Aid and Accountability

Millicent Teasdale — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Humanitarianism has become a multi billion dollar business, but who is holding it to account? When a catastrophic disaster hits; the 2004 Tsunami, the floods in Pakistan, the public reach into their pockets and give. But when all the television cameras have packed up and gone home who is left to monitor how that money is spent?

Join us at the Frontline Club with an expert panel to discuss where the money goes. Is there a need for a greater level of transparency and accountability? What systems are in place for this and are they working? To what extent are there levels of corruption in the system and how can this be addressed? Is aid targeted to the greatest effectiveness?

Chaired by Paddy Coulter, Oxford Global Media partner and communications director of Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at Oxford University’s Department of International Development,

With:

Vicki Peaple, international development professional who has been working in the sector for the past 6 years currently for the STARS Foundation managing a programme of funding and consultancy support to local organisations working in Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia and Somaliland.

Judith Randel, co-founder and director of Development Initiatives (DI). She provides strategic direction and expert advice across all DI’s programmes, including aidinfo and Global Humanitarian Assistance, following on from the success of the Reality of Aid reports.

Giles Bolton, closely involved in Africa and its development for more than ten years as a civil servant, diplomat and aid worker. From 1996 until 2004 he worked for the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Iraq. Author of Aid and Other Dirty Business: An Insider Uncovers How Globalisation and Good Intentions Have Failed the World’s Poor.

Jonathan Glennie, research fellow at the Centre for Aid and Public Expenditure (CAPE) at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). Previously, he managed Christian Aid’s aid programme in Colombia and worked on several international campaigns, including Make Poverty History and the Jubilee Debt Campaign. He is the author of The Trouble with Aid: Why less could mean more for Africa.

FULLY BOOKED War and aid: does humanitarian intervention work?

Millicent Teasdale — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:00:00 +0000

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What is the reality of the humanitarian aid industry and what impact is it having on the people at the receiving end? How is the money spent and is there enough accountability to make sure it is spent in the right way?

Do you agree with Linda Polman, author of War Games: The Story of Aid and War in Modern Times that the humanitarian aid industry, the media and warmongers the world over are locked in a cycle of mutual support?

We will also be discussing Western intervention in countries such as Kosovo and Iraq. Those and other interventions may have been driven by humanitarian principles but have they worked?

In his recent book, The Thin Blue Line: How Humanitarianism Went to War Conor Foley argues that the multi-billion industry that has emerged in the past 20 years has played a leading role in shaping foreign policy in the West and that international law has been used to override the sovereignty of the poorest countries of the world.

Join us to discuss the criticisms that have been levelled at the aid industry and humanitarian intervention.

With Conor Foley, humanitarian aid worker who has worked for a variety of human rights and humanitarian aid organisations and writes regularly for The Guardian Comment is Free; Linda Polman, freelance journalist and author of We Did Nothing: Why the Truth Doesn’t Always Come Out When the UN Goes In; Amany Abouzeid, ActionAid human security policy coordinator and Sarah Bailey, research officer for ODI Humanitarian Policy Group.

Moderated by Humphrey Hawksley, leading BBC foreign correspondent, author and commentator on world affairs.

Humanitarianism – Frontline Club

Aid and Accountability

FULLY BOOKED War and aid: does humanitarian intervention work?