Why U.S. Sanctions on Zimbabwe Should Stay
By Todd Moss – Just as the United States is looking to tighten sanctions on the vicious regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, there is quiet momentum building to remove sanctions against another brutal...
View ArticlePreventing Business as Usual in Syria
By Kimberly Ann Elliott – The Friends of Syria coalition will meet in Paris on July 6 to discuss how they might stem the escalating violence in Syria. Once again there will be much hand wringing on...
View ArticleFreedom House Urges Action on Syria Preemptive Contract Sanctions
By Jenny Ottenhoff – Charles Dunne, Director of MENA Programs at Freedom House, posted a timely op-ed in Huffington Post over the weekend calling for preemptive contract sanctions against the Assad...
View ArticleAttn Bob Schieffer: Three Serious Questions to Throw Obama and Romney Off…
By Beth Schwanke – From Big Bird to malarkey to binders full of women, it’s been quite the presidential debate series (there was also that whole dramatic shift in the momentum of the race thing). On...
View ArticleValue Chains and Middlemen: Agriculture’s Angels and Demons?
By Kimberly Ann Elliott – Value chains is one of the hot buzzwords in agricultural development discussions these days, but middlemen are something to be eliminated. I’m rather puzzled by this seeming...
View ArticleWhen Trade Negotiations Block Good Policy: What is the US Trade Rep…
By Kimberly Ann Elliott – Virtually all the footwear that Americans buy is imported, and those shoes are taxed at an average rate of 10 percent—eight times higher than the average for all imports. This...
View ArticleTrade and Worker Rights in Bangladesh: Forget the Twig and Use the Giant…
By Kimberly Ann Elliott – Earlier today, the US Trade Representative issued a call for comments on a petition to withdraw, suspend, or reduce Bangladesh’s benefits under the Generalized System of...
View ArticleA New WTO Leader: Will It Matter for Development?
By Kimberly Ann Elliott – While the World Trade Organization is not normally seen as a development organization, a strong, rules-based trade system is still critically important for developing...
View ArticleWhat does ‘big business’ say about Africa when it’s off the record?
I get a lot of random invitations along the lines of ‘come and be a token esteemed NGO rep at our next gabfest’, and accept a few of the more promising ones. So this week I ended up at a conversation...
View ArticleThe living wage campaign: are we reaching a tipping point in global supply...
NGOs have been pushing the living wage in their engagement with international companies for at least 15 years, but Rachel Wilshaw, Oxfam’s Ethical Trade Manager reckons we might be on the verge of some...
View ArticlePoor countries are losing $1 trillion a year to illicit capital flows – 7...
I was surprised not to see more coverage of last week’s hard-hitting report from the Global Financial Integrity watchdog. Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2002-2011 has a whole bunch...
View ArticleDfID gets a red light on aid for trade: how will it respond?
Oxfam aid wonk Nicola McIvor explores a highly critical report on one of DfID’s flagship programmes The problem with being committed to independent evaluation and transparency is that you risk being...
View ArticleObesity, Diabetes, Cancer: welcome to a new generation of ‘development issues’
I failed miserably to stop myself browsing my various feeds over the Christmas break (New Year’s resolution: ‘browse less, produce more’ – destined for failure). One theme that emerged was the rise of...
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Ten broad brushstrokes about development cooperation
I am discussing the the future of development cooperation, and the role of Northern NGOs,, with the policy, advocacy and campaigns team at ActionAid UK this morning. Powerpoint is forbidden. I’m...
View ArticleIs it wrong to shop from places that use child labour?
I got told off recently for shopping at H&M because of some sweatshop / child labour scandal (a burden I share with Beyonce who has also been criticised for her H&M links). But is a boycott...
View ArticleIf you are buying flowers for tomorrow, buy them from Kenya
The Mirror has an exposé looking at the shocking conditions of workers on Kenyan flower farms - some earning just £30 a month. What they fail to point out is that absolutely the best thing you can do...
View ArticleGovernment to Government trade – a new development issue, but is it threat or...
I have a love-hate relationship with The Economist – hate its lazy, evidence-free, anti-state, privatizing ‘priors’, but love the range of thought-provoking new angles, and its coverage of development....
View ArticleLabor rights in Indonesia’s sportswear factories
From 1997-2013 Oxfam Australia’s Indonesian labour rights project (ILRP) worked to help achieve “sustainable livelihoods for workers” in factories in Indonesia that form part of global supply chains...
View ArticleMaking the WTO into a force for good in Public Health
An interview with Jamie Love – STOPAIDS – View original post here: Jamie Love’s Next Big Idea: Making the WTO into a force for good in Public Health The post Making the WTO into a force for good in...
View ArticleWhy “beyond aid” matters
This blog post by Owen Barder and Theo Talbot first appeared on Views from the Center. The UK House of Commons International Development Committee is undertaking a very interesting inquiry which...
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