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Crowdfunding development aid would direct funds where they are needed most

Websites such as GlobalGiving and Kickstarter have re-imagined the way we support issues we care about. Can we do the same for aid programmes? By: Blair Glencorse, Executive Director at Accountability Lab. This article was originally published by The Guardian. Watermelon seeds are readied for planting as part of an aid project in Rwanda. ‘There is a disconnect between the providers of development aid and its recipients.’ Photograph: Sam Faulkner/Comic Relief/Dfid As world leaders descend on New York this week for the UN general assembly, the funding of international development programmes will be high on the agenda – [...]

2016-09-13T00:00:00+00:0013th September 2016|

Shaking Up Aid Donors Five Years After the Haiti Earthquake

This article was originally published by the Miami Herald. By Blair Glencorse and Anne Sophie Ranjbar Five years ago today - on January 12th, 2010- Port-au-Prince crumbled to the ground in one of the worst natural disasters of recent times. Over 200,000 were killed in the earthquake, with another 300,000 injured. Entire neighborhoods were raised. As many as 2.3 million people- the equivalent of half the population of the Miami metro area- were displaced from their homes. More than 50 percent of all government, administrative and economic infrastructure was destroyed. Haiti lay in ruins. The earthquake generated a huge outpouring [...]

2015-01-09T00:00:00+00:009th January 2015|

Op-Ed: Ebola, the unbearable strain on Liberia’s fledgling democracy

This article was originally published by the Daily Maverick. By Brooks Marmon In recent months, the West African Republic of Liberia has received attention on a scale it has not experienced since its devastating civil war ended in 2003. The Ebola outbreak has not caused nearly as many fatalities as the 14-year war, but the crisis in Liberia and its two neighbours, Guinea and Sierra Leone, has captivated the world. What’s the way forward? By BROOKS MARMON. The attention given to Liberia has resulted in extensive discourse on the social impact of the disease in the Ebola affected countries: the [...]

2014-10-14T00:00:00+00:0014th October 2014|

Liberian Senate calls for more transparency over Ebola funds

This article was originally published by The Guardian. By Robtel Neajai Pailey and Blair Glencorse Liberia’s president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has told aid donors ‘we must shorten the road from commitment to cash’. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images Friday 26 September 2014 16.01 BSTLast modified on Thursday 2 February 2017 12.52 GMT Stately and unassuming, Liberia’s national Ebola taskforce coordinator James Dorbor Jallah announced at a press conference in late August that the government’s initial $5m (£3m) contribution to contain the disease had been spent. As he fumbled with the numbers in his expenditures report, the blogosphere exploded with queries about how all that [...]

2014-09-26T00:00:00+00:0026th September 2014|

A decade of aid dependence in Liberia

By: Blair Glencorse. This article was originally published by Devex. A decade ago, the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended 14 years of civil war in Liberia. Under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — the first female head of state in Africa and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 — much progress has been made. Elections have been held, debt has been forgiven and economic growth has been impressive. The government has signed up to a host of international standards and best practices, related to everything from natural resources management to government transparency. Since 2003, the international community has poured [...]

2013-08-19T00:00:00+00:0019th August 2013|
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