bit of, so interesting to see it being systematized)

Fixing the power imbalances of aid and development: A paradoxIs it right to prioritise fragile states in the climate crisis?Book Review: How to Stand Up to a Dictator, by Maria RessaWhere has the Humanitarian Sector got to on Localization? Great new updateFrom Penury to Prosperity. The Churches at the Epicentre of social-economic TransformationI'm doing a new edition of How Change Happens - any suggestions for what needs to change?Why are LGBTQIA+ people in the Philippines still waiting for an anti-discrimination law?Leadership Tips from Someone Who Knows

Links I LikedReforming the World Bank: some good ideas, but where's the power, politics and feasibility?How to get people to take the Care Economy seriously? Some top (evidence-based) tips

Where thinking and working politically meets gender: tactics that have workedPodcast + transcript: did we get it wrong on land grabs in Africa? In Conversation with Laura GermanHow do we Start Thinking About AI and Development? (one post by me, one by ChatGPT!)What does politically smart support to democracy and human rights look like?Can humanitarian experience guide the development of new loss and damage funding?

Want to know what happened to the whole issue of land governance, land grabs and women's land rights in Africa? Here's anthropology professor Laura German, author of 'Power/Knowledge/Land: Contested Ontologies of Land and its Governance in Africa'.  

Seeing the forest beyond the trees: Coalition building in Indonesia and beyond and the lessons for donorsOlder and at the Sharp End: Why more Social Protection is needed to protect Older People in the global food, finance & fuel crisis Linking Dignity & Development: Where have we got to?Links I LikedPublic Engagement with Aid: What do we know from 10 years of research?Why are Civil Wars Lasting Longer?

Links I Liked Aid in 'Politically Estranged Settings' and the Disappointment Cycle of reading new papersBook Review: Reimagining Civil Society Collaborations in Development: Starting from the South ChatGPT: implications for teaching, how it analyses Brexit and the link to Psychoanalysis 

Citizen action for accountability in challenging contexts: What have we learned? Venture Philanthropy and Asset Based Community-Driven Development – a marriage made in heaven? The Revenge of Power: A Great Book that will help you better understand Modern PoliticsFood and energy protests signal failures of accountability on a global scale

Links I Liked6 tricks for diverting Britain's Aid to the UKOxfam and BRAC: the links between Bloody-Mindedness and InnovationHow Beijing Commands: how the Communist Party combines Ambiguity and Clarity to Maximum Effect

UK Budget 2023: What the Big Red Box leaves out Links I LikedBook Review: Lives Amid Violence: Transforming Development in the Wake of ConflictEvidence-informed policy FAQs: dinner party editionWhat can a Water Project in DRC tell us about Adaptive Management in fragile/conflict affected settings?

Links I Liked x2Bread and roses – why Oxfam is shining a light on feminist movements this MarchWhite Saviorism in International development. Theories, Practices and Lived ExperiencesHow could a Funder help Promote Research for Impact?Does digitalised social protection worsen exclusion for women?Remembering Robin Palmer, a giant in defence of land rights in Africa and beyond

Links I LikedFive types of humanitarian influence Upshift: Turning Pressure into Performance and Crisis into Creativity 

Links I LikedIs Class the Missing Dimension in the Aid Sector's search for Diversity? Great New Guide to 'Systems Thinking and Practice'Book Review: The Systems Work of Social Change

Links I LikedTop Tips on Seminar Presentations and the return to IRL - In Real LifeThe Global role of Grandmothers in the Care EconomyBook Review: Political Settlements and Development: Theory, Evidence, Implications

Links I LikedThe Changing Nature of (my) ‘Field Trips'9 Useful Roles INGOs can play as Intermediaries in an Age of LocalizationBook Review: Hypocrisy and Human Rights: Resisting Accountability for Mass Atrocities

Taxation of the World's Super-Rich has collapsed: as 1 in 8 people go to bed hungry, that has to change Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies: the politics of saving the planetWhether in Asia, Africa or North America, it's been a profitable polycrisis for billionairesWhat can Oxfam's new Davos Report teach us about Killer Graphics?

Links I Liked Humanitarians Must Reject the Taliban's Misogyny How well does the IMF engage with civil society? What do LSE Activism Students do after they leave?

