Rethinking Development Podcast

5.2 Development & the COVID 19 Pandemic Nov 02, 2021

In this episode, Noaman and Safa reflect on the emergence, spread, political economy and impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on development work.
---> Link to Noaman's podcast ( Introduction to Political Economy).

51. Decolonization is not a Metaphor Sep 20, 2021

Referring to Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang's article "Decolonization is Not a Metaphor", Safa and Noaman discuss the overuse and misuse of the term “decolonization” in the development sector and how Frantz Fanon and Amílcar Cabral can be role models for development workers.
Links we mention:
Intro to Political Economy Podcast with Noaman Ali
Decolonization is not a Metaphor by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang

4.12 Rethinking Development Mixtape May 12, 2021

For our Season 4 finale, we share a compilation of clips from our past 50+ episodes!

4.11 Indigenous Land Defense May 04, 2021

Daniel Kobei is the Founder and Executive Director of the Ogiek Peoples' Development Program, a Kenyan NGO working to secure human and land rights for the Indigenous Ogiek community as well as other Indigenous peoples across Kenya and Africa. Daniel represents Indigenous peoples under the umbrella of the International Indigenous Forum for Biodiversity and the Collaborative Partnership for Wildlife Management, set by the Convention of Biological Diversity. Daniel has been promoting the restoration of the Mau Forest Complex through Ogiek community involvement as a forest dwelling, hunter gathering community. Daniel helped lead the Ogiek to winning an eight year legal battle over land and human rights abuses at the African Court on Human and People's Rights in 2017. But four years later, the Ogiek community are still waiting for the implementation of that legal judgment.

We speak about:

the violation of the rights of the Ogiek community by the Kenyan state
resisting forced evictions & dispossession of ancestral lands
wining an 8 year long court case at the African Court on Human and People's Rights
the support of regional and international Indigenous rights groups
the undermining of Indigenous conservation knowledge
the impact of climate change in the Mau Forest complex - and much more!

Daniel joins us from Nairobi, Kenya.

4.10 A More Comprehensive Approach Apr 27, 2021

Dr. Sabina Faiz Rashid is the Dean of the BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University in Bangladesh. Dr. Rashid specializes in ethnographic and qualitative research with a focus on urban slum communities and marginalized groups. She's particularly interested in examining the impact of structural and intersectional factors on the ability of those populations to realize their health rights and access to services. In 2008, she founded the Center for Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and in 2013, co-founded the Center for Urban Equity and Health. Both focus on research, capacity building and influencing program designs and policies in Bangladesh.

We speak about:

BRAC’s approach to development
co-thinking and co-creating with communities
unpacking assumptions about the ‘Global South’
solution-based thinking
competency based learning
building a youth friendly research culture
decolonizing global health - and much more!

She joins us from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

4.9 Degrowth Apr 20, 2021

Giorgos Kallis is an ecological economist, political ecologist, and Professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology in the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies. His research is motivated by a quest to cross conceptual divides between the social and the natural domains, with particular focus on the political-economic roots of environmental degradation and its uneven distribution along lines of power, income, and class. His current work explores the hypothesis of sustainable degrowth as a solution to the dual economic and ecological crisis. Giorgos is the author of the books 'Limits' and 'The Case for Degrowth'.

We speak about:

his intellectual journey and working across disciplines
the history of the hegemony of growth
degrowth as one critique of capitalist economies
3 layers of articulating degrowth
the climate crisis
degrowth in high income countries vs. low income countries
collective action and international solidarities
engaging with a pluriverse of alternatives to capitalist growth - and much more!

He joins us from Barcelona, Spain.

4.8 Working With Bias Apr 14, 2021

Mahrukh 'Maya' Hasan is as a designer, researcher and strategic advisor who helps social impact organizations build joyful, equitable and innovative teams. She's the Founder and Director of Azura Labs, a social design and research studio that builds the capacity of international NGOs and UN agencies serving communities in Sub Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. Last March, Maya also founded the Fearless Project, a diversity, equity and inclusion firm, which aims to champion trust, belonging and joy in the social impact sector.
We speak about:

entry barriers in the sector
research ethics and design justice
moving beyond the binary of quantitative and qualitative data
diversity, equity and inclusion work
the culture of fear amongst leaders
emotional agility
learning from other sectors - and much more!

She joins us from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

4.7 In the Name of Development Apr 07, 2021

Andrea Cornwall is currently Pro Director of Research and Enterprise and Professor of Global Development and Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She is a political anthropologist and her research focuses on power, inclusion and rights. Some of her work has focused on reproductive and sexual health in Zimbabwe and Nigeria, citizen participation and accountability in health policy and governance in the UK and Brazil, and contestations over gender, empowerment, and rights in international development. She joins us from London, UK.
We speak about:

applying an anthropological lens to the development sector
fashions, fads and buzzwords in development work
interrogating participatory methods
analyzing power dynamics
decolonizing international development studies
social movements being the biggest catalysts for change
care, leisure and compassion as part of a wholistic approach to development - and much more!

4.6 Women Fighting Apartheid Mar 31, 2021

Shanthini Naidoo is a South African writer and former Sunday Times journalist. She is the author of the book which in South Africa is entitled: "Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid" and in North America is entitled: "Women Surviving Apartheid Prisons". The book uses rich interview material to share the stories of four anti apartheid women leaders and activists who were part of “Trial 22” in 1969. They were held in solitary confinement and subjected to brutal torture in a bit to force them to testify against their comrades. They refused to do so, which forced the trial effort to collapse.

We speak about:

how mainstream media depicts women’s stories
the role of women leaders in the struggle against apartheid
the context of the “Trial of 22’ that happened in 1969 South Africa
the intergenerational legacy of trauma
storytelling as a tool for healing
the importance of remembering historical struggles for freedom - and much more!

Shanthini joins us from Johannesburg, South Africa.

