Buzz: Aid Review | $100 billion to end global poverty | Crisis in the Horn of Africa

Photograph: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters

Here are the latest stories that have created a buzz or otherwise caught our attention over the last week.

The Aid Review Buzz continues

Hugh White has stirred more discussion on the recent Aid Review with his opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, arguing that economic growth, not foreign aid, is overcoming long-term poverty in the world. Annmaree O’Keeffe provides a response on the Lowy Interpreter that there is more to development than money and that the value of aid is more than the financial assistance that it brings to developing countries. Hugh has provided rebuttals to both opinions on the Devpolicy blog and the Interpreter. Michael Cornish,Lecturer in Development Economics at The University of Adelaide, has also provided his input at Inside Story. Anthony Bergin from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, writing an opinion piece for The Australian, takes a look at aid through a different lens, arguing that it is an essential national security investment. Steve Lewis, national political correspondent at the Daily Telegraph, also writes of the misuse of AusAID funding to purchase furniture from Australian retailers to ship to offices abroad in developing countries. Finally, Keith Jackson discusses on his blog the implications of the Review on PNG and the initial reactions from the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Council.

$100 billion to end global poverty – Déjà vu, déjà dismissed?

Commenting on his own column for Foreign Policy, Charles Kenny discusses putting a price tag on ending poverty with the CGD. Instead of taking the conventional line of increasing investment through aid agencies and multilaterals, Kenny proposes that this money be given directly to the world’s poorest in the form of direct cash transfers. He argues that this should be considered a form of investment that could have great returns for the world’s poorest members.

Taking stock of aid for trade

Yurendra Basnett summarises on the ODI blog the verdict of the 3rd global review of aid for trade that took place in Geneva this week and highlights ongoing challenges. The event was marked by the release of a joint WTO and OECD paper entitled ‘Aid for Trade at a Glance 2011: Showing Results’, discussing in great detail the outcomes of aid for trade to date. Between 2005 and 2009 aid for trade increased by 60%, with the notable benefits of increasing the profile of trade issues, building trade and productive capacities and improving economic infrastructure. But significant challenges remain. For more information, have a look at Basnett’s summary.

Ensuring fair shares in a world of limits

Alex Evans writes on the Guardian blog about his recent discussion paper, highlighting the very real challenges that donors and campaigners will continue to face in responding to worldwide demand increases for natural resources that are already in short supply. Evans argues that as the global economy in the 21st century hits natural resource limits and planetary boundaries, fundamental questions about fair shares will begin to arise. Evans analyses these issues from the perspective of how donors and campaigners should react.

The Limits of the NGO Movement in Global Development

In an essay in the Boston Review, acclaimed economist Pranab Bardhan argues (and commented on here by Chris Blattman) that advocacy and NGOs are not a substitute for social compacts and democratic discourse and compromise. Bardhan argues that in many developing countries NGO’s are attempting to fill a gap left by the weakening of trade and labour unions, but that

non-party organizations cannot and should not threaten to replace the role of traditional party organizations in a democracy.

Humanitarian Crisis in the Horn of Africa

AlertNet, part of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, is hosting a special coverage on the ongoing humanitarian crisis and is a great resource of information. Tristan Clements of World Vision Australia provides an insight into the complexities of drought and its impact on vulnerable communities. Helen de Jode, editor of Modern and Mobile, argues that while food aid is desperately needed to immediately assist the people in this region, it is still ultimately not the answer and more imaginative solutions are necessary to help protect the pastoralists way of life in this area if the cycle is to not repeat itself again. Katy Migiro, blogging from Nairobi, discusses the establishment of a free helpline for those in need of food, water and medical care in drought-stricken areas and its potential to help.

Development and the Private Sector

The Praxis discussion series, organised by the World Bank, hosted it’s latest event on July 8 with guest speakers Eugene G. Zhukov from the ADB; Gavin Murray from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and David Shearer from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). See the recording of the event below:

The need for Pacific nations to better manage urbanisation

The latest Pacific Institute of Public Policy discussion paper, written by Sarah Mecartney entitled ‘Urban Hyms: Managing urban growth’, highlights the fact that some towns and cities in the Pacific are more densely populated than Hong Kong or New York. The paper argues for a need of more political will to better manage urbanisation and the need to start framing the discussion in a more positive light. Urbanisation, according to the paper:

Needs to be managed and viewed as a national priority. It requires governments to give serious consideration to housing, health, education, land, investment and employment policies; it requires people to think about how they want to live – to define what t means to be a Pacific islander in the 21st Century.

Coping with information overload – with an ipad

Adam Wagstaff, on a blog hosted by the World Bank’s Chief Economist, discusses how to cope with information overload in a post-internet world. How to process information in a world where life is no longer neatly compartmentalized and the volume of available information has exploded is a question many of us struggle with. Wagstaff provides a great introduction to the applications that can help transform your ipad into a funnel for all the information you need.

We value your feedback

 At the Development Policy Centre, we live and breath development policy, following and contributing to ongoing debates. We want to share more of what we’re reading with you and would welcome your feedback on your interests. This blog post contains a cross-section of topics – let us know what you think. What’s creating a buzz for you?

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