by Graham Teskey Author's garden I spent much of the weekend gardening. Or more specifically I spent much of the weekend providing labour to the horticulture adviser in my household, a.k.a. my wife. Last month we had the garden ‘landscaped’ by professionals, a deal which included the delivery of 65 small trees, shrubs, and other …
PEA Update 7: Working politically and adaptively in practice.
Frameworks for applying political insight in practice. This blog forms part of a series of internal Political Economy Analysis (PEA) updates compiled by Priya Chattier/Tara Davda, with general wisdom by Graham Teskey and Lavinia Tyrrel. Thanks to Leisa Gibson/Priya for GESI support. We will aim to publish these every fortnight or so. Watch this space. …
Continue reading PEA Update 7: Working politically and adaptively in practice.
Reflections from an Ex-Vice President: The political / civil service divide
Image credit: Shutterstock; Illustration by POGO The relationship between public servants and ministers is critical to sound, ‘evidence-based’ policy making. Ideally, in a Weberian public service, officials feel empowered to speak truth to power, and offer free and frank advice without fear of bullying or other adverse reprisals. Sadly, as we have seen in both …
Continue reading Reflections from an Ex-Vice President: The political / civil service divide
PEA Update 6: common criticisms of PEA approaches, and MEL tools for mitigating them
This blog forms part of a series of internal Political Economy Analysis (PEA) updates compiled by Priya Chattier/Tara Davda, with general wisdom by Graham Teskey and Lavinia Tyrrel. Thanks to Leisa Gibson/Priya for GESI support. We will aim to publish these every fortnight or so. Watch this space. This week focuses on criticisms of the …
The puzzle of equitable senior leadership in global development and how your skills can get you there
By : Jacqui De Lacy, Anna Winoto, Esther McIntosh, Lena Kolyada, Priya Chattier, and Leisa Gibson Many of us have worked hard to address racial and gender inequality so that women are simply recognised for their skills and talent. Recently, we discussed this at the 2020 Women in Global Development Leadership Forum. It is no …
PEA Update 5: Putting TWP, PDIA, DDD and AM into Practice (or, more colloquially, what these tongue twister terms mean and why they matter)
This blog forms part of a series of internal Political Economy Analysis (PEA) updates compiled by Priya Chattier/Tara Davda, with general wisdom by Graham Teskey and Lavinia Tyrrel. Thanks to Leisa Gibson (and Priya) for GESI support. We will aim to publish these every fortnight or so. Watch this space. This week provides more detail …
Gender trouble with ‘thinking and working politically’
By Priya Chattier and Leisa Gibson Foreword to the blog: This blog is part of a gender responsive Political Economy Analysis series that aims to bring ‘gender’ back into the political economy discourse. In particular, the need to problematise gender as an analytical category of power analysis that aims to advance the political economy and …
Continue reading Gender trouble with ‘thinking and working politically’
Podcast: Are managing contractors the problem, or the solution?
Interview with Jacqui De Lacey Facilities are often misunderstood by the development community and have been subject to a number of criticisms, including high transaction costs, excessive complexity and for adding an necessary layer of administration between DFAT and the delivery of aid and development funding. In this podcast (recorded with Rachel Mason Nunn for …
Continue reading Podcast: Are managing contractors the problem, or the solution?
PEA Update 3: PEA Case studies (grouped by level of analysis – global, regional, country, sector – and problem driven PEA within a sector)
This blog forms part of a series of internal Political Economy Analysis (PEA) updates compiled by Priya Chattier/Tara Davda, with general wisdom by Graham Teskey and Lavinia Tyrrel. Thanks to Leisa Gibson (and Priya) for GESI support. We will aim to publish these every fortnight or so. Watch this space. Political economy analysis (PEA) is …
‘Speed dating’ for MERL and adaptive management wonks
Online networking for stir-crazy development workers in lock-down is apparently a thing now. Being led, at least in Australia, by the Research for Development Impact Network (RDI) – it’s a bit like speed dating, but without the awkward silences and musty pub smell. The most recent event focused on Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL). …
Continue reading ‘Speed dating’ for MERL and adaptive management wonks
Covid + w@h + Zoom = a big change for TA and Managing Contractors?
Starting…. In a recent edition of the New Yorker, Lawrence Wright considered how major crises through history have tended to bring about profound social change as people were forced to think differently.[1] So, now is a good time to consider the extent to which the shock of Covid and the resultant need to w@h (work …
Continue reading Covid + w@h + Zoom = a big change for TA and Managing Contractors?
Sticky notes, sweaty advisors and rigging the log frame: just who is accountable for delivering aid outcomes?
We're all been there. Endless hours of writing in big black pens on butcher’s paper. Plastering colourful sticky notes to windows. Eating too many unhealthy local snacks (always in individual wrapping). And drinking excessive cups of 3 in 1[1]. What am I talking about? The simultaneously dreaded and revered theory of change workshop. Figure 1: …
Governance and Development Soapbox 