Edible Economics: A Christmas Cracker of a bookIt's Christmas time. Let's talk about the world's worst ever Christmas song (and the transatlantic cousin that is so much better).Links I LikedHello 2023. Here are the Most-Read FP2P Blogs from the Last Year.Is Extinction Rebellion really quitting? Analysis of their New Year's Day statementBook Review: Africa 2.0: Inside a Continent's Communications Revolution

Links I Liked Talking to Tory backbenchers about AidAusterity as Gender-Based ViolenceDevelopment Nutshell: audio round-up (22m) of FP2P posts, w/b 14th and 21st NovemberLoss and Damage fund established at COP27: what happens next?Africa's newest oil pipeline. When Two Elephants fight, the people get trampledHow can Behavioral Science help build Democracy, Human Rights, and Good Governance?The Clean Energy Transition needs to be Fast – but it must also be Fair 

Links I Liked  x2Rebecca Solnit: Why climate despair is a luxuryThe links between war and hungerTalking to Tory backbenchers about AidAusterity as Gender-Based Violence

Links I LikedCan the UK become a development superpower again? Stefan Dercon's memo to the new Development Minister 'Imagine There's No Money' - a thought experiment on aid without $ Adaptive Management in large programmes: Great new Practical Guide Words v Deeds: Rishi Sunak at the Egypt Climate Summit Aid v Global Public Goods; the fear in the system and multi-dimensional poverty: A conversation with Norway's Development Agency 

Links I LikedTop Tips and Dilemmas in Influencing from seven senior Aid LeadersBook Review: Transnational Advocacy in the Digital Era‘Voluntourism': Cultural exchange or doing development badly?

Links I Liked‘Think Chess not Checkers': Wilf Mwamba on the role of Analysis in effective InfluencingAs Oxfam turns 80, here are three big ideas that I think will shape its future…SoupGate, the radical flank and the politics of good taste 

For our Global Executive Leadership Initiative training on influencing, I interviewed Wilf Mwamba, a long term FCDO/DFID practitioner-thinker on TWP, now working in the private sector. With GELI's permission, I'm reposting here.

Links I LikedWhich Governments do/don't care about Inequality?‘Never let the Silence Reign': in Conversation with William Chemaly on the future of Global ProtectionWhat should INGOs do when Civic Space is closing around them?

The outgoing coordinator of the Global Protection Cluster shares some of his impressions of the state of a crucial part of the humanitarian system, the gains made, the challenges that remain, and why it all matters.

Links I LikedWhat did we learn from six months of training senior Aid people in Influencing?Why and how the UN and NGOs need to work together at national level Ha-Joon Chang on Economics v Science Fiction and other great ways to end your weeks this autumn – the LSE's Cutting Edge lectures are back 

Links I Liked Book Review: ‘New Mediums, Better Messages?' (How Innovations in theatre, music, photography, video games, radio & journalism are Changing International Development)Podcast: Drought, Localization, the power of Cash Transfers and the Criminalization of Beekeeping – a conversation with Oxfam Kenya's John KituiWhich is worse, bad Zoom or bad In-Real-Life?

I sat down recently with one of the stars of the Oxfam firmament, John Kitui, its Country Director in Kenya 

Links I LikedThe Humanitarian System is on the Edge of the Abyss. Where next?Locked out. What do local leaders say about reforming the humanitarian system?5 ways to build more inclusive citiesIs it time to Embrace your Imposter Syndrome?

Student blogs/vlogsTackling period poverty in FrancePlane to Train UK: Incentivizing and Promoting Domestic Train Travel Why you have to care about elephants in BotswanaBook Review: Gambling on Development, by Stefan Dercon Goodbye Government, Hello CorruptionUsing Evidence: What Can We Learn from a Book about Parenting?

Links I LikedThe sewage nightmare of Delhi's ‘unauthorised colonies'5 easy steps to gain moral superiority over your friendsProtecting the protectorsArrest the Trafficker, Not the TraffickedWhy you should change your mind about the start-up that invented the Covid vaccine

Links I Liked: All graphics (too hot to think!)Playing the long game: politics, elite bargaining, and change over 20 years in PeruWelcome to our new homeNever Heard of 'Human Rights Economics'? You have now.Summer Student blog and campaign. What about Waste Workers?

Links I LikedRed Tape, Risk and Decolonization: how can the Aid Sector square the circle?Hopelessness?

Links I LikedStarving civilians is an ancient military tactic, but today it's a war crime in Ukraine, Yemen, Tigray and elsewhereWhy we need to build a larger usAfrica is so rich in farmland – so why is it still hungry?Where have we got to on Thinking and Working Politically? Update and a Mildly Heretical Thought.

Links I Liked Is behavioural economics (aka nudge theory) blocking the path to progress?“We have already spent everything we had in our own wallets”: How international aid is failing Ukrainian responders – and what to do about itWhy We Fight: This Year's Big Book on Development?Latin America in turmoil, an updateCan INGOs really separate power from money?