Fortnightly links: famine, feminist development policy, edible drones, snakebite, and more

An estimated 40% of people in South Sudan and 50% in Somalia — over 10 million people in total — are in urgent need of food, agriculture, and nutritional assistance. Parts of Yemen and Nigeria are also at risk of famine. Beyond the sheer scale of the problem, insecurity is hampering efforts to deliver aid. At the same time, the South Sudanese government has attracted criticism by announcing plans to increase the cost of work permits for aid workers by 1000%.

What are typical elements of a feminist development policy? An analysis published on the Canadian International Development Platform suggests that Australia is doing pretty well on this front.

Vox has an article about GiveDirecty’s unprecedented study of universal basic income, in which some 6000 Kenyans will receive a basic income for 12 years, and another 20,000 people will receive short-term aid. As the study gets underway, Dylan Matthew talks to villagers about how they plan to use their new income.

On the Monkey Cage blog, Séverine Autesserre outlines 3 flawed ideas that are hurting international peacebuilding efforts.

Donald Trump’s budget outline projects deep cuts to developing funding. Here’s a helpful set of charts from IRIN showing US funding for the UN.

Innovation and tech enthusiasts are getting pretty excited by the concept of an edible aid drone, being developed by UK company Windhorse Aerospace.

“Snakebite needs a Princess Diana. If the pope sent one tweet about this, the world would snap to.” Usha Lee McFarling writes about the scientific and financial challenges of developing new drugs to treat this underrecognised affliction, which kills over 100,000 and leaves more than 400,000 people disabled every year, mostly in developing countries.

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Camilla Burkot

Camilla Burkot was a Research Officer at the Development Policy Centre, and Editor of the Devpolicy Blog, from 2015 to 2017. She has a background in social anthropology and holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, and has field experience in Eastern and Southern Africa, and PNG. She now works for the Burnet Institute.

Terence Wood

Terence Wood is a research fellow at the Development Policy Centre. His research focuses on political governance in Western Melanesia, and Australian and New Zealand aid.

1 Comment

  • Just a warning for readers that opening the snakebite article will put a terrifying huge picture of a snake on your screen! The article is interesting though, I just really hate snakes!

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