Transparency
This post first appeared on the CGD Rethinking US Foreign Assistance blog.
Information, not coordination, is the key to aid effectiveness. Some donors such as USAID are becoming interested in a more decentralized ‘Google Maps’ approach to aid coordination,… Continue reading
Here is my talk at the Power of Information Conference about open aid data.
The Center for Global Development, where I work, has a shiny new transparency policy. From now on, our presumption is that when authors post publications on cgdev.org that involves quantitative analysis, they will also post the… Continue reading
George Bush famously asked, ‘Is our children learning?’. That’s also the question by Uwezo, a coalition of NGOs working in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Their report published today makes dismal reading about the quality of schools.
First, a… Continue reading
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been accused of a horrible crime. Like everyone else he is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
We may, however, soon find ourselves looking for a new Managing Director of the IMF,… Continue reading
Using a headline I borrowed from a smart colleague in DFID, there is an article by me in the current edition of the Public Service Review, which focuses on on international development. You can download a PDF of the… Continue reading
The second of a pair of posts on aid transparency: this one looking at proposed next steps, particularly focusing on how we can provide meaningful transparency for citizens in developing countries.
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I’ve spent the last three years working on aid transparency. As I’m moving on to an exciting new role this seems a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned in the last three years. Busy readers may want to read just the 8-point summary.
Continue readingHere is part of my piece on the Guardian website today welcoming moves from the US and Europe towards a global standard for publishing aid information:
Go to the website of any aid agency and you’ll find a cornucopia… Continue reading
Shanta Devarajan asks if we have found Development 3.0
Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, describes in an important new blog post the evolution of development policy in terms of changing ideas about market failures and government… Continue reading
Last week’s UN meetings in New York prompted a flurry of papers, speeches, documents, announcements and articles about development in general, and the Millennium Development Goals in particular. There seem to be three emerging development narratives which are not… Continue reading
This is very cool. A team of researchers from Development Gateway and AidData have worked with the World Bank to add detailed subnational geographical information to all of the Bank’s active projects in the Africa and Latin America region.… Continue reading
I was in Paris last week for meetings about aid transparency. At the International Aid Transparency Initiative meeting, signatories and the Steering Committee members agreed a very important step forward. Donors comprising more than half of… Continue reading
Two interesting new articles start with the premise that the aid system needs to be overhauled, and then reach radically different conclusions about what this means in practice.
First up, Roger Riddell says we need a radical rethink… Continue reading
The World Bank is today launching a new website, data.worldbank.org, from which you can get a huge range of statistics and indicators about development. In the past you had to pay to use World Development Indicators, or… Continue reading
Seventeen years ago this month, I set up the first British government website. I was a young economist at the UK Treasury, and I thought the budget documents should be available online. I proposed this to the… Continue reading
When Google decided to set up a censored version of its search engine in China in 2006, I was among those who criticised the company for its decision (here and here).
As well thiking it was the wrong… Continue reading
Owen Barder is the Europe Director at the Center for Global Development. He writes here about development, economics, politics, computers, running, and anything else that interests him. He also hosts Development Drums.
Tax, trade, transparency … & turfApril 23, 2013
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For the first time ever (World Bank edition)April 19, 2013
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The Europe Development DigestApril 16, 2013
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Are rich countries ‘getting away with murder’ by massaging aid figures?April 11, 2013
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Global wealth inequalityApril 8, 2013
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Waste not, want notApril 1, 2013
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Hello Owen, Stumbled on your website by accident…I’m currently trying to arange a visa for someone I work...May 16, 2013
Dear Biniam, Please refere to the following link. http://www.ethiotelecom.et/new s/news.php?id=85April 25, 2013
Hi all, I have the expereiance that blackberry phones will not work directly with the Ethio-telecom GPRS...April 25, 2013
Hi! The service provider in Ethiopia, Ethio – Telecom states the APN settings are the following: APN : etc.com...April 9, 2013
Interesting ideas, I wrote some thoughts on them here,April 24, 2013
”Today for the first time ever, I felt so relieved after I realized I wasn’t looking out making...April 19, 2013
Barack Obama (2/2013): “So the United States will join with our allies to eradicate such extreme poverty in...April 19, 2013
Owen: Where are we going with this? Is this a refutation of the power law of wealth distribution?April 10, 2013
Hey Abita check out my website as I may need a guide like you to help me run bike tours there, we just did...April 5, 2013
Hey Jeff enjoy the riding there–I have run several bike tours there out of Toronto and I love riding...April 5, 2013
Hi guys I totally disagree with your assessment of the children. I have ridden from Adiss to Lalibela 5...April 5, 2013
Hi Owen The long format works well for me because (like Robb) I enjoy getting into the substance and...April 1, 2013