4.5 Mobilizing Against Malaria Mar 23, 2021

Marvi Rebueno-Trudeau is the Deputy-Executive Director of the Pilipinas Shell Foundation. She initially studied business management and founded a firm which represented foreign companies at the Asian Development Bank. Later she retired to Palawan, an island in the Philippines archipelago. Once there she was moved to come out of retirement in order to address various social issues in the community, namely malnutrition and high rates of malaria. She joined Pilipinas Shell Foundation, which funded a community-based province wide malaria program. The success of this malaria program enabled the foundation to be selected as a primary recipient of further grants from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

We speak about:

a community based approach to malaria prevention, detection and treatment
the importance of fostering the buy-in of government partners
using the malaria program as a catalyst for system wide health strengthening
embodying transparency and accountability
the role of the private sector in community development
ensuring sustainability in programming - and much more!

She joins us from Palawan, Philippines.

4.4 Gender, Rural Change and Realizing Rights Mar 17, 2021

Professor Haroon Akram-Lodhi teaches agrarian political economy at Trent University. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies, an Associate Editor of Feminist Economics, as well as a member of the Advisory Board for the Woman's Rights program of the Open Society Foundations. He further provides extensive advisory services to various UN agencies, including UN Women and the United Nations Development Program. And recently he repackaged some of his university courses into a podcast entitled: "Peasants, Food and Agrarian Change".

We speak about:

the gender dimensions of rural political economy
failings of dominant development discourses
social movements and demanding rights
the different interests and agendas of development stakeholders
facing ethical issues in his consultancies & choosing not to work with some organizations
knowledge mobilization between academia and development agencies
the human rights based approach /model
the farmers protests in India
the impact of COVID-19 on development policies

He joins us from Toronto, Canada.

4.3 Afghan Women in the Lead Mar 10, 2021

Palwasha Hassan is a women's rights and peace activist who has pioneered many critical initiatives for the promotion of women's rights and civil society in Afghanistan. She has over 20 years of experience working in development and on women's rights and empowerment issues, both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She is a founding member of several civil society groups, including the Afghan Women's Education Center, Afghan Women's Network and Roazana. In addition she is a two time elected chairperson of the Afghan NGO coordinating body -ACBAR- and a former advisor to Afghanistan's High Peace Council. She also served as the first Afghan woman to head an international NGO in Afghanistan, as Country Director for Rights & Democracy. She was recognized for her accomplishments as one of the 1,000 PeaceWomen nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

We speak about:

her experiences as an Afghan refugee in Pakistan
the role of diaspora groups as one of the stakeholders in development processes
working on law reform in Afghanistan
advocating for inclusive peace negotiations
building a feminist movement
challenging reductive stereotypes of Afghan women
the hostility and lack of support by some 'expat' women
being overburdened by activist work and fighting on various fronts
the problematic ways some development policies are 'forced' on countries
the need for more genuine international feminist solidarity - and much more!

She joins us from Kabul, Afghanistan.

4.2 Education in Emergencies Mar 03, 2021

Jessica Oddy is an education in emergencies specialist and a PhD candidate at the University of East London's Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging, where she's also a lecturer as part of an Open Learning Initiative Higher Education preparation course for asylum seekers and refugees. Her current research focuses on diverse young people's experiences of education in emergencies, colonial legacies, and how race power and privilege intersect with humanitarian education responses. She has worked with organizations such as Oxfam, War Child UK, Save the Children, Lutheran World Federation, and others.

We speak about:

education as a protection issue
racism in the aid sector
the politics of knowledge production
the demand for programming for adolescents in education in emergencies
the narrative of educability
her PhD journey & action research
equity based design - and much more!

She joins us from London, UK.

4.1 Racial Equity Feb 23, 2021

Uma Mishra-Newberry is a global social justice advocate and women's rights leader. She began her career in the US Army before becoming an educator and community organizer in the nonprofit and development sectors. She's the former Executive Director of Women's March Global and the initiator of and lead facilitator for the Racial Equity Index.

We speak about:

community organizing
building an intersectional feminist movement
being in a position of leadership
the crisis of funding in the women’s movement
rejecting hustle culture and toxic work environments
problematizing white feminism
initiating the Racial Equity Index
working as a collective
being conscious of our own biases - and much more.

She joins us from Geneva, Switzerland.

3.13 Letters from our Listeners Nov 25, 2020

In the last episode of our S 3, host Safa shares some reflections and reads out letters from our listeners. We will be back soon with our S 4!

3.12 Faith Based Charities Nov 18, 2020

Dr. Mohamed Ashmawey worked in program management and leadership in the private sector for 20 years, with organizations such as General Motors and the National Bank of Egypt. Later he joined the nonprofit sector as CEO of Islamic Relief USA, where he was credited with transforming the corporate culture of the NGO. He went on to become the CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide, where he continued to lead quality improvements and organizational transformation. Since 2019, he has been serving as the CEO of Human Appeal, a British faith based humanitarian and development charity. He spoke to us about:

differences between the corporate sector and the charity sector
challenges to implementing organizational changes
the advantages and disadvantages of being a faith based charity
rejecting arrogance and working with humility
the ongoing investigation of the Charity Commission into Human Appeal
implementing accountability processes and practicing transparency
the importance of investing in innovative research
activity based approach vs. impact based approach
redefining success
the difference between leadership and management - and much more!

He joins us from Manchester, UK.

