Featured image for “GELI Stories – How to get Early Childhood Development into the SDGs (with a bit of help from Shakira)”

GELI Stories – How to get Early Childhood Development into the SDGs (with a bit of help from Shakira)

March 6, 2024
In the fourth of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to UNICEF’s Pia Britto about how she and a group of colleagues managed to include Early Childhood Development in the SDGs.  Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Pia Brito on getting Early Childhood Development into
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Thirty Years of Anti-Corruption: A Personal Reflection

March 5, 2024
Journalist, activist and anti-corruption legend John Githongo reflects on the shifting story of anti-corruption in Africa, from Western models to new agendas. This is an edited-down version of a piece published in The Elephant. Corruption, however you define it, is so integral to the way human commercial and political affairs play out that all major global developments in its regard
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Featured image for “Development Nutshell, (30m). Audio roundup of February blogs on From Poverty to Power”

Development Nutshell, (30m). Audio roundup of February blogs on From Poverty to Power

March 2, 2024
GELI Stories: –          Building Coalitions between UN Agencies and Government Ministries in Eswatini –          Working in closed and informal political spaces like Eritrea  4 posts on future of UK Aid under Labour: –          Two from Andy Sumner of Kings –          Options for UK Aid: DFID survivor
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GELI Stories – How to influence in closed Political Systems like Eritrea

March 1, 2024
In the third of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to OCHA’s Vincent Omuga about the challenges of working in closed and informal political spaces like Eritrea (although I think his experiences are probably much more widely applicable) Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories – Vincent
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Lisa Nandy on UK’s Future Development Policy Under Labour

February 29, 2024
So, apologies for the anglo-centrism and all that, but the recent series of crystal ball blogs on the future of UK Aid under (as seems likely) an incoming Labour Government has been getting lots of good comments. Here’s Andy Sumner parts one and two, and Tom Wingfield’s response. This week, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development, Lisa Nandy (right),
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Featured image for “Options for UK Aid: DFID survivor Tom Wingfield responds to last week’s posts by Andy Sumner”

Options for UK Aid: DFID survivor Tom Wingfield responds to last week’s posts by Andy Sumner

February 27, 2024
Tom Wingfield got in touch after reading last week’s posts on the future of UK aid, building off his recent post on LinkedIn Before we shut the door on reversing the DFID/FCO merger (See DFID 2.0…? Part 2 of Andy Sumner’s Crystal Balling on the future of UK aid | From Poverty to Power (oxfam.org.uk), we need to be clear-eyed
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DFID 2.0…? Part 2 of Andy Sumner’s Crystal Balling on the future of UK aid

February 22, 2024
In this second blog of two, Andy Sumner of King’s College London asks what a change of government in the UK might mean for UK development cooperation and policy: will a new DFID rise from the ashes? Will ODA spend rise back to 0.7% of GNI? And what might a change of government mean for UK development co-operation’s policy focus?
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DFID 2.0…? Some wild-ish speculation on UK development cooperation, 2025-2030

February 21, 2024
In this first of two blogs, Andy Sumner of King’s College London looks into his crystal ball and ask what a change of government in the UK might mean for UK development cooperation and policy. This first blog asks what has changed since 1997 (when DFID was established) and what a new government would inherit. The second part of the
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Featured image for “GELI Stories – Building Coalitions between UN Agencies and Government Ministries in Eswatini”

GELI Stories – Building Coalitions between UN Agencies and Government Ministries in Eswatini

February 20, 2024
In the second of this series of podcasts with UN and other aid leaders making change happen on the frontline, I talked to Cissy Kabasuuga of WFP about how she managed to unblock a school feeding programme in Eswatini. Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa · GELI Stories-Cissy Kabasuuga on building coalitions within UN & Eswatini for school feeding Duncan: Welcome
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Featured image for “Development Nutshell, bumper edition (28m). Audio roundup of (selected) January/February blogs on From Poverty to Power”

Development Nutshell, bumper edition (28m). Audio roundup of (selected) January/February blogs on From Poverty to Power

February 17, 2024
How Blogs can Change Government Policy Six big humanitarian policy trends for 2024 What are the Grounds for Hope in a World of Wrecks? The Rise of ‘Trust-Based Philanthropy’ – aka Unconditional Cash Transfers to NGOs Is Poverty Porn a thing of the past? Yes and No
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Is Poverty Porn a thing of the past? Yes and No

February 15, 2024
Guest post from Jess Crombie. Jess is a researcher and scholar at UAL, and a consultant for some of the leading organisations in the humanitarian sector. The term Poverty Porn (coined in 1985); the widely criticised (though still widely played) song ‘Do they Know It’s Christmas’; the Lammy/Dooley scandal around Comic Relief; the brutal murder of George Floyd, sparking worldwide
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GELI Stories – Seizing a Chance Meeting with Iran’s President to Unblock Food Shipments

February 13, 2024
One of the best things about the course I give on ‘Influencing for Senior Leaders: Analysis, Strategy, and Practice’ is the anecdotes from the participants, who are working in the most difficult of circumstances and often achieve amazing results. So recently I started recording some of them to come up with a series of ‘GELI Stories’ (GELI is the name
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