To prepare for leaving a job I have loved, first as head of research, then as strategic adviser, I have been re-reading a work diary I kept from my arrival in 2004 until about 2010 (when it fizzled out). It helps bring back those early days, and prevents rewriting my experiences, whether for good or bad, with the benefits of

Hi Everyone, After 20 years at Oxfam (how did that happen?), it’s finally time to move on. I’m leaving at the end of this month. Dexit is dawning – had to happen some time, I guess. What’s next? As befits my advanced years, I’ll be doing a few consultancies like the one I’ve just got back from in Papua New

A few weeks ago, I was in Papua New Guinea, where I support a fascinating programme to build citizen engagement with the government. On the margins, we were discussing influencing (as ever) and in particular, focussed on how civil society deals with threats – bad ideas from government, unintended consequences from new laws etc. This was interesting because so much

In the last (for now) of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to the UN’s Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah. Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah on winning military reform in a nation returning to democracy Duncan: Welcome to GELI Stories. I’ve got with me Anthony

Guest post from Paolo de Renzio, introducing his new (Open Access) book Taxes are funny. Most people think that they pay too much, and that others don’t pay enough. Many often try to pay less of them, but they also complain about the poor quality of the public services they fund. Politicians get credit for saying they will not raise

In the latest of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to Djanabou Mahonde, from UNICEF in Benin, about the power of ‘convening and brokering’ in tackling girls’ rights. Duncan: With me is Djanabou Mahonde from UNICEF Benin, who’s done some really impressive influencing work on girls’ rights there.

Guest post from Warren Krafchik and Peter Evans The ‘Open Movement’ is 20 years old. This reflection is written with love – one of us was deeply involved from the start, the other a fellow traveller looking from the sidelines. Tough love from firm friends, if you will. As we wrote, the think piece got bouncier and longer as it

In the latest of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to Federico Dessi of Humanity & Inclusion, about a breakthrough in the treatment of national staff in humanitarian settings. Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Federico Dessi on how INGO advocacy won better protection for

If you’re in the development world, you may have seen passing reference to the apparent anomaly that India, the giant of South Asia, has been overtaken in terms of social progress by Bangladesh, its poorer and slower-growing neighbour. You may vaguely put it down to religion, or (lack of) caste, or Bangladesh’s vibrant NGO scene. Unequal: Why India Lags Behind

Andreas Ulfsax works for IM (www.imsweden.org/en). IM is a Swedish member-based development organization supporting civil society organizations in 10 countries. As a Change Developer, he focuses on getting everyone to experiment more. For contacts andreas.ulfsax@imsweden.org This blog post describes how IM experimented with Power Funding, a new funding modality, and the surprising results. Can we fund better than Core/Institutional funding?

Been having a series of conversations on the general theme of ‘backlash’. Some thoughts: Background: a lot of activist thinking is predicated on being on the front foot – this is a law, policy, spending commitment or social norm that we want to change. Lots of case studies, toolkits and experience on how to do that – problem and power

In the fifth of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to Panos Moumtzis, who now leads the GELI programme, about some top influencing he did in a previous job as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Panos Moumtzis on how