3.11 Strategic Communication Nov 10, 2020

Dr. Deepak Gupta has over 28 years of experience as a program and strategic communication advisor for various UN agencies - including UNFPA, UNODC, UNICEF and WHO. He has designed and managed numerous large strategic communication interventions and advocacy campaigns on various development and health issues. His work on risk communication strategies in emergency situations, such as post-tsunami situations and avian influenza contexts, is particularly well noted. He is also a master trainer and expert faculty member at a number of different Institutes, where he leads courses related to strategic communication for development, and has also published extensively on strategic communication issues. He speaks to us about:

The difference between C4D and corporate marketing
Rejecting the prescriptive approach to development
Participatory methods
The importance of interpersonal communication and human touch
Overcoming challenges through catalytic change agents
The pros and cons of social media
Misinformation and rumours
Contextualizing communication programs within local cultural settings
COVID-19 strategic communication failures - and more!

He joins us from New Delhi, India.

3.10 Funding a Feminist Future Nov 04, 2020

Rita Thapa has over 35 years of experience as a feminist educator and a community activist in Nepal and internationally. She is the founder of Tewa, the innovative philanthropic Nepal women's fund, and Nagarik Aawaz, a NGO engaged in conflict transformation and peace-building in Nepal. She's also the former Chair of the Executive Board of the Global Fund for Women and former Vice Chair of the Executive Board of the Urgent Action Fund. She currently serves as Chair of the Executive Board of the Global Fund for Community Foundations. Rita was named an Ashoka Fellow in 1998 and was included in the 1000 Women for Peace nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. She speaks to us about:

overcoming aid dependency in Nepal
an alternative model of fundraising and grantmaking
dismantling hierarchies in work cultures
fostering community ownership
challenging patriarchy, caste and class divisions
politics of development
regional feminist solidarity - and much more!

She joins us from Kathmandu, Nepal.

3.9 Political Economy of Development Oct 28, 2020

Noaman Ali is currently Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan. His research and teaching concerns the political economy of development. His current research examines rural class struggle, land reforms and sub national state formation in Pakistan, through a case study of the Frontier peasant movement in the former North West Frontier Province, led by the Mazdoor Kisan party in the 1970s. His work is interdisciplinary, bringing a historical and ethnographic sensibility to the study of political science. More broadly, he is interested in social movements, rural politics, state and non state power, agrarian and industrial policy, development states and political economy in general. He speaks to us about:

interrogating power relationships and class differentiations
decoupling development from economic growth
redefining development as giving political power to the powerless
structural transformations and the role of international financial institutions
debt and capitalist logic
incrementalism
the unconscious class bias of development practitioners
the NGO/development agency industrial complex
the negative impact of green revolution technologies
the importance of social movements - and much more!

He joins us from Toronto, Canada.

3.8 Principled Action Oct 21, 2020

Wafaa Saeed is currently the Deputy Director in the Operations and Advocacy division, covering Eastern and Southern Africa at UN OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She has over 20 years of humanitarian work experience in complex settings. She has worked with WFP, UN OCHA and UNICEF in various roles in Sudan, Somalia, Indonesia, Syria, Pakistan and other countries. Prior to joining the UN, Wafaa worked as a lecturer at the University of Khartoum and as an architect in the private sector. She speaks to us about:

her interest in working closely with communities / in the field
governments in the leading role and UN organizations in the supporting role
empowering local government systems
making principled decisions / zero tolerance for fraud
maintaining the neutral humanitarian space
the differential treatment between national vs. international staff
the 3 pillars of the UN reform process
working collectively
her commitment to localization - and much more!

She joins us from New York, USA.

3.7 Humanitarian Standards Oct 14, 2020

Tanya Wood has more than 20 years of management experience in the humanitarian sector, in both headquarters and countries such as Guyana, Sri Lanka and Haiti. Her career has been focused on leadership roles within international membership organizations, including the IFRC, International Council of Voluntary Agencies, Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network, and others. She is currently the Executive Director of the CHS Alliance and co-author of the Humanitarian Accountability Report 2020: Are we making aid work better for people affected by crisis? She speaks to us about:

power dynamics in the sector
combining patient led health approaches with aid delivery
the idea of ‘the collective’
the history of the Core Humanitarian Standard
the data used in the report
the need to measure commitments made to people affected by crisis
the gap between policy and practice
individual vs systemic change
living our values and principles
how the standard can be improved - and much more!

She joins us from Geneva, Switzerland.

3.6 Disability, Poverty and Society Oct 07, 2020

Shuaib Chalklen is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. During his term as UN Special Rapporteur he established the African Disability Forum and served as its first Chairperson. He currently serves as the Regional Coordinator for their Inclusion Works Program. Prior to this he worked in the Office of the President in South Africa and was responsible for developing South Africa’s first policy on disability rights. He is furthermore the co-editor of the book “Disability, Globalization and Human Rights” that was released this year. He speaks to us about:

transitioning from being a community organizer and activist to a policy maker
the medical vs. social model of disability
lack of political will for disability rights
implementing the UN CRPD
working at the national, regional and international levels
addressing extreme poverty
the intersection of disability with race, class and other forms of discrimination
holding governments to account
building social movements and alliances - and much more!

He joins us from Cape Town, South Africa.

3.5 Feeding Minds Sep 30, 2020

Ousman Umar is a former child migrant who spent four years travelling on foot from Ghana to Libya to Spain. In 2012 he founded an NGO named NASCO Feeding Minds, which aims to create a network of IT centers with computer classrooms in rural Ghana in order to familiarize students with digital tools and facilitate their access to information. He has recently launched a social enterprise named NASCO Tech: Code Made in Africa, which aims to provide job opportunities for young IT graduates. He is also a writer and has published an autobiography entitled “Journey to the Land of the Whites”, where he shares his life story.

He speaks to us about:

His migration journey
Racism and anti-immigration sentiments in Europe
Addressing the root causes of migration
The importance of education and job opportunities
Exploitation and underdevelopment in Africa
Being a leader and starting an NGO
Horizontal vs. vertical aid
Nature as our biggest teacher - and much more!

He joins us from Barcelona, Spain.

