Governance and Security
For the past week, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has been on a whistle-stop tour of Zambia, Tanzania and Ethiopia. In Zambia, Secretary Clinton –- along with ONE’s very own Dr. Sipho Moyo -– attended the Ministerial Forum for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the centerpiece of the US’ trade relations with Africa. In Tanzania, she highlighted some of the successes of US aid, including Feed the Future. In Ethiopia, Secretary Clinton met with Jean Ping, the Chairman of the African Union, to discuss regional issues, as well as with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Photo courtesy of DJ Clark on Flickr
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Aid budgets are under increasing pressure as governments in donor countries seek to deal with the aftermath of the global financial crisis. If public support for aid is to be maintained, and if continued progress on poverty reduction is to be made, it is essential that aid is spent in ways that deliver the biggest bang possible for taxpayers’ bucks.
The public needs proof -– living proof -– that aid, effectively delivered, works. In this context, it is no surprise to see the excitement that the publication of Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel’s “More than good intentions: How a new economics is helping to solve global poverty,” and Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo’s “Poor economics: A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty” has generated in and beyond the development policy community.
The two books –- growing out of the work of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) – set out a common manifesto for research, policy and practice on global development. Their three key messages are:
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If you’ve been following the daily “What We’re Reading” posts here on the ONE Blog, you’ll probably be aware of the escalating violence between supporters of the two Presidential claimants in Ivory Coast. On Monday morning, former President Laurent Gbagbo was captured after a week-long siege of his residence.
French and United Nations (UN) missile strikes on stockpiles of heavy arms provided the opening for troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally-recognized winner of Ivory Coast’s presidential election, to capture Gbagbo. His capture was a dramatic climax in the four-month standoff that crippled the economy of the top cocoa producer and plunged it back into violence. Gbagbo steadfastly refused to accept Ouattara’s victory in the elections last November.
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Read the original post on ONE’s Africa Blog.
The Nigerian elections were scheduled to commence on Saturday, April 2nd with the parliamentary elections preceding the April 9th presidential elections and the April 16th gubernatorial elections.
The elections started hours late and after millions of people successfully cast their votes, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) issued a directive to all wards to stop voting. The official reason stated for postponing the elections was said to be a delay in getting the ballot papers to all the wards, especially in remote areas of the country, because of their late arrival into the country.
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Sir John Holmes, the former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, shares his analysis of what lies ahead for South Sudan.
The results of the referendum in South Sudan confirm that 2011 will see the birth of a new state in Africa. Rejoicing in the south has been unconfined, as people see the goal they have long dreamed of coming to reality after so many years of suffering and war. The Government in Khartoum have said they will accept the result. They should be taken at their word and held to it, whatever our doubts about their long-term intentions. Elsewhere in Africa, there is concern about the breaking of the convention against changing colonial boundaries, but a warm welcome for the new state nevertheless.
I have been to Juba several times over the last four years, and talked to many southern leaders and ordinary people. I share their sense of achievement. The question now is whether fears of South Sudan as a failing or even already failed state at birth are likely to be realized or whether the enthusiasm and commitment we see now can be turned into a new drive for progress and development. So, what are the opportunities and the challenges?
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On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake crushed Port-au-Prince, Haiti, claiming the lives of more than 230,000 men, women and children, and leaving over million Haitians homeless. Today, the persistent lack of coordination between international donors, NGOs, government ministries and local people severely hinders Haiti’s prospects for “building back better.”
Photo credit: David Walton
Partners In Health (PIH) and our Haitian sister organization, Zanmi Lasante (ZL), have advocated for a human rights-based approach to earthquake recovery and reconstruction. Such an approach engages and employs the Haitian people, strengthens public institutions and governance, and works not just to repair the damage caused by the earthquake, but also to address the extreme poverty and lack of infrastructure that greatly worsened the disaster’s impact and weakened the country’s ability to respond.
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We just found out that Publish What You Pay — a coalition that encourages citizens to hold their governments accountable in poor but resource-rich countries — has been awarded the Center for Global Development’s (CDG) 2010 Commitment to Development “Ideals to Action” Award.
This award honors individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to changing the attitudes, policies and practices of the rich world toward the developing world. Past winners include former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign and ONE for our efforts to put global poverty at the forefront of the presidential candidates’ minds during the 2008 election season.
CDG is honoring Publish What You Pay this year for their work in facilitating the Cardin-Lugar Transparency Provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This piece of legislation will help increase transparency in the oil, gas and mining industries, protect investors from risks associated with corrupt or unstable governments, and require extractive companies listed on the US stock exchanges to disclose government payoffs.
Congratulations, Publish What You Pay, and good luck in the fight against corruption. We’re with you every step of the way. Be sure to check out the organization’s site, too — they do some incredible work in countries across the world.
