Devon Whittle » Aid

World Vision is more than fundraising

devonwhittle — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:38:15 +0000

I was almost run over by a white World Vision SUV today.

It came speeding at me from down a pot-holed, dirt road. My first encounter with the this side of the aid agency world.

Back home in Melbourne, we usually see aid agencies via their marketing machines. Glossy brochures, flashy websites, appeals for donations. In Tanzania, I’ve been able to get a small insight into another perspective – not aid agencies as marketers, but as social welfare agencies.

I haven’t seen any advertisements for sponsorships or donations, or seen any tele-thons, but I have heard one 12 year old boy talk about how great his Canadian sponsors were because it meant he could go to school and maybe study law one day.

I’m not sure that this means much beyond being my anecdotal experience of living outside of a ‘donor country’, and it certainly isn’t enough to change my views, for example, against traditional child sponsorship, but I found it encouraging, especially given how maligned aid agencies are and how easy it is to find fault with them.

World Vision is more than fundraising is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

Why are we holding governments to the 0.7% GNI aid target?

devonwhittle — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:20:13 +0000

Alex Evans has a provocative post over at Global Dashboard arguing against the sacred cow of the “aspirational target” of aid levels set at 0.7% GNI.

Alex makes some excellent points about the meaningless nature of this target. It was set over three decades ago, wasn’t based on any actual assessment of money needed, and current estimates put the actual required global ODA flows at far lower. And I agree that 0.7 isn’t entirely relevant except as a rhetorical tool for motivating governments to give more.

I think what Alex’s post stands for the strongest is a real need for investigation into how much money is actually needed, and ways to spend the money that actually make a difference. The UN target remains as a powerful burden on our governments who fail to live up to their agreement to convince us why their spending is adequate and well placed.

If the world is ready to move on from 0.7%, and I think clearly we are, then we need to establish what the new benchmark will be and this time actually live up to it.

Why are we holding governments to the 0.7% GNI aid target? is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

Climate of Change: Tear on our 'Shared Sky'

devonwhittle — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:47:19 +0000

I’m on a seasonal clerkship at the moment so posting may be sporadic at best for a few more weeks. But I’ve been meaning to post this link to TEAR’s Climate of Change DVD for awhile.

I like Ben’s conception of the “shared sky” at the start of the video and the way they simply present some of the issues climate change has forced us to confront.

TEAR is one aid agency/development/social justice group that I really like. They’ve done a great job on this climate change resource. It’s especially impressive given the limited resources at their disposal.

(also Room3 have done a great job on their video productions too).

Climate of Change: Tear on our 'Shared Sky' is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

$3.2 billion to development experts in Africa in 2005

devonwhittle — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:40:54 +0000

According to the report of the Commission for Africa, in 2005, $3.2 billion was paid to one hundred thousand “experts” to provide technical assistance to Africa. See Blattman for more.

$3.2 billion to development experts in Africa in 2005 is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

Dependency theory is back

devonwhittle — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:42:03 +0000

This article on the “new colonialists” is a good read. It deals with the rise of NGOs replacing state services in developing countries, and how this leads to dependency and a neo-colonialism in those countries. I like the idea of a global clearinghouse to track and monitor these many projects – though don’t know if yet another bureaucracy is needed.

Dependency theory is back is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

The World's Most Powerful Development NGOs

devonwhittle — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:03:16 +0000

Foreign policy has this great list of the five most powerful development NGOs in the world. World Vision, with an income approach US$1 billion, and being the main distributor of aid for the World Food Program, is one of the biggest.

The World's Most Powerful Development NGOs is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

Where to spend aid and climate change money

devonwhittle — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:29:41 +0000

Aaron Schiff questions the utility of the latest Japanese $10 billion of aid given to African nations to tackle climate change. He wonders what is the most efficient way to (a) tackle climate change and (b) reduce poverty? Though I wonder if there’s a lot of ‘low hanging’ climate change fruit to picked in Africa, that means this money is better spent there then in Japan. Not to mention, that this may also contribute to building industry in African nations which will probably do more than just ‘food aid’ in the long term.

Where to spend aid and climate change money is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

Religion and Development

devonwhittle — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:54:51 +0000

Aid agencies are rightly a bit worried about religious groups getting involved in helping people. There has been a history of bad outcomes associated with people not understanding how good development/emergency help works (eg. ‘adopting’ children after the Tsunami). That said, as this post points out ignoring religion means agencies are missing out on what could be a terrific help. The Church, for example, is virtually everywhere, commands the respect of people and provides a network of relationships that aren’t readily available by other means.

Religion and Development is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

Sovereign Wealth Funds and Africa

devonwhittle — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:52:28 +0000

Excellent post on why Sovereign Wealth Funds shouldn’t be required to invest a certain percentage in Africa. Sure Africa needs increased capital, but SWFs aren’t the best way to make it happen. Sovereign Wealth Funds and Africa is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com. Related posts:Scared of Future Funds $3.2 billion to [...]

Sovereign Wealth Funds and Africa is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.

Military vs Economic Aid

devonwhittle — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:52:21 +0000

Getting some perspective on international ODA: The resulting balloons, celebrations, smiley press conferences and declarations of a new start for Africa were about the entire western world donating to an entire impoverished continent less than half of what one country has quietly coughed up in weapons for the Saudis, Egypt and Israel.

Military vs Economic Aid is a post from: Devon Whittle. You can contact the author at devonwhittle@gmail.com.