Pri's blog

As both a coordinator and an evaluator of networks I have been frustrated at the lack of understanding about this organisational form or way of working despite the growing popularity of networks in the world of development policy and practice. The proposal for a roundtable was presented to the 3ie Conference on "Perspectives of Impact Evaluation" because of this frustration. (For more information about the conference check their website ) The roundtable was conceptualised in collaboration with three colleagues: Kate Czuczman from the International Forum for Rural Transport and Development ( www.ifrtd.org ), Sheila Oparaocha from ENERGIA ( www.energia.org ) and Paul Starkey, author of Networking for development ( P.H.Starkey@reading.ac.uk ), but unfortunately none of them could come to Cairo. We decided, in the true spirit of networking, that we would draw the 'expertise' for the roundtable from among the participants at the Conference. Finally, there were sevente...

The Aid Workers Network recently had a posting (see http://www.aidworkers.net/?q=node/2027 if you are interested) with a quote from an American who had worked in the developing world for many years, and who resigned as a field leader in a large American based child sponsorship organisation because his "conscience could no longer handle an increasing organisational focus on what was good for the organisation than what is best for the child and community”. He highlights the sophisticated marketing programme that tries to alleviate the donors’ guilt (“we have so much and they have so little”) and the imbeddedness in the America Knows Best scenario (also Britain, Europe, Australia etc knows best) that continues to be played out around the world and asks aren’t there better ways. Of course there are. What I find distasteful about the child sponsorship organizations is the parading of images of liquid-eyed poor children to elicit sympathy and raise funds. This is no different to beggar...

Today I attended the funeral of Lasantha Wickremetunge, the Chief Editor of the Sunday Leader who was brutally assassinated on Thursday. I didn't know Lasantha. I didn't even like his style of journalism. But I admired his courage. I didn't go to Kanatte to just mourn him but also to mourn the death of the Sri Lanka I knew and loved. The Sunday Leader of January 11 carried this editorial, written by Lasantha in anticipation of his assassination. It is worth reproducing in full but you can also access it on http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090111/editorial-.htm Editorial -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And Then They Came For Me No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed...

The UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo organised a policy dialogue on inequality in honour of Frances Stewart. Frances Stewart's guru status has been achieved through the elaboration of the concept of " horizontal inequalities ". Prashan Thalayasingam, colleague at CEPA made an excellent presentation on the inequality and conflict panel at the dialogue, and I agreed, somewhat rashly to serve on the panel about gender and inequality. In my discussion on the gender and inequality panel, I tried first to look at gender inequality in the same framework as horizontal inequalities. Using some of the concepts of the horizontal inequality discourse I made the following observations. Gender differences are socially significant. They have meaning for women and for men i.e. for the members of the two gender groups. The inequality influences behaviours and wellbeing in a significant way. The inequality is particularly marked in the differential access to resources. Women typically h...

Some of the outcomes of a panel discussion on the subject that I facilitated at the Asian Transport Forum at the Asian Development Bank in Manila on the 11th September, interspersed with some thoughts of my own... What is inclusive transport? The World Bank discusses the issues relating to inclusive transport as " the availability of transport services for the poor, women, persons with disability and the elderly has emerged as an important issue in the context of a number of transport policies. It requires the removal of institutional and physical barriers and the enhancement of incentives to increase the accessibility of diverse individuals and groups to transport opportunities" (see : http://go.worldbank.org/61NANCE7X0) The ADB looks at the need to pay special attention to mobility and accessibility especially of low-income households as differentiated by their gender, age and ability. They aim to ensure equitable and affordable transport and ensure access to the ...

I spent two weeks in Singapore at the end of February with a friend who was having radio therapy. Enjoyed it, inspite of myself. But there are somethings that are very disturbing. For instance, everything in Singapore is manufactured, to near perfection maybe, but manufactured and unspontaneous nevertheless. Take the Night Safari, the Jurong Bird Park , both leisure centres, manufactured for the recreational needs of Singaporeans. Why travel to the Mara or to Serengeti or to Kruger when its been brought right into your neighbourhood? Take the trees, many of them rootballed from the Malaysian forests I am told, planted always in a row, with branches growing like the arms of dancers in a synchronised ballet. Take the most frightening manufacture - Singapore Firepower, proudly "better, smarter and more lethal" (My paper, Thursday, February 21) Showcased at the Singapore Airshow during the time of my visit. First of its kind, the Redback Weapon System - a lightweight multibarrel ...

Gender Dimensions of the Millennium Developmebt Goals in Sri Lanka I was one of three speakers at the launch of the UNDP’s “Gender Dimensions of the Millennium Development Goals in Sri Lanka” volume. The publication was researched and written by a team from CENWOR (Centre for Women’s Research http://www.cenwor.lk/ ). The other two speakers were Dr Anila Dias Bandaranaike, former Director of Statistics and Assistant Governor at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and Dr Pat Alailima, a former Director General of Planning. Distinguished company. My remit was to talk about Goals 3 and 7 in all of 10 minutes – so here, not quite verbatim, is what I said. I began by congratulating the writers, researchers and compilers of the report. [Though I didn’t say it, I did think while I was reading it “trust the women to be realistic rather than euphoric about Sri Lanka’s much lauded social indicators and gender equality achievements”!] I also congratulated the UNDP for putting out an eye-catching and at...