3.4 Rethinking Humanitarianism Sep 23, 2020

Jessica Alexander is the editor of The New Humanitarian’s Rethinking Humanitarianism series. She is also a humanitarian aid worker with experience working in operations, evaluations, and policy. She has worked in Rwanda, Sudan, Haiti and other countries. Currently she teacher humanitarian affairs at numerous universities and has authored various policy papers, mainstream articles and a book entitled: “Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid.” She speak to us about:

questioning her role in humanitarian work as an American woman
the intention for and content of the Rethinking Humanitarianism series
grand claims to change vs. limitations within the sector
localisation and anti-racism
reactionary changes vs. a systemic overhaul
the younger, incoming generation of aid workers - and much more!

She joins us from Geneva Switzerland.

3.3 Constructive Criticism Sep 16, 2020

Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda is a human rights lawyer who has a decade of experience working with UNICEF other UN agencies and NGOs in the US, France, DR Congo, Mauritania, Nigeria and other countries. Her work has focused on strengthening national policies for the most vulnerable populations around the world, including working on child protection issues in emergencies. She has led the release and reintegration of children associated to armed groups and forces, incarcerated children as well as survivors of sexual violence. She is also a writer and one of the co-founders of the Collective for Black Iranians. She speaks to us about :

double standards in law
power inequalities in securing funding
the white/western savior industrial complex
questioning the relevance of big HQs
advocating governments
being declared persona non grata
applying a constructively critical lens
hierarchies amongst staff
activism as a way of life - and much more!

She joins us from California, USA.

3.2 Indigenous Future-Making Sep 09, 2020

Dr. Filiberto Penados is a Maya educator and activist scholar whose work focuses on indigenous education and future-making. He has held faculty positions at the University of Belize and Galen University and has been adjunct faculty at University of Toronto, University of Belize and University of Manitoba. He has a long history of involvement in indigenous movements in Belize and Central America. He has taught, written and presented on various topics including the decolonization of education and development. He is currently Founding Advisor at the Centre for Engaged Learning Abroad and President of the Julian Cho Society (a Maya organization in southern Belize). He speaks to us about:

decolonial education
development with identity
indigenous future-making
coloniality
decentering power
relationship to the land
global solidarity and international legal instruments
having humility - and much more!

He joins us from Belize.

3.1 Rethinking Development and Beyond Sep 02, 2020

In this episode, host Safa shares some thoughts about the evolution of the podcast, some common topics of past episodes and what to expect from season 3.

2.15 Connecting with your Purpose Jul 13, 2020

Yukako Sato worked with the World Food Programme (WFP) for 17 years. For the first half of her career, she coordinated food assistance programmes in countries such as Tajikistan, the Darfur region of Sudan and Yemen during the Arab Spring years. In her last assignment, she worked at the WFP headquarters as the Staffing Coordinator for the programme and policy function globally. In that role, Yukako facilitated the provision of talent management support that impacted about a quarter of the organization’s 15,000 global workforce in 80 countries. She led various initiatives such as talent deployment, talent acquisition and capability development. She also led the design and delivery of innovative blended learning programmes for leaders, and developed partnerships with top universities, with an aim to build the future talent pipeline for the organization. In 2018 Yukako transitioned to becoming an international Leadership Coach and is very passionate about working with international leaders globally. She speaks to us about working in emergency settings, designing creative and inventive food assistance programs, being a young female leader in a patriarchal culture, interagency cooperation and working with government partners, implementing accountability mechanisms, respecting the culture you are working in, building trust, supporting others in their careers - including those experiencing burnout, ensuring diversity in recruitment processes, important leadership practices, communication, connecting with her purpose and much more. She joins us from Tokyo, Japan.

2.14 Rejecting Inequality, Impatient for Change Jul 06, 2020

Kaveh Zahedi is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP). He oversees ESCAP’s economic, social and environmental programmes and the overall implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Prior to this, Kaveh worked at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the Regional Director and Representative for Asia and the Pacific and Deputy Director of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, overseeing work on the green economy, resource efficiency and climate change. He speaks to us about the challenge of fundraising, creating coalitions and partnerships of the willing, policy level advocacy and cause and effect, adaptability, the coronavirus pandemic, investing in social safety nets, building resiliency, engineering change towards sustainability, UN structures and intersectoral approaches, demonstrating impact, the UN reform process, regional level cooperation, being impatient for change, the role of the private sector, ICT for development, rejecting a tolerance for inequality and much more. He joins us from Bangkok, Thailand.

2.13 Structural Racism and Speaking Truth to Power Jun 29, 2020

Angela Bruce-Raeburn is currently the Regional Advocacy Director at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, which supports advocates that work for the prevention of non communicable diseases that impact low and middle income countries. Previously she worked as the Senior Policy Advisor for the humanitarian response of Oxfam in Haiti from 2010 to 2013 in the aftermath of the earthquake. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Angela grew up in Brooklyn, New York. The immigrant experience drove her interest and commitment to choosing a career where she would be able to impact and improve the lives of others. She has written many op-eds on development and racism including “But wait until they see your black face” and “International development has a race problem”. Angela speaks to us about her immigrant experience, structural racism, Caribbean regional integration, the non linear career paths of BIPOC, the financial constraints of community organizations, white supremacy and the myth of the model minority, her experience working in Haiti, development as a white man's game, woke washing and the co-opting of anti racism messages by organizations, hashtag activism, white privilege and the Women Deliver example, speaking truth to power, structural change and much more. She joins us from Washington D.C, USA.

2.12 Constructing and Reconstructing Power Jun 22, 2020

Qi Cui has over 18 years of experience as a senior professional in leading global health programs. She has especially worked to develop alliances with multi-sectoral partners to catalyze investment in health for higher impact and to identify and mitigate mission critical risks. She is currently the Senior Fund Portfolio Manager at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and focuses on managing a portfolio of infections disease resilience and health system strengthening programs in the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand. Previously she served as Program Director at Marie Stopes International in China, where her work focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights for adolescents and young people as well as HIV/AID prevention. She speaks to us about working in China on taboo topics with stigmatized groups at a time when NGO’s where a new concept, her decision to pause her work in program implementation to get more training, her work at the Global Fund, actualizing country ownership and local governance structures, implementing robust and transparent financing measures, mutual accountability, promoting dialogue and public debate, gender discrimination, microaggressions, fluid power dynamics, gendered leadership stereotypes, measuring progress over time, the coronavirus pandemic, the need for common decency and much more. She joins us from Geneva, Switzerland.

2.11 China, Africa and the Toolbox of Development Jun 15, 2020

Hannah Ryder is an economist by training, a former diplomat, and has close to 20 years of experience in international development. She is the founder and CEO of Development Reimagined, a pioneering international development consultancy firm and the first Kenyan wholly foreign owned enterprise in Beijing. Development Reimagined has built a niche in providing strategic advice and practical support to African, Chinese and international stakeholders on issues from the Belt and Road Initiative, to Africa’s growth markets, green growth and China’s foreign aid. Hannah also sits on the Executive Board of the British Chamber of Commerce in China and has played various advisory roles for the UN. She speaks to us about working with the UK government as an economist, disparities in capacities of global north and global south negotiating teams, the challenge of country ownership, centring developing country perspectives, the resource limitations of the UN, establishing Reimagining Development, China-Africa relations, debt as one tool in development, going beyond lazy solutions, working with and pushing the private sector, systemic change vs tinkering at the edges and and much more. She joins us from Beijing, China.

2.10 Swedish Development Cooperation Jun 08, 2020

Magnus Saemundsson is currently the Senior Education Specialist at SIDA, the Swedish governmental agency for development cooperation, based in Cambodia. He initially worked as a secondary school teacher and lecturer in Sweden before transitioning to the Swedish Ministry of Education. He joined SIDA in 2003 and over the years has been serving as a Senior Education Expert in the Nordic region, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia and other countries. His work with SIDA Cambodia has focused on supporting the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in improving quality assurance systems in learning and teaching, creating the first multi-donor trust fund to support capacity development at all levels of the education sector, supporting skills training programmes, through private-public partnerships and much more. He speaks to us about the historical and problematic ideas around development work, the Swedish approach to development cooperation, systematic and behaviour change, long term donor investment, the challenge of corruption, building trust, institutional memory residing with local staff and partners, the importance of communication in leadership, the power of knowledge, the role of art and culture, rethinking development support in the context of the pandemic and much more. He joins us from Phnom Phen, Cambodia.

2.9 A Whole of the River Approach: Science and Sustainable Development Jun 01, 2020

Professor Shahbaz Khan is the Director of the UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and also serves as the UNESCO Representative for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. His key leadership and management areas at UNESCO have included science capacity building and policy advice across the region. He has coordinated key programs such as Water Education for Sustainable Development, Ecohydrology, water and ethics and many others. He is a founding fellow of the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World. He previously served as the Research Director of the Irrigated Systems and Rural Water Use areas of The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia and as Professor of Hydrology and Director of the International Centre of Water at the Charles Sturt University in Australia where he conducted policy research on the nexus of water, energy and food. He also continues to serve as Adjunct Professor at numerous universities in Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and China. He speaks to us about some of his scientific research, the importance of understanding the perspective of different stakeholders, data sharing across national boundaries, having tangible impact on the lives of beneficiaries, using a whole of the river and a whole of society approach, social inequalities and the environment, public-private partnerships, mobilizing all sectors of society, UNESCO’s COVID-19 related work and much more. He joins us from Canberra, Australia.

2.8 Championing Mental Health May 25, 2020

Devora Kestel is a senior global mental health policy expert with more than twenty-five years of international experience in Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America working on implementing and advising governments on national policies related to mental health systems. In 2000 she joined the WHO as a Mental Health Officer in post-war Kosovo and later served as WHO Representative in Albania. In both countries, she worked closely with the Ministries of Health to help establish comprehensive community-based mental health systems. In 2007 she joined the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) where she first worked as the Mental Health Advisor for the Caribbean Countries, and then at the headquarters in Washington DC, providing technical cooperation in the mental health field to the entire region of the Americas. In 2015 she became the Unit Chief for Mental Health and Substance Abuse and since 2019 has been serving as WHO's Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. She speaks to us about outdated views of mental health issues and mental health reforms, her transition from clinical practice to public policy, strategies and tools to advocate for increased government investment in mental health, fighting against the stigmas associated with both mental health and substance abuse, the building back better approach, the bureaucratic challenges of working in UN agencies, country level vs regional level work, the presence of corporate lobbying in the sector, the importance of having a more inclusive global representation in initiatives, mental health as the shadow pandemic behind the coronavirus pandemic and much more. She joins us from Geneva, Switzerland.

2.7 Shifting the Power: Decolonizing Aid and Development May 18, 2020

Arbie Baguios is currently a Programme Quality and Accountability Specialist at ActionAid UK. He studied development studies at the Ateneo de Manila University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has worked with Save the Children, the British Red Cross, ActionAid and others in the Philippines and the UK with missions to other countries. In Sept 2019 he founded Aid Re-Imagined, an initiative to help usher the evolution of aid towards justice and effectiveness through deep, radical, and evidence-based reflection and research. He has drafted a “re-imagined aid model” in a bid to offer a framework for designing, implementing and evaluating aid projects that are just and effective. He speaks to us about how development is taught in different countries, decolonizing project management tools such as the logframe, power dynamics amongst donors and agencies, pushing back against the status quo, audit culture, working in crisis mode, being more reflective, ActionAid's feminist principles, accountability as the responsible use of power, the new frontiers of the aid and development sector, his Aid-Re-Imagined project, and much more. He joins us from London, UK.

2.6 Financing at the Nexus of Gender and Climate May 11, 2020

Dr. Jeanette Gurung is a forester and gender equality and climate expert with many years of experience in the international development sector. She is the founder and Executive Director of WOCAN – Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, a global network with over 1,300 members in 113 countries to support capacity building for women’s leadership and empowerment. She is the innovator of the W+ Standard ™ to measure, quantify and monetize impacts of projects on women, through the use of a results-based financing approach, providing ways for companies, governments, organizations and individuals to confidently drive and measure social and economic empowerment for women. She has managed projects for the Asian Development Bank (Harnessing Climate Change Mitigation to Benefit Women) and other UN and bilateral development agencies and led and served on numerous committees such as The Forest Dialogue Steering Committee, Gender Expert of the CGIAR Participatory Research and Gender Analysis Program, Advisor to the Forest Stewardship Council, FAO’s Policy Committee on Incentives for Ecosystem Services, and UNFCCC’s Expert Group on Gender and Climate and more. She speaks to us about being a female forester, pursuing gender mainstreaming in male dominated organizations, her Phd thesis on the same topic, the devaluation of women's labour in natural resource management, being motivated by frustration, innovating new standards, the struggle for financing gender and climate projects, working across sectors and silos, inclusive feminine leadership, climate reliance, nature based solutions, the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and much more. She joins us from Hawaii, USA.

2.5 Learning and Accountability May 04, 2020

Ann-Murray Brown is Jamaican and lived and studied in South Korea for some years before adopting The Netherlands as her second home. She is a seasoned monitoring and evaluation expert and has been involved in consultancies funded and implemented by the United Nations, the European Commission and others. She has conducted and commissioned many evaluations and designed Results-Based Management (RBM) systems to measure performance of programmes implemented in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jamaica, Sierra Leone and several countries in Asia. The main focus of her work is Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB). Using visual storytelling, she translates technical M&E concepts and jargon into accessible language and conducts virtual and onsite workshops to this end. She speaks to us about monitoring and evaluation capacity building, participatory and bottoms up approaches, working as a civil servant, going beyond the idea of evaluation as a policing role, the importance of learning and accountability, having a seat at the table and representation, communities of practice, adaptive management and the COVID-19 pandemic, learning from mistakes, donor requirements, the different priorities of NGO vs private sector clients, applying a gendered lens, and much more. She joins us from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

2.4 Doing the Right Thing: Whole World Discussions on Humanitarian Ethics Apr 27, 2020

Hugo Slim is a leading authority on the ethics of war and humanitarian action with a career that combines academia, diplomacy and operations. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He was Head of Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 2015-2020 and Chief Scholar at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue from 2003-2007. From 1994-2003 he worked as a frontline humanitarian for Save the Children and the United Nations in Morocco, Sudan, Ethiopia and the Palestinian Territories. He is the author of 30 refereed journal papers and several books, including: Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War (Hurst/OUP, 2007) and Humanitarian Ethics: A Guide to the Morality of Aid in War and Disaster (Hurst/OUP 2015). He speaks to us about human rights and human duties, humanitarian diplomacy, working in academia, moral dilemmas, protection of civilians, the Geneva Conventions, the importance of public deliberations, localizing aid, resilience and empowerment, ethical leadership, rich world vs whole world discussions, the COVID-19 pandemic and much more. He joins us from Oxford, UK.

2.3 Youth Participation in Development Apr 20, 2020

Pelumi Fadare is a polyglot who speaks nine languages. Her various professional experiences include working at the Spanish Embassy in Belgium, a consultancy with CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, where she supported the resourcing of young changemakers from the global south by designing and launching a pilot program called the Youth Action Lab and a current consultancy with Plan International. She is the co-founder of the social enterprise ApplicAid, an online mentorship platform that helps students apply for grants, financial aid and other subsidized educational opportunities. She also has a YouTube channel, Ninjanspiration, devoted to providing information to youth about educational funded opportunities, such as international conferences and study abroad programs. In 2018 she was a Youth Representative at the European Youth Hearings and in 2014 was a Youth Delegate at the Many Languages, One World Youth Forum held by the United Nations Academic Impact initiative. She speaks to us about her experiences as a youth changemaker, being a global citizen, co-design and participatory processes, founding a startup, improving access to and awareness of funded education opportunities for youth, being a 'doer', her thoughts on leadership, the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, and much more. She joins us from Brussels, Belgium.

2.2 A Failure of Leadership Apr 13, 2020

Paula Donovan is the co-director of AIDS-Free World, an international organization that advocates for institutional change with a focus on reforming powerful institutions’ responses to the social injustices that have allowed HIV to flourish. She has spent more than three decades working to advance women's and children's rights, both within the UN system—with UNICEF, UNIFEM and the Office of the UN Special Envoy on HIV and AIDS in Africa—and as a civil society advocate since she co-founded AIDS-Free World. She launched AIDS-Free World’s Code Blue Campaign in 2015 to end impunity for sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel, beginning with the military and civilian personnel involved in UN peacekeeping operations. She speaks to us about working to promote mothers' right to have control over infant feeding choices, structural injustices, the fear and stereotypes associated with the HIV crisis in eastern and southern Africa, activist movements, the failure of UN leaders to name and shame bad politicians, violence against women, advocating for the creation of a UN agency devoted to women's issues, the UN System Wide Coherence Agenda, fighting to end impunity in cases of sexual abuse and violence by UN staff, the UN convention on privileges and immunities, and much more. She joins us from Boston, USA.

2.1 The Challenges of our Time Apr 06, 2020

Robert David Cohen is an award-winning poet, journalist, children’s rights expert and communications strategist. He is the director and co-founder of Rain Barrel Communications, a global consulting firm based in NYC. Rain Barrel gives strategic and tactical communications support and counsel to UN agencies and other international organizations, NGOs, governments, businesses and universities. Prior to founding Rain Barrel, Robert was a communication specialist for UNICEF. He worked in dozens of countries to facilitate dialogue, create partnerships, foster trust and find common ground among diverse stakeholders for a broad array of advocacy causes, many of them centered on the rights and well-being of children. He served as chief speechwriter to two successive Executive Directors, helping to articulate the mission of the organization on issues ranging from preventable child and maternal deaths and hunger to HIV/AIDS and child soldiers. Robert speaks to us about working as a journalist and editor in Latin America, working as a speech writer for Jim Grant, the power of language, the negotiations that took place behind the ratification of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, communication for development and unintentional harm, the existential challenge that is climate change, unjust economic and political models, multilateralism, new models of cooperation, the COVID-19 pandemic and much more. He joins us from New York City, USA.

Trailer Mar 28, 2020

Welcome to the Rethinking Development Podcast. The place where international development and humanitarian aid practitioners and leaders share their thoughts and reflections on ethics, challenges and the systemic issues that they face in their work.

1.13 The Right to Freedom of Expression Sep 12, 2019

A journalist by training, Mikel Aguirre worked as a radio reporter for the public broadcast of the Basque autonomous region in Spain before joining the UNESCO Jakarta regional office in 2011. He launched the first regional programme on Youth and Civic Engagement, where media played a central role as means to empowering youth and strengthening their voices. Since 2015, Mikel has been working at the UNESCO office in Myanmar where he is leading the organization’s programme on Freedom of Expression. He works closely with the government and journalists to open up a space for independent media as well as promoting the right to free expression as a critical element of the democratic transition that Myanmar initiated in 2012 after decades of military rule that kept the country isolated from the rest of the world. Mikel speaks to us about understanding the role of each development partner, identifying the distinctive advantage of your organization, defending freedom of expression, the importance of collaboration and multilateralism, planting small seeds that can grow over time, the power of the media and the complexities of representation, the need to educate media consumers to become more conscious consumers, UNESCO's funding and organizational structure, the importance of putting more effort in learning about the country you are working in, and much more. He joins us from Yangon, Myanmar.

1.12 Dialogue and Citizen Participation Sep 04, 2019

Paula Claycomb began her career in journalism before transitioning to the UN system in 1989. She worked with UNICEF on social change communication in Rwanda, Kenya, Afghanistan, East Timor, Sudan and many other countries. She served as Chief of the Landmines and Small Arms Group and as Senior Advisor for Communication for Development, managing the development of policies, guidelines and standards at the global level. Since her retirement from UNICEF in 2012, Paula has provided consulting services in strategic planning and communication for development and is now the Director of Rain Barrel Communications, an international communications consulting firm that co-creates social good initiatives with partners, with a special orientation to the wellbeing of children. Paula speaks with us about the importance of dialogue and participation of effected populations in C4D, the need for long term campaigns, working in the context of genocide and the evolution of humanitarian thinking, mine risk education, simultaneously being an activist and a staff member, increasing resources for communication, learning from past mistakes, and much more. She joins us from Taos, USA.

1.11 Beginning with Ourselves: Patriarchy, SHeroes and the Training of Changemakers Aug 28, 2019

Kamla Bhasin is an Indian feminist, activist, author and facilitator. She is the Co-Founder of "Sangat" – A Global Feminist Network. She facilitates Sangat's annual South Asian Feminist Capacity Building Course on Gender, Sustainable Livelihoods, Human Rights and Peace. She is also the South Asia Coordinator of "One Billion Rising" - a global campaign to end violence against women and girls. Kamla worked with the FAO for 27 years where her worked focused on rural development and women's empowerment in Thailand, Bangladesh, India and other Asian countries. Kamla has written extensively on gender, women’s empowerment, participatory and sustainable development, participatory training, media and communication. Most of her books are written for activists and development workers. She has also written a large number of songs and slogans for the women's movement and books for children. She speaks to us about trickle down theory vs evaporation theory, top down development not reaching the poor, the importance of local knowledge and leadership in development, peoples participation, rural realities and her work in rural journalism in the 1970s, intersectionality, hierarchies in international development organizations, her life-long commitment to the training of change agents, collective learning experiences, capitalist patriarchy, and much more. She joins us from New Delhi, India.

1.10 Working In & With Communities Aug 20, 2019

Andrea Burniske has more than 20 years of experience in international development, 15 of which were spent developing and leading programs and projects in countries such as Tajikistan, Peru, Colombia and Russia for various international development agencies. Her work has centered on environmentally sustainable economics and business development, women’s empowerment, and emergency responses among other areas. She is currently working at Purdue University where she is the Chief of Party for a USAID-funded program named Long-Term Assistance and Solutions for Research (LASER) as part of the Partners for University-Led Solutions Engine (PULSE), which seeks to promote close collaboration around development challenges between academic researchers and NGOs and other development practitioners. She talks to us about the role of media in social development, social structures and power relationships, human flaws, working with government and donors, building trust by being in the field and developing sincere relationships, corruption, the bridge between academia and development and much more. She joins us from Lafayette, USA.

1.9 Peaks and Valleys of Aid & Development Aug 12, 2019

Gary Burniske is currently the Managing Director of the Center for Global Food Security within Discovery Park at Purdue University. He is responsible for the day to day management of the Center and networks with Purdue’s faculty and scientists to take a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling global challenges affecting food security. Before joining Purdue, Gary served as Country Director for Mercy Corps in Colombia and Tajikistan, and Country Director for the Institute for Sustainable Communities in Russia. He also worked as Regional Technical Advisor in Agriculture and Natural Resources with CARE covering 25 countries in Asia and Latin America. He speaks to us about the transition from emergency to development work, food for work programs, politicization of funding and the role of donors, behaviour change, working as a country director, clustering of programs, plan for phasing out vs continuous problems at different time periods, the role of the military in aid, the complexities of drug policies, working in academia and much more. He joins us from Lafayette, USA.

1.8 Working with Trauma Jul 29, 2019

Dr. Patricia Omidian is a medical anthropologist and international development consultant. She is also the co-founder of Focusing Initiatives International, an international NGO that supports the development of community wellness programs and trains trainers and local practitioners in public health approached to wellness and trauma healing. She has many years of international experience primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan working with different organizations including Save the Children, WHO, IRC and more on research and evaluation, community health, social reintegration, peace building, psychosocial wellness and education. She speaks with us about addressing the layers of intergenerational war time and refugee experience related trauma, cultural modalities of healing, the concept of safety, and much more. She joins us from Oregon, USA.

1.7 Urgency, Security and Humanitarian Assistance Jul 19, 2019

Paul Barker began his career as a peace corps volunteer in Iran before beginning to work with a variety of organizations primarily in humanitarian contexts in Sudan, Ethiopia, West Bank and Gaza, Afghanistan and more. Over the years he has worked on addressing the underlying causes of social issues in vulnerable areas through policy analysis, advocacy and improved program design. He has held numerous Country Director positions with CARE and Save the Children where he led programs that addressed important social issues such as emergency feeding, maternal and child health, rural credit and micro finance programs, water and sanitation, peace building, child rights governance and child protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation and more. He speaks to us about the joy of working in rural communities, working with governments, internal tracking and accounting systems, the role of the media, a sense of urgency, the role of the military, and much more. He joins us from Portland, USA.

1.6 Right in Principle, Right in Practice Jul 15, 2019

Richard Morgan has over 20 years of experience working in international development. He is currently the International Advocacy Director at Plan International. Prior to this he was the Director of the "child poverty" theme for Save the Children, where he co-founded and co-led the Global Coalition to End Child poverty. Previously he was a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of UNICEF on the post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda where he co-led a global consultation and policy analysis on inequalities. Richard earlier served as the director of policy and practice at UNICEF HQ where he was responsible for leading on policy, standards and practices in the areas of gender equality, children's rights, child and youth participation, social statistics and communication for development. Richard speaks to us about the MDGs and SDGs, disaggregating data on inequalities, using a human rights approach, child participation in policy processes, the interface of children's rights with economics, and more. He joins us from London, UK.

1.5 Gender and the Environment Jul 08, 2019

Leisa Perch is an international development consultant with over 20 years of experience providing both technical advice and managerial support to different international development agencies such as UN Women and UNDP. Her experience and expertise spans a number of areas including gender and women’s empowerment programming, gender and sustainable development, environmental management, climate change adaptation, post disaster recovery, sustainable livelihoods and more. Leisa previously set up and led the Rural and Sustainable Development Cluster at the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) in Brasilia, Brazil and worked with the UNDP Sub-regional Office for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean states (OECS). She is also a member of the Gender in Fisheries Team and the Carribean Green Economy Action Learning Group. Leisa speaks to us about the importance of using an intersectional analytical framework, building trust in communities, listening with an open mind, working across the natural and social sciences, acknowledging that we work within ecosystems, avoiding harm and much more. She joins us from Barbados.

1.4 Women in Leadership Jul 02, 2019

Karin Sham Poo paved the way for women in senior leadership positions in both the banking sector and UNICEF. She was the first woman to achieve a managerial position at the Christiania Bank in 1970 – and ultimately served as the banks Senior Vice President from 1982 to 1985. She was recruited to UNICEF in 1985 to serve as the comptroller or finance director and in 1987 was promoted to Deputy Executive Director at the Assistant Secretary General level where she served until 2004 when she retired. After retirement she served as Interim Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict at the Under Secretary General level in 2005 and later as UNICEF special Envoy to the Caribbean on a part time basis from 2005-2010. She speaks to us about what it was like to be the first woman at a director level in UNICEF, her experiences working with the legendary Jim Grant, the importance of multilateral cooperation, the qualities of a good leader, and much more. She joins us from New York City, USA.

1.3 Communication in Emergencies Jun 24, 2019

Aziz Froutan has 15 years of extensive experience in media, public relations and strategic communications, especially regarding women's and children's rights. He initially worked as a journalist, correspondent and producer with various media outlets such as Radio France International and the BBC from 2003 to 2010. Later, he served as a Communication Specialist for UNICEF in Afghanistan, India, Cameroon and Burundi. He speaks to us about ensuring consent, prioritizing protection, collaborating with others, the responsibility of amplifying the voices and stories of those he interviews and much more. He joins us from Toronto, Canada.

1.2 Lessons from Indonesia Jun 04, 2019

Gracia Hadiwijaja is a research consultant and has over 10 years of experience in the development sector in Indonesia. She has worked for the SMERU Research Institute, the World Bank, the ERIA Research Institute, the IFP Research Institute, TNP2K, and she is currently the Chief Operating Officer of a research program in Kalimantan funded by the Center on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University. Gracia shares her personal reflections on rethinking both impact and failure, acknowledging the limitations of statistics, loving her work, the importance of having a government ally, and much more. She joins us from Jakarta, Indonesia.

1.1 Overcoming Sectoral Analysis May 30, 2019

Dr. Akiko Maeda is a health economist with 25 years of experience in international development. She has held various technical and managerial positions at the World Bank, OECD, Asian Development Bank, UNICEF and UNDP, and was involved with policy analyses and investment programs on a wide range of topics, including: girls’ literacy and immunization in low income countries such as Yemen and Cambodia; health insurance regulation and fiscal policy analysis in middle income countries such as Egypt and Slovenia; and health workforce skills assessment for high income OECD countries. She speaks to us about the limitations of single issue / linear analysis, the disconnect between research and policy making, the need for novel intersectional and complex system analysis in order to create a more just world and much more. She joins us from Saanich, Canada.

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