Credit: The Guardian Australia In July 2013, the distinguished British writer and philosopher, Julian Baggini, had a piece published in the Guardian newspaper entitled ‘In Praise of Cynicism’. The key excerpt is shown on the right. I have quoted this many times since in presentations, and it always raises eyebrows. Development practitioners consider themselves optimists. …
Category: Uncategorized
One book, two blokes, many small bets, and some spectacular outcomes
By Graham Teskey A remarkable book has just been published written by two remarkable blokes about a remarkable program. The book tells the story of an Australian-funded institutional reform initiative in the Philippines that did development differently well before the geeks at Harvard (sorry Matt) invented the term. The book is called “Thinking and Working …
Continue reading One book, two blokes, many small bets, and some spectacular outcomes
PEA Update 1: What is Political Economy Analysis (PEA) and why does it matter in development?
By Graham Teskey, Priya Chattier and Tara Davda Political economy analysis (PEA) refers to a body of theory and practice that was first identified by the great economists of the 18th and 19th centuries. Indeed, economics was originally termed ‘political economy’. It was only when mathematics intruded that the word ‘political’ was dropped. Political economy …
Online networking event | Evidence-based practice: what’s next?
When: Wednesday 16 September 2020 4pm – 5.30pm AEST Where: via Zoom In a post COVID-19 world, budgets are tighter, grants and consultancies are (even) more competitive. The pressure to demonstrate ‘real-world impact’ and ‘reach’ is at odds with real-life time pressures and budget lines. In policy, the Partnerships for Recovery is committed to “monitoring, evaluation, research, learning and …
Continue reading Online networking event | Evidence-based practice: what’s next?
Achieving strategic integration for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO): is a portfolio approach the answer?
By Vishal Gadhavi and Lavinia Tyrrel The UK Government has a short window of opportunity to make the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for International Development (DFID) merger work. But this means learning from one key mistake made by its antipodean cousin (Australia): operational integration does not automatically lead to strategic integration. A …
Covid has put Governance at the heart of debates on Development, but how has it changed the questions we ask?
The aim of this blog is to suggest ways in which the ‘governance discourse’ (what a grand term!) is changing – indeed has already changed - as a result of Covid-19. I know that blogs are supposed to be discursive and informal. Recently our office was privileged to have a session with that master-blogger, Duncan …
Applying political economy analysis to health and education programming: four lessons
By Matilda Nash, Lavinia Tyrrel and Graham Teskey Over the past two years, Abt’s Governance and Development Practice (GDP) have worked with local partners in over 13 countries across the Pacific, Asia and Africa to apply Political Economy Analysis (PEA) approaches to sector programming (see briefing note for further detail). The aim? To help us …
Women’s economic empowerment at a time of crisis: can COVID-19 be different?
by Cecilia Reategui and Andrew Rowell COVID-19 is a health crisis with far-reaching social and economic consequences, both immediate and stretching into an unpredictable future. Investing in Women recently commissioned a rapid literature review to examine the impacts of COVID-19 and previous pandemics and recessions on the economic position of women. The study, conducted by Professor Marian Baird and Associate Professor …
Continue reading Women’s economic empowerment at a time of crisis: can COVID-19 be different?
Gender equality at work: Southeast Asia’s other hurdle
By Aya Silva and Georgia Davis Equality in Asia: Across the ASEAN region, countries and companies have been engaging in the equality debate for several years. For some, a looming skills gap and the costs of not retaining good female staff have prompted their investment in policies and initiatives that promote more open and equal …
Continue reading Gender equality at work: Southeast Asia’s other hurdle
Online panel discussion
AFTER COVID-19: A ‘NEW NORMAL’ FOR MONITORING, EVALUATION, RESEARCH AND LEARNING? The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly shifted the context in which aid and development is being delivered. This presents an opportunity for aid actors to promote more locally-led, politically-informed and adaptive forms of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) which can help make sense of …
Blog submission Guidelines
We welcome submissions from external authors. Please see below for our blog guidelines and pdf version. Blog submission guidelines pdfDownload General guidelines. Blogs should be no longer than 1000 words, and must be accompanied by images (see ‘image guidelines’ below for details) All sources must be cited as hyperlinks, and not footnotes or end-notes. Author …
COVID-19 makes the case for getting development in fragile states right
by Nelly Mecklenburg and Jessica Mackenzie What does the COVID-19 response and commitments for more effective development in fragile states have in common? More than you might think. Governments all over the world are suddenly faced with responding to a pandemic causing suffering and anxiety in every community and sector. In response to both the …
Continue reading COVID-19 makes the case for getting development in fragile states right
Governance and Development Soapbox 