Here's what's happening at GEI...
Philanthropy: Disaster Relief
Here's an exceprt from Comparative Advantage in Disaster Response:
This paper introduces a framework for a systematic analysis of the comparative advantages of various types of emergency responders. The framework is tested against data from two cases: 1) the disaster response following the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka and 2) the response in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. This work is intended to inspire other researchers interested in questions of disaster response to employ this methodology to develop and publish cases as well, creating a body of analysis that could then be further refined into policy recommendations to improve humanitarian emergency efforts.
Continue reading Comparative Advantage in Disaster Response.
photo by Barbara Merz - Sri Lanka, April 2006
Making Sense of Darfur Blog
Program director Alex de Waal now has his own blog on the Darfur crisis. His first entry responds to John Prendergast’s “Plan B” strategy paper on Darfur—which formed the substance of a recent discussion between the two experts at the U.S. National Holocaust Museum.
From Alex's blog:
Every month, we hear advocates and humanitarian organizations saying that the situation in Darfur is once again deteriorating. The Sudan government says the opposite. It is unusual for an independent observer such as Gerbert van der Aa to make the case that things are not as bad as they are painted. What is the basis for these claims and counter-claims? Is it violent deaths, overall mortality and malnutrition, levels of displacement, security incidents affecting humanitarian agencies, or some other indicator?
Continue reading Alex's blog entry, Are things getting worse in Darfur? There is no simple answer.
Alex de Waal Speaks on Darfur at U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
On Wednesday, May 30, the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., hosted a public program, "What to do about Darfur?" featuring two of the leading analysts on the crisis: Alex de Waal of the Social Science Research Council and John Prendergast of Enough!..
For information from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum homepage, click here.
OPHI Launch Event!
Launch Event details here!
The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) has been formally launched! OPHI, directed by Sabina Alkire, is a research initiative within the Department of International Development, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford that advances the human development approach to poverty reduction by fundamental, sustained, and multidisciplinary research that is effectively disseminated. Its research aims to contribute to a multidimensional poverty reduction framework grounded in Sen's capability approach and similar ideas. This framework incorporates multiple dimensions, interconnections and principles simultaneously in order to inform policymaking and foster debate.
Launch events included public plenary events and a lecture by Amartya Sen.
Alex de Waal's Testimony on Darfur before the U.S. House of Representatives
I will focus my remarks on two major points. One is that Darfur today is different to the Darfur of 2003-04, when, on the tenth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, the conscience of the world—and notably this House—was awoken to condemn the massacres, dispossession and rape as “genocide.” Many realities in Darfur have changed and we need an accurate appraisal and analysis of the situation if we are to take the right decisions. The crisis in Darfur has been characterized as “genocide,” as “war” and as “anarchy.” None of these descriptions does justice to the complexity of the situation and the changes in the political and military landscape, especially in the last year. I submit that in order for us to respond appropriately, it is important to recognize the realities— notably that Darfur today cannot be described as a conflict between Arabs and Africans.
My second point is that the essential test of any policy for Darfur—or indeed Sudan—is that it should work. “Ought” implies “can”: in framing our actions we should be aware of what can succeed.
Click here to continue reading Alex's testimony.
GEI's Alex de Waal quoted in the New York Times:
“The government fear is if the Darfur Arabs unify and move against them, that is a decisive switch in the balance of power,” said Alex de Waal, a Sudan scholar at Justice Africa, a research institution in London, who has studied Darfur for decades. “Should they shift against the government, then the government is in deep trouble.”
Click here to read the full article.
Diasporas and Development Released!
Diasporas and Development aims to deepen the understanding of the promise and pitfalls of diaspora engagement and how it may help to bridge the distances between societies in an unequal world. Just as trade, finance, information, and technologies are moving rapidly across borders, so too have labor markets and transnational migrant communities. Migrants are sending large quantities of money back to their countries of origin in the form of philanthropy, remittances, and commercial investments. They are also sharing knowledge and skills learned abroad.
Is greater global equity an inevitable consequence of diaspora engagement in their countries of origin, or can it actually aggravate inequity?
Diasporas and Development examines the positive - and sometimes negative - impacts of dispora engagement through examination of policies and philanthropic modalities as well as specific regional examples of diaspora activity.
To purchase a copy, click here.
GEI Book Review in the Chronicle of Philanthropy
Each year, Pakistani-Americans give time and money worth $1-billion to charities, although they consistently underestimate their philanthropy relative to other Americans and Pakistanis, writes Adil Najam, who teaches at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
This fundamental misunderstanding points to "a need to move beyond anecdotal stories" toward real analysis of Pakistanis in the United States and their philanthropy, he argues.
To continue reading this review, click here.
Amartya Sen & the Kolkata Group in the India Tribune
NOBEL-LAUREATE Amartya Sen is the friend, philosopher and guide of the informal Kolkata Group that meets in the metropolis once a year to discuss one socially relevant issue. The members, who come from heterogeneous fields like academics, civil society organisations, politics, government and think-tanks, use the forum to share their ideas and experiences and, above all, to listen to the “argumentative Indian” Professor at Harvard University.
To continue reading, click here.
AIDS & Power Blog
AIDS and Power explains why social and political life in Africa goes on in a remarkably normal way, and how political leaders have successfully managed the AIDS epidemic so as to overcome any threats to their power. Partly because of pervasive denial, AIDS is not a political priority for electorates, and therefore not for democratic leaders either. AIDS activists have not directly challenged the political order, instead using international networks to promote a rights-based approach to tackling the epidemic. African political systems have proven resilient in the face of AIDS’s stresses, and rulers have learned to co-opt international AIDS efforts to their own political ends. AIDS and Power concludes that without political incentives for HIV prevention, this failure will persist.
The new SSCR book blog for AIDS & Power by Alex de Waal includes a conversation among international AIDS experts regarding issues raised in the book. Click here for more on the SSRC.
Alex de Wall Comments on Global Health in Foreign Affairs
How to establish an effective and sustainable health system in a poor country? This is a formidable and complex challenge, long neglected in development theory and practice, which has re-emerged into the mainstream debate only recently — notably with the 2001 Commission on Macro-economics and Health (CMH, headed by Jeffrey Sachs) and the 2004 Joint Learning Initiative on Human Resources for Health (JLI-HRH, steered by Lincoln Chen). American scholars have been at the forefront of both these efforts, but U.S. public and private aid efforts have actually lagged behind those of Europe in integrating disease-specific responses into comprehensive plans for public health.
To continue reading, click here.
SSRC Launches "How Genocides End" Web Forum
GEI's Alex de Waal co-edits and contributes to this Forum.
Genocide scholarship has been empirical and analytical in its investigation of the origins of genocide. Its treatment of the ending of genocide has generally been normative and exhortatory. The historical study of the de-escalation of mass group-targeted killing, whether a transitory lull or a definitive end to the violence, is a significant lacuna in the field. This webforum aims to fill that gap, soliciting contributions from scholars and specialists on the subject, including case studies of how particular genocides have ended, and comparative and theoretical analyses of the question.
Continue reading about the forum here.
Alex de Waal discusses Darfur in the London Review of Books
|
|
From the London Review online:
Military intervention won’t stop the killing. Those who are clamouring for troops to fight their way into Darfur are suffering from a salvation delusion. It’s a simple reality that UN troops can’t stop an ongoing war, and their record at protecting civilians is far from perfect. Moreover, the idea of Bush and Blair acting as global moral arbiters doesn’t travel well. The crisis in Darfur is political. It’s a civil war, and like all wars it needs a political settlement. To continue reading, click here. |
Dr. Lincoln Chen joins Harvard University Program on AIDS
|
From the Harvard Crimson:
[W]ith a pressing global health crisis such as AIDS, division and specialization are insufficient. According to Harvard Asia Center associate Dr. Lincoln C. Chen, a member of HUPA’s faculty steering committee, “AIDS as a thread and as a human phenomenon is intrinsically interdisciplinary. Because there are so many dimensions of the epidemic, it can be highly focused in one discipline, but it still must be synthesized into a holistic picture.” This is where integrative organizations such as HUPA enter the picture. ... |
 |
Continue reading about HUPA here.
Adil Najam Releases Portrait of a Giving Community
|
|
Portrait of a Giving Community:
Philanthropy by the Pakistani-American Diaspora
Adil Najam Harvard University Press (2006) Order your copy here. |
Tony Saich Joins GEI as Executive Director
| Tony Saich, Director of the Harvard University Asia Center, has recently joined the GEI team as Executive Director. He is Faculty Chair of the Asia Programs and the China Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. His current research focuses on the interplay between state and society in China and the respective roles they play in the provision of public goods and services at the local level. He has written several books on developments in China. His primary focus at GEI is the emergent China and India Program. Tony replaces Dr. Lincoln Chen, who recently assumed the Presidency of the China Medical Board of New York. Dr. Chen continues to work with GEI as a Research Associate. |
 |
New faces: John Hammock, Christina Doyle, and Tony Pipa
We recently welcomed three new members to the GEI team, and we're very happy to have such experienced professionals joining us in research, leadership and managerial roles.
 |
Christina Doyle comes to GEI after a long career in Harvard's Astronomy Department,
where she served as department administrator, and at the Kennedy School, where
she worked for the Energy and Environmental Policy Center. Christina works with Erin
on financial and office management tasks and provides primary administrative support for the
NGO Forum Program. She earned her B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Microbiology from University College Galway, Ireland.
|
| John Hammock is the Alexander N. McFarlane Associate Professor of Public Policy at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He served as Executive Director at Oxfam America from 1984-1995 and as Executive Director at ACCION International from 1973-1980. John is a graduate of Denison University and the Fletcher School. At GEI, his work centers around the Human Development and Capability Program, with particular focus on policy issues and implementation. |
 |
Alex de Waal releases AIDS and Power
|
From Zed Press:
HIV/AIDS, Africa's greatest human tragedy for over a century, is an immense challenge to democrats and activists. This book looks at whether governments can survive an epidemic that has cut life expectancy in half, further burdened fragile economies, and created millions of orphans. It explores why, twenty years into the crisis, democratic governments are performing so poorly in tackling the disease. It argues that existing approaches to the epidemic are driven by interests and frameworks that fail to engage with African resilience and creativity. Already, African communities have confounded some of the worst predictions of disaster, and if adequately supported, can find ways of sustaining development and democracy in the midst of HIV/AIDS. Purchase this book and other African Arguments volumes here. |
|
Global Health Workforce Aliances launches website
 |
The Global Health Workforce Alliance The Global Health Workforce Alliance is a partnership dedicated to identifying and implementing solutions to the health workforce crisis. It brings together a variety of actors, including national governments, civil society, finance institutions, workers, international agencies, academic institutions and professional associations. |
Alex de Waal discusses the Sudan on NPR
|
From npr.org:
Robert [Siegel] talks with Alex de Waal, an advisor to the African Union Mediation group facilitating the Darfur Peace negotiations. De Waal says the proposed peace deal is significant because it asks for major conssesions from both sides. But de Waal warns that if these talks break down, violence in Darfur will grow much worse. Hear Alex on NPR by clicking here. |
|
World Health Day - April 7, 2006
 |
Working Together for Health: the World Health Report 2006 |
World Health Day 2006: spotlight on health workforce crisis
7 April 2006 -- An acute shortage of health workers is having a devastating impact on many countries' ability to fight disease and improve health, according to The world health report 2006 published today, World Health Day. The report outlines the need for more investment in the health workforce and sets out a 10-year plan to address the crisis.
Continue reading this article here.
Dr. Lincoln Chen, Director of the Global Equity Initiative, is the WHO's Special Envoy on Human Resources for Health. GEI researchers Piya Hanvoravongchai and Mansour Farahani also contributed to the World Health Report.
Lincoln Chen and Barbara Merz in Alliance Magazine
| One of the effects of globalization has been the increasing movement of people, often unskilled labour, to neighbouring countries. Canada and the US, for example, receive large numbers of undocumented migrants from the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America; Western Europe receives large numbers from the Mediterranean basin. Many of these migrants send remittances to support families back home. In the case of Mexican migrants, remittances are estimated to be over $16 billion annually and growing. They exceed foreign direct investment and dwarf overseas development aid. While attention has generally been drawn to the scale of these remittances, there is also mounting interest in the small, yet rapidly growing, trend of migrant philanthropy. |
 |
Continue reading "Diaspora Giving and Equitable Development in Mexico" from the December 2005 issue of Alliance Magazine.
Alex de Waal Releases Darfur: A Short History of a Long War
 |
Darfur: A Short History of a Long War
Julie Flint and Alex de Waal Zed Press (2006) Order your copy here. |
Executive Director Lincoln Chen's Editorial Appears in the
New England Journal of Medicine
| The movement of physicians from poor to rich countries is a growing obstacle to global health. Ghana, with 0.09 physician per thousand population, sends doctors to the United Kingdom, which has 18 times as many physicians per capita. The United States, with 5 percent of the world's population, employs 11 percent of the globe's physicians, and its demand is growing.1 As underscored in the article by Mullan in this issue of the Journal,2 today, 25 percent of U.S. physicians are international medical graduates, and the number is even higher in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Many of these graduates come from poor countries with high disease burdens — precisely those nations that can least afford to lose their professionals. |
|
Barbara Merz Releases New Patterns for Mexico
 |
New Patterns for Mexico: Observations on Remittances,
Philanthropic Giving, and Equitable Development
Nuevas Pautas para México: Observaciones sobre Remesas, Donaciones Filantrópicas y Desarrollo Equitativo Barbara J. Merz, Ed. Harvard University Press (2005) Order your copy here. |
Last year alone, Mexican migrants living in the United States sent billions of dollars back to families and relatives living in Mexico. Most of these funds were for private consumption, but more and more diaspora resources support social and philanthropic endeavors in their country of origin. This Spanish/English bilingual volume asks: what are these new patterns of diaspora giving and how do they affect equitable development in Mexico?
Alex de Waal comments on Hurricane Katrina
This article and much more can be found on the Social Science Research Council's Hurricane Katrina web forum.
| America is distressed by Hurricane Katrina. Two weeks after the hurricane struck Louisiana and Mississippi, America is just beginning to emerge from the phase of raw bewilderment, in which the crisis is not just a threat to lives and livelihoods but also to the nation’s political imagination. Watching some television footage in an electronics store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a young black man was saying randomly to shoppers, ‘I’m from there… I’m from there. If it happened here, it wouldn’t be allowed.’ His incoherence reflected not just his trauma, but his inability to find meaning or explanation. President George W. Bush’s more public speechlessness illustrated something comparable. This wasn’t scripted. |
|
Piya Hanvoravongchai Reports on Human Resources for Health
 |
Health system weaknesses mean that