Published Work

Here you will find my latest reports and articles. And all the much older ones…

International Public Investment and the Future of the Global Fund

2017

Written for the Global Fund Advocacy Network. Argues that while much of the Global Fund thinking on "sustainability and transition" is important, it does not go far enough

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Reasons to be cheerful

2016

After-dinner speech given to the 5th Annual Conference of the American Sociological Association, Section on the Sociology of Development. Cornell University

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The $138.5 billion question: When does aid work (and when doesn’t it)?

2014

This paper eventually became a book. It asks what makes aid effective. I actually have some issues with the methods (regression analysis) that Andy Sumner and I used for this paper.

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The MICS conundrum

2014

A paper for the UNDP about how we are misunderstanding the role of international cooperation in so-called Middle Income Countries

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Recipients and contributors: Middle income countries and the future of development cooperation

2014

With Alonso and Sumner. One of the papers in which we try to track the changes in development cooperation in the last few years, particularly the apparent contradiction of having countries that both give and receive aid.

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Joint review of William Easterly’s The Tyranny of Experts and Ben Ramalingam’s Aid on the Edge of Chaos

2014

Both very good books...

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A greener Burkina: Land reclamation and improved living standards through sustainable farming techniques

2014

With Amanda Lenhardt, Nicholas Intscher, Ahmed Ali and Gabriel Morin, ODI Research Study. We looked at what was behind the successful regreening of desert areas in Burkina Faso. Obviously, it's a complex web of factors - but it's a good news story worth reading.

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Where next for aid? The post-2015 opportunity

2014

A joint UNDP/ODI paper with longtime collaborator Gail Hurley and others. This is one of the clearest expositions of our argument that aid should become permanent, not temporary, for a very different era...

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Localizing aid: A whole of society approach

2013

Summary of a major research project on how USAID (and other actors) could spend their aid money more directly with local organisations.

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Overcoming barriers to safer motherhood: an analysis of Nepal’s improved maternal health outcomes

2013

For this piece I travelled to Nepal with Jakob Engel to look at what was behind some excellent progress in maternal health. An inspiring story of converging interests and activities emerges...

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Cooperation for Sustainable Development: Critical challenges for development cooperation in a post-2015 world

2013

With Andrew Rogerson, another ODI researcher, we explored how the challenge of providing effective development cooperation would change in the era of the SDGs.

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From Green Paper to Government: the Coalition’s record on international development

2013

Short article for AREA, a geography journal

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The role of aid to middle-income countries: a contribution to evolving EU development policy

2011

The main conclusion of the present analysis of current evidence, thinking and practice is that international support to MICs, including financial aid, continues to play an important role in global development. Aid plays two roles in MICs: as a non-essential catalyst for change and, in some cases, as part of an orderly graduation process from aid dependence.

Who should lead the aid effectiveness debate in the future?

2011

Speech at ODI debate with Brian Atwood and Ernest Rwamucyo in the House of Commons. ODI Viewpoint

Is it time for Mali to plan an exit strategy from aid?

2011

Building on a four-category framework for analysing the impacts of aid (direct, policy, institutional, macroeconomic), this speech looks at the problem of over-dependency on aid in the specific context of Mali. It sets out the problems associated with aid dependence, why they apply to Mali, and what possible strategies might be looked out to reduce reliance on aid.

Openness, Democracy and Humility: the principles of a new era

2010

Article for the Society for International Development (SID).

Fit for purpose: how to make UK policy on Colombia more effective

2009

A critique of British foreign and development policy in Colombia. Written with colleagues in other British NGOs. With Sophie Haspeslagh

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The Trouble with Aid: Why less could mean more for Africa

2008

This is the manuscript of my book, which I am now making publicly available for free...

No end in sight: an analysis of forced displacement in Colombia

2007

An analysis of human and land rights in the second term of President Alvaro Uribe. Picture not good. With Cathy Bouley

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New era of aid

2006

This is the paper I wrote for CEPAL in Mexico City that eventually became my book, The Trouble with Aid

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Enough is enough: The debt repudiation option

2006

In this paper we make the argument that many debtor countries should repudiate their debts and refuse to pay, rather than waiting for "debt forgiveness".

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Unearthing the Truth: Mining in Peru

2006

An analysis of the impact of mining on indigenous communities in Peru.

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What about us? Debt and the G8 countries left behind

2005

An analysis of the debt cancellation deal struck at Gleneagles in 2005 - too many countries left out.

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Breaking promises, making profits. Mining in the Philippines

2004

An analysis of the negative impact of mining projects on indigenous communities, and the country as a whole. With Geoff Nettleton and Andy Wigmore

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In the Balance: Why Debts Must be Cancelled Now to Meet the MDGs

2004

Advocacy paper making the case for profound debt cancellation in the run up to the G8 meeting in Gleneagles. With Romilly Greenhill and Caroline Pearce.

Encouraging participation in PRSPs

2003

A document jointly worked on with colleagues at Save the Children UK

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Making Services Work for Poor People

2003

Unpublished. Save the Children UK's official input into the important 2004 World Development Report on making public services available to all. Still one of the best things I have written, oddly.

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