Tag Archives: China

Another year down and no agreement in Doha trade talks

Posted in: Agriculture, Politics, Trade | February 4, 2013 at 10:00 am , by Sarah Chambers

The world trade system disadvantages developing countries, yet attempts to remedy the situation over the past decade through the Doha Development Round trade talks have stalled. Sarah Chambers looks at what's gone wrong and how the international community can move forward with trade agreements....

Tobacco, Poverty and the Need for Global Action

Posted in: Health, Poverty, Research | August 31, 2012 at 7:00 am , by Sam Byfield

2 comments

The recent High Court judgement in Australia upholding legislation to enforce plain packaging for tobacco products provides a good opportunity to look at the impacts of tobacco in low and middle income countries, and what’s needed to stem the tide of poverty and mortality they cause. Sam Byfield, of the...

When talking about human rights is irrelevant

Posted in: China & Development, Human Rights, Reflection | May 31, 2012 at 8:21 am , by Weh Yeoh

6 comments

What is learned in a classroom is often miles away from what happens or works in practice. We all know this. How it actually differs though, is something that is difficult to predict. Weh Yeoh reflects on his experiences in China, giving a personal account of his struggles to frame...

Don’t change the message. Change the messenger.

Posted in: Fundraising | May 16, 2012 at 10:00 pm , by Weh Yeoh

5 comments

Everything that we do in development is about selling a message. But how do we convince people when a message goes against the grain of what they already believe? As Weh Yeoh argues, framing the argument is important, but even more important is the person who is doing the framing....

The end of aid through trade?

Posted in: Foreign Aid, Trade | April 30, 2012 at 12:35 am , by Sarah Chambers

One comment

In light of the improved economic performance of developing countries, should there be a shift in the debate to be more focused on how the global community achieves the end of aid? Sarah Chambers argues that yes, we need to start talking about the next step beyond aid, and that...

Literacy in Development: the flaws with using literacy rates to inform development policy (part 3)

Posted in: Education | April 4, 2012 at 1:00 pm , by Alex Grey

One comment

In her third post on literacy and development, Alex Grey examines some of the issues associated with using literacy rates as a measurement to inform development policy, and shows how problematic approaches to monitoring literacy can lead to problems on the ground....

Literacy in Development: China’s ethnic minorities (part 2)

Posted in: Education | March 21, 2012 at 2:00 pm , by Alex Grey

One comment

In an exciting cross-post with The China Beat, Alex continues analysing of the role literacy and development, this time in the Middle Kingdom. She looks at the minority communities who populate most of China’s developing regions, their bilingual schooling (or lack of it) and the relationship between their languages,...

Literacy in development: economics and social sciences converge, uneasily (part 1)

Posted in: Education | March 2, 2012 at 11:12 pm , by Alex Grey

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Literacy is not a set of skills independently learned regardless of social and cultural context, nor is it simply synonymous with schooling. In part 1 of a three-part series, Alex Grey argues that unless ethnographic understandings inform literacy campaigns and other development projects, they are likely to be less successful...

The realities of working in development and how we might help

Posted in: China & Development, Coaching | March 1, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Weh Yeoh

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Recently, Weh was featured on Sydney's 2SER's Aidworks program (107.3 FM). On the program, he discussed the realities of working in development within China, and also whydev.org's new peer coaching scheme, set up to support isolated aid and development workers across the globe. Have a listen to the ten minute...

China’s aid transparency woes.

Posted in: China & Development, Foreign Aid | November 30, 2011 at 8:53 am , by Philippa Brant

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Current negotiations are underway to improve aid effectiveness and establish a global partnership at the High Level Forum in Busan. There is increasing pressure on China to improve the transparency of its foreign aid program and conform to global norms. Yet, China is refusing to budge and many commentators are...

China’s moth-eaten social safety net: who will catch the poorest of the poor? Not corporations.

Posted in: China & Development | November 16, 2011 at 12:01 am , by Emily D'Ath

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China is, without a doubt, on a fast track to ‘development’ with an astonishing US$3.2 trillion in foreign reserves. But inequality, particularly rural and urban, is extreme and China’s growing wealth has resulted in multiple international aid agencies pulling out. So, who is going to pick up the slack? Emily...

Is China challenging traditional donors’ development policy?

Posted in: China & Development, Foreign Aid | October 14, 2011 at 8:21 pm , by Philippa Brant

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In the lead up to the Fourth High Level Forum in Busan, South Korea, in late November, development thinkers and practitioners are debating what the outcome document could and should reflect, and the role of South-South Cooperation providers in influencing this process. It is within this context that the discussion...

CSR: Causing Some Reservations. A response to the Aid Blog Forum

Posted in: CSR | September 21, 2011 at 8:00 am , by Emily D'Ath

2 comments

This is a joint post in response to the first discussion for the 'The Aid Blog Forum'; an initiative started by J. at Tales from the Hood. The first topic is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Emily, Weh and Brendan present each of their responses to the guiding questions for this...

Our favourite whydev posts

Posted in: General | July 28, 2011 at 11:27 pm , by Weh Yeoh

4 comments

There's no better way to celebrate our most significant of anniversaries, than to reflect on what has been a great 14 months and 2 weeks of contributions to whydev. In this post, Weh and Brendan choose their top posts since whydev's inception. Something we've missed? Something that doesn't belong there?...

The price of freedom is not eternal vigilante-ism

Posted in: China & Development | July 14, 2011 at 4:00 pm , by Alex Grey

4 comments

Internet microblogging in China has been touted by some as the way forward for civil society, but this kind of participation does not include development of civil society institutions. The Red Cross Society of China has just been at the centre of a big scandal taking place largely in the...