How Matters / Tag Archive

Posts Tagged ‘poverty’

October 5th, 2011 - 7:34 am § in Reflection & Rumination

What’s missing from the aid effectiveness debate? Overlooking the capacity of local organizations

Are we overlooking the capacity of local NGOs? My guest post on The Broker Online argues that rather than being the lowest common denominator of international assistance, local indigenous organizations should be regarded as the fundamental unit of effective development aid.[...]

Tags: accountability, Accra Agenda for Action, alternatives, Arab Spring, Busan, Center for Global Development, Chet Tchozewski, climate change, community participation, community-based organizations, complexity, conflict, food crisis, foreign aid, foreign assistance, funding mechanisms, GlobalGreengrants, grassroots organizations, HIV/AIDS, international aid, international development, NGOs, Oxfam, Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, poverty, power dynamics, Rajiv Shah, Robert Zoellick, social change, social movements, Somalia, South Africa, Todd Moss, USAID, WiserEarth, women’s groups, World Bank 3 Comments

September 27th, 2011 - 6:16 am § in Uncategorized

PBS Documentary on Aid Shines a Light (and wins an Emmy!)

Good Fortune is an Emmy-winning PBS documentary that is a provocative exploration of how massive international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit.[...]

Tags: Africa, aid, aid effectiveness, community development, community participation, development, foreign aid, Good Fortune, international aid, international assistance, international development, Kenya, News & Documentary Emmy, PBS, poverty, U.N., United Nations No Comments

September 17th, 2011 - 12:23 pm § in Reflection & Rumination

Stuff: What is it good for?

What is it about people in the developed world that elevates “stuff” to a solution for those in need in the developing world?[...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, disaster relief, do-gooders, donors, earthquake, foreign assistance, Free the Girls, international aid, Nicholas Kristof, orphanage, poverty, SWEDOW, tsunami 12 Comments

April 22nd, 2011 - 7:01 am § in Guest Bloggers, Reflection & Rumination

Aid, Africa, Corruption, and Colonialism: An Honest Conversation

Highlighting key issues not often heard enough in aid effectiveness dialogues.[...]

Tags: accountability, aid effectiveness, aid policy, aid workers, colonialism, community participation, community-based organizations, corruption, dependency, diaspora, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grassroots organizations, INGOs, international aid, international development, local expertise, local organizations, Nelson Mandela, NGOs, philanthropy, poverty, racism, social movements, transparency 15 Comments

March 1st, 2011 - 1:41 pm § in Reflection & Rumination

I lied…

Parody Video entitled, International Aid Worker Meets African Villager: "I can create a community intervention for you and then you can agree with it." [...]

Tags: Africa, aid workers, development, development research, foreign aid, foreign assistance, international aid, parody, poverty, satire 3 Comments

October 24th, 2010 - 6:35 pm § in Guest Bloggers, Reflection & Rumination

Pity, Pictures and Poverty

Is fundraising using ‘pitiful’ images justified if charitable organizations use the money effectively? Duncan McNicholl, founder of the "Perspectives of Poverty" project, responds on how-matters.org.[...]

Tags: aid workers, AidWatch, Australian Broadcasting Company, Boston Globe, charity, compassion, Darfur, dehumanizing images, dependency, Duncan McNicholl, engineering, Engineers Without Borders Canada, foreign aid, foreign assistance, Free Range Studios, fundraising, humanity, integrity, international aid, international development, Maclean’s Magazine, Malawi, National Public Radio, New York Post, photography, pity, poverty, poverty porn, power dynamics, racism, refugees, solidarity, Sudan, Water Wellness, YouTopia 8 Comments

August 13th, 2010 - 3:08 pm § in Reflection & Rumination

Our Most Important Job

“The kids in Africa were soooo amazing and so darn cute.” And so, the smoke poured out of my ears before I could even have my morning coffee.[...]

Tags: aid workers, AIDS orphans, community participation, compassion, dependency, do no harm, foreign aid, foreign assistance, international aid, international development, J.B. MacKinnon, local leadership, orphanage, poverty, power dynamics, racism, South Africa, stoves, Uganda, voluntourism, Zimbabwe 8 Comments

July 26th, 2010 - 7:39 pm § in Good Practice, Guest Bloggers

Seeing the future in sovereign local organizations – Part 2

A local sovereign organisation is an authentic expression of the will and voice of its own constituents. While it may accept funding to provide services, it is not a surrogate vehicle for the projects of another agency's purpose.[...]

Tags: alternatives, capacity building, CDRA, civil society organizations, Community Development Resource Association, community-based organizations, consultant, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grassroots organizations, injustice, institutional development, international aid, international development, learning, NGOs, organizational development, organizational sovereignty, partnership, poverty, power dynamics, project cycle, reform, rights-based approach, social change, social movements, South Africa, sovereignty, strategy, The Barefoot Guide, values 1 Comment

July 25th, 2010 - 6:00 pm § in Good Practice, Guest Bloggers

Seeing the future in sovereign local organizations – Part I

Sovereignty is both a quality to be developed and a right to be respected and defended. It is a particularly powerful concept when applied to organisation, suggesting authentic qualities, describing a home-grown resilience, an inside-out identity, the idea of an organisation being the expression of [...]

Tags: alternatives, capacity building, CDRA, civil society organizations, Community Development Resource Association, community-based organizations, conflict, donors, food sovereignty, foreign aid, foreign assistance, globalization, grassroots organizations, institutional development, international aid, international development, leadership, learning, NGOs, organizational development, organizational sovereignty, partnership, poverty, power dynamics, reform, social change, social movements, South Africa, sovereignty, strategy, The Barefoot Guide, values 2 Comments

July 22nd, 2010 - 11:17 pm § in Guest Bloggers, Reflection & Rumination

PBS Documentary Shines a Light

Good Fortune is a documentary airing currently on PBS. It is a provocative exploration of how massive international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit.[...]