Tag: ESID

Categories
Development Social science

Cape Town post mortem: 6 things I learned about ESID

[Originally posted on the ESID blog]

I have been working as part of ESID for a little over 15 months now, but last week was the first time that I actually saw the faces of many of our partners and realised their passion for what they do. The Cape Town workshop was a whirlwind tour of the latest work on a panoply of policy issues (growth, education, oil, health…) across India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, South Africa, Rwanda, Peru, Bolivia… By the end of it I felt a bit overwhelmed, but also satisfied that I finally had a good grasp of what ESID has achieved so far, and what interesting challenges lie ahead for us over the next three years. Here are some of the things I learned.

The Cape of Good Hope viewed from Table Mountain
The Cape of Good Hope viewed from Table Mountain
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Categories
Development

ESID-Palooza: Live blogging from Cape Town

I have just arrived in South Africa for a 3-day ESID workshop co-hosted by the University of Cape Town. We will be talking theory, methodology, publications, communications… Check out the ESID blog over the next few days as I live blog my experiences during the massive workshop. In the meantime, here’s a picture of the Cape Town waterfront with Table Mountain in the background:

erfront and Table Mountain
Cape Town: Waterfront and Table Mountain
Categories
Development

Leader of the 0.7 percenters

According to the latest OECD data, there are only 5 wealthy industrialized democracies who meet the gabled target of 0.7% of national income contributed as development assistance: Norway (1.07%), Sweden (1.05%), Luxembourg (1.00%), Denmark (%0.85) and the United Kingdom (%0.72). In absolute terms, the UK contributes more foreign aid than the other four 0.7 percenters combined, making it the most important donor in Europe.

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Categories
Development Metaverse Social science

ESID has a shiny new website

Last week Effective-States.org made a quantum leap into the 21st century by leaving html behind and diving head first into a WordPress-powered adventure.  All our projects are now included, core researchers have profile pages, and there are tags everywhere (you can find me under PEA, public sector reform and state capacity). Plus we have just launched the new ESID blog, which I will be editing with the help of our communications and editing team. My chief goal is to turn it into a platform for online commentary on the politics of development (guest posts are welcome!), as well as a window into how a research organization actually works, what the research process looks like in the months or years between proposal and peer review. Stay tuned.

Categories
Africa Development

Listen to my Presentation on Political Economy Analysis @ Birmingham

Last month I gave a presentation on ESID‘s project on political economy analysis at the workshop “Making Politics Practical II: Development Politics and the Changing Aid Environment“, which was held at the University of Birmingham. The presentation introduced my work with David Hulme on the organizational challenges that the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development face in introducing political analysis into their operational work. Thanks to the folks at Birmingham you can listen to it right here:

You can find the other presentations here.