How Matters / Tag Archive

Posts Tagged ‘USAID’

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

February 26th, 2012 - 9:02 pm § in Reflection & Rumination

Logframes….errrgh!

The predictable, linear, rational progression of activities is what can make a sound logframe clear and elegant. But this is also what can render it useless in the context of providing relief and fighting poverty and injustice. [...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, aid workers, community participation, donors, evaluation, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grant making, international aid, international development, logframe approach, logframes, Logical Framework, M&E, monitoring, NASA, organizational learning, philanthropy, social enterprise, U.S. military, USAID 14 Comments

January 3rd, 2012 - 11:00 am § in Uncategorized

12 to watch in 2012

How-matters.org’s top 12 people, trends, sites, and organizations to watch in 2012![...]

Tags: African Diaspora, aid effectiveness, aid workers, Akili Dada, capacity building, CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, grassroots organizations, hiiDunia, international aid, international development, M&E, Mathare Valley blog, monitoring and evaluation, organizational development, philanthropy, Re-Action, social enterprise, Solome Lemma, Sparks Microgrants, The Broker Online, The Listening Project, USAID, USAID FORWARD, whydev.org, WiserEarth.org 9 Comments

October 18th, 2011 - 2:50 am § in Guest Bloggers

Can allies help Palestinians to reform aid? How?

Nora Lester Murad of the Dalia Association, Palestine’s first and only community foundation, shares their progress in a current advocacy campaign to reform international aid in Palestine and poses questions to how-matters.org readers.[...]

Tags: advocacy, advocacy campaigns, aid effectiveness, aid reform, AIDA, Busan, capacity building, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, conditional funding, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, grassroots activists, grassroots organizations, international aid, international aid system, international development, Ma’an Development Center, OPT, organizational development, Palestine, Palestinian NGOs, restricted funding, USAID 1 Comment

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 4 Comments

September 1st, 2011 - 4:58 pm § in Good Practice, Reflection & Rumination

Another Must Listen

Highlighting This American Life’s Episode 444: Gossip (Originally aired 8/26/11), which covers research relevant to HIV prevention in Malawi.[...]

Tags: aid, aid agencies, aid effectiveness, aid elites, aid workers, AIDS, development assistance, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, global health, HIV, HIV prevention, international aid, international development, Malawi, Malawi government, NGOs, non-governmental organizations, public health, This American Life, USAID No Comments

August 30th, 2011 - 11:12 am § in Good Practice, Guest Bloggers

The Curious Aid Worker: Storytelling with Marc Maxson (Part II)

“If your general impression [is that most grassroots organizations are incapacitated], then you’ve been driving a white SUV through a village to get the ‘authentic’ feel of some project.” ~Marc Maxson of GlobalGiving’s Storytelling Project[...]

Tags: aid effectiveness, aid partnerships, capacity building, cash transfers, Chewy Chunks, community ownership, community participation, community-based organizations, corruption, development jargon, donors, foreign aid, foreign assistance, funding mechanisms, GlobalGiving, grassroots organizations, HIV, human rights, international aid, international development, Kenya, knowledge management, Marc Maxson, neuroscience, NGOs, ODA, organizational development, qualitative data, remittances, social prosperity, storytelling, The Storytelling Project, Uganda, USAID, World Bank 3 Comments

October 31st, 2010 - 2:01 pm § in Good Practice

Dipping into the reading pile

Sharing excerpts of twelve papers on international development and aid effectiveness from my reading pile. [...]

Tags: accountability, aid effectiveness, aid workers, alternatives, Andrew Natios, Aspen Institute, AWID, CAFOD, Camfed, capacity building, community participation, complexity, economic growth, foreign aid, foreign assistance, funding mechanisms, Global South, globalization, grassroots organizations, international aid, international development, INTRAC, Kenya, monitoring and evaluation, organizational development, philanthropy, solidarity, Tearfund, USAID, values, World Bank 4 Comments

October 10th, 2010 - 8:26 pm § in Guest Bloggers, Reflection & Rumination

Changing the system…from the ground up

"‘The system’ whereby foreign donors give handouts, and not sustainable initiatives that are drawn from the needs of the communities, is a problem.” ~R.F.M. community activist, Zimbabwe[...]