Aid & development linkage

by Danielle Cave - 12 August 2010 10:13AM

USAID Asia specialist Frank Young blogs a 2-part series on USAID's work in Timor-Leste. To read more of USAID's IMPACT blog, including posts by Administrator Rajiv Shah, start here.
The Centre for Global Development has a paper addressing the question, 'How should oil exporters spend their rents?' It draws on the experience of a few successful countries, pointing to common factors that enable countries to obtain a payoff from resource wealth. Here's hoping the paper finds its way to Papua New Guinea, where debate continues on how earnings from PNG's US$15 billion LNG project should be managed.
The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), which represents over 70 NGOs and civil-society organisations, calls on the next Australian Government to deliver 'better aid, more aid, just aid'.
Will Iraq fall victim to the oil curse? This WSJ article takes a slight departure from my usual focus, but it's an interesting read as it reveals that one-fifth of the US foreign aid budget is now under control of the US military.
The MobileActive blog, which aims to bring together a network of people using mobile technology for social impact, never ceases to amaze me. Whether it's looking at 'how mobile applications are shaking up East Africa', the banning of the Blackberry in Saudi Arabia, or a paper on government to people (G2P) payments using electronic payment mechanisms; if there is potential to use a mobile phone somewhere in the process, these communication technology gurus are discussing it.