How Matters / Tag Archive | international development

Posts Tagged ‘international development’

May 22nd, 2012 - 9:52 pm § in Good Practice

Site Visits: The Feedback You’ve Never Heard

Leaders from four African organizations sat down to give their “real”, though too-often-unheard insights on site visits from the perspective of the ones being visited.[...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, aid partnerships, aid workers, community participation, community-based organizations, donors, Ethiopia, evaluation, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grantees, grassroots organizations, international aid, international development, Kenya, Lesotho, M&E, monitoring, organizational development, philanthropy, site visits, South Africa No Comments

May 20th, 2012 - 3:00 am § in Good Practice, Guest Bloggers

Write a book in 4 hours with 20 grassroots organizations?—How!?!

Nobody believed that writing a book together could happen, but forty community leaders produced 27 stories about their work in development and empowerment in just 4 hours. Independent consultant Lucia Nass shares her story from Myanmar.[...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, aid workers, capacity building, community empowerment, community leaders, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grantmaking, grassroots organizations, international aid, international development, Lucia Nass, Myanmar, organizational development, philanthropy, social enterprise, writeshop 2 Comments

May 15th, 2012 - 7:35 am § in Reflection & Rumination

Accountability to whom? Keep asking.

It still shocks me a little when a colleague will look at me and ask, “Now, what do you mean by ‘downward accountability’?”, as if I’ve uttered an oxymoron. [...]

Tags: accountability, aid effectiveness, aid workers, capacity building, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, donors, downward accountability, foreign aid, foreign assistance, GlobalGiving, grassroots organizations, international aid, international development, organizational development, philanthropy, social enterprise 8 Comments

May 13th, 2012 - 7:00 am § in Good Practice, Guest Bloggers

How to Make People Glad That You Are There: Some Motherly Advice

To celebrate Mother’s Day, I’m sharing a chapter from Ruth Stark’s book, How to Work in Someone Else’s Country, which she wrote for her daughter, Taryn, also an aid professional. [...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, aid workers, capacity building, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, global health, How to Work in Someone Else’s Country, international aid, international development, organizational development, philanthropy, Ruth Stark 3 Comments

May 11th, 2012 - 6:45 am § in Poetry Pause

Friday’s Poetic Pause: “Paper Over People”

How-matters.org’s Friday feature! Sharing “Paper Over People” by yours truly. [...]

Tags: aid reform, aid work, aid workers, capacity building, Diaspora African Women’s Network, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, international aid, international development, poetry, Semhar Araia, social change No Comments

May 9th, 2012 - 5:00 pm § in Good Practice, Reflection & Rumination

Why I support isolated aid workers across the globe and so should you!

The estimated 595,000 aid workers around the world (ALNAP, 2010) are rarely called to examine the bureaucratic rigidities that govern their day-to-day work. By supporting each other to create more trust, equity and mutual accountability with those we serve in the developing world, system-wide reform[...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, aid reform, aid workers, capacity building, coaching, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grassroots organizations, international aid, international development, mentoring, organizational development, philanthropy, social enterprise, whydev.org 3 Comments

May 7th, 2012 - 3:00 pm § in Reflection & Rumination

The Case of the Missing Tomato Cages

When people ask me why this farm-girl-turned-aid-worker has devoted herself to placing community-driven development initiatives at the forefront of aid, here’s why.[...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, aid workers, capacity building, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, corruption, donors, downward accountability, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grassroots organizations, international aid, international development, Local Champions, local leaders, organizational development, philanthropy, social capital, social enterprise 1 Comment

May 5th, 2012 - 7:05 am § in Reflection & Rumination

Does aid need a 12-step program?

“Let go and let God.” It’s a mantra of the self-help group, Alcoholics Anonymous. After attending three conferences related to international aid in the last week, I’m wondering if it’s time for us to adopt the same approach.[...]

Tags: 12 step program, accountability, aid effectiveness, aid innovation, aid workers, Alcoholics Anonymous, capacity building, CBODN, Chesapeake Bay Organizational Development Network, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, country ownership, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grassroots organizations, InterAction, InterAction Forum, international aid, international development, local leaders, MIDEGO, organizational development, philanthropy, social enterprise, USAID, volunteers 10 Comments

April 27th, 2012 - 7:15 am § in Poetry Pause

Friday’s Poetic Pause: “Because I Am a Girl, I Must Study” by Kamla Bhasin

How-matters.org’s Friday feature! Sharing “Because I Am a Girl, I Must Study” by Kamla Bhasin[...]

Tags: aid work, aid workers, Because I Am A Girl, foreign aid, foreign assistance, girl child, girls education, girls empowerment, girls programming, India, international aid, international development, Kamla Bhasin, peacexpeace.org, Plan International, poetry, Sangat No Comments

April 19th, 2012 - 6:15 am § in Reflection & Rumination

And while we’re talking jargon…how about “innovation”?

What if we can re-conceptualize the term "innovation" for aid? What if what really makes something innovative is not the idea itself, but the learning that made it possible? [...]