Humanitarian News - AidWorkers blog posts

The Kid who Went Down Fighting

AidBlogs — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:30:39 PDT

"I want to be remembered as the kid who went down fighting and didn't really lose." You may or may not have heard of Zach Sobiech. The 18 year old died from cancer yesterday and the above video is a short view into his amazing life. It seems like Zach was the very embodiment of when[...]

US Food Aid Reform Train is Slowing Down

AidBlogs — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:40:20 PDT

Food aid reforms came under the spotlight last month when the Obama Administration announced its Fiscal Year 2014 budget. The changes are important to humanitarian response. Oxfam America estimates that reforms to food aid procurement laws could speed up crisis response by 14 weeks and reach an additional 17.1 million people.[...]

Seeing like a State vs Seeing like a Donor

AidBlogs — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:20:27 PDT

In which Justin Sandefur takes Chris Blattman and Bill Gates to school.... he argues that African governments don't need GDP data or internationally comparable micro survey data, they need good quality administrative data.

This TED talk will probably save someone's life

AidBlogs — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:10:25 PDT

[...][Published in AidBlogs - Read the original article]

moments of disappointment

AidBlogs — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:40:15 PDT

It’s been a while. Sometimes life gets away from us and suddenly five months has gone by without a post. I thought at this point I’d have exciting news to share! I thought I would get to write about a new venture for my husband and I, about a dream taking shape,[...]

Girl Rising

AidBlogs — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:10:15 PDT

On June 6th we are going to Girl Rising. The film is being show at Interquest Stadium 14 (Screen TBD) 11250 Rampart Hill View, Colorado Springs. Get your tickets here. Hurry, they are going fast! [...][Published in AidBlogs - Read

Malaria overstretching healthcare in DRC

AidBlogs — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:30:20 PDT

Malaria is preventable and curable. But the poor don't have the resources. Thousands of children under five years old die each year. Insecticide treated nets (ITN) are not available in some areas. And when they are available, their costs may put them out of reach of the poor. Finally, the availability and cost of treatment repeats the same[...]

Lazy day at Lazy B

AidBlogs — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:50:34 PDT

Ingebjorg and I went to our favourite beach place on Saturday, Lazy B. Here's a photo of the two of us:

Shadow

AidBlogs — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:20:17 PDT

Blue in the news

AidBlogs — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:30:07 PDT

Blue Dragon has popped up in the news around the world over the last week. Gulf News has featured an in-depth article on human trafficking: Blue Dragon Founder sees red over human[...]

Mitchell Argues for Patience and Cooperation with Rwanda

AidBlogs — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:30:42 PDT

Former UK development chief Andrew Mitchell makes the case for providing aid to Rwanda in an interview with the Guardian. You may remember the controversy[...]

Nick Kristof on the Slow Death of International Journalism

AidBlogs — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:00:23 PDT

New York Times journalist Nick Kristof is pessimistic when it comes to the state of international reporting in the US. He told me about his concerns in an email exchange a few months back, but extends his thoughts further in the latest CGD

Friday Silliness

AidBlogs — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:20:39 PDT

It's Friday afternoon, and I'm in the mood for a little silliness. Thankfully I didn't have to look too far for some silliness to share. In our office, we have a big room where there are loads of desks, a kitchen, a bathroom and two smaller rooms that have fewer desks. One of these rooms has a hidden room. On first and second glances, you wouldn't even notice the door, and[...]

How to Fail at Human Rights: Australia Excuses itself from Refugee Law

AidBlogs — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:41:02 PDT

A large portion of what I spend my time doing overseas is engaging with abuses of[...]

Bugs: The Surprising Super Food

AidBlogs — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:00:21 PDT

Jokes naturally followed the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation's new report extolling the virtues of eating bugs. The most popular tweet was a variant on 'Let them eat cake.' Others pointed to the scene in the Disney movie the[...]

Are private school fees in India "inflated"?

AidBlogs — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:40:15 PDT

Adventures in fact-checking exfam lefties Swati Narayan on Duncan Green's blog celebrates a new law passed in India reserving 25% of private school places[...]

Awkward Video of the Day: Tina Delivers a Goat

AidBlogs — Thu, 16 May 2013 05:50:24 PDT

HT Linda [...][Published in AidBlogs - Read

PFM in Myanmar: do you have to choose between coordination and flexibility?

AidBlogs — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:10:17 PDT

This is a guest post from Ben French (a policy adviser formerly based in Juba) Following two short recent visits to Myanmar where I was looking at the Public Financial Management (PFM) and Planning aspects of Myanmar's reforms, I kept[...]

Starts today

AidBlogs — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:50:20 PDT

Today marks the launch of Blue Dragon's 2013 major appeal, which we're calling: Whatever it takes. Anyone who has read the stories here or looked over the Blue Dragon Facebook page knows the sort of work we do. We find kids in danger,[...]

Is Social Media the Kryptonite to Poverty Porn?

AidBlogs — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:20:34 PDT

Watercolour Maps

AidBlogs — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:40:34 PDT

I found this site today, you can type in anywhere and it will make a watercolour map. Really cool! This is Beirut. I've tried it out with a few places, and I've bookmarked it as I think one day it would be great to print something out and frame it. [...][Published in AidBlogs - Read

Visualizing Africa's Mineral Wealth

AidBlogs — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:40:34 PDT

Happy Mother's Day, a little late

AidBlogs — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:20:41 PDT

Stupidity

AidBlogs — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:50:06 PDT

I am in Australia at the moment, meeting friends and supporters of Blue Dragon, attending some events, and speaking a little on radio. Being here is really like being in another world. I feel so far from the streets of Vietnam, from the kids I worry about every day, from the challenges of rescuing kids in crisis. This[...]

For Syrian Refugees, the War Behind, the Recovery Ahead

AidBlogs — Sun, 12 May 2013 10:40:05 PDT

Aicha gazes out the window, her crystal blue eyes taking in the gray sky outside the hospital near the Syrian border in Jordan, where she has been recovering for a month now. She was badly injured after her house in Dara'a, Syria was destroyed in a mortar attack.

In honor of Mother's Day

AidBlogs — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:10:17 PDT

I thought I'd post a few pictures of my mom. These are taken during my childhood and are the few I have with me here in Africa. This one was taken, I believe, before our lives got crazy (aka we moved to Dallas,[...]

India's Plateauing Working Age Population

AidBlogs — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:30:38 PDT

A Very Special R&R so far

AidBlogs — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:10:32 PDT

Is Kristof Behind Greater Attention to Women's Issues?

AidBlogs — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:20:24 PDT

A profile of Nick Kristof in Syracuse University's Daily Orange covers his career as he is set to take the stage for the University's commencement. This section caught my[...]

IPA Makes the Case for Using RCTs

AidBlogs — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:30:39 PDT

"We know we need more than good intentions. We need good evidence," says the narrator of the video explaining why evidence matters and how it is achieved with the RCT. It's been awhile since the RCT critics had something to jab at. This may bring back the debate. Oh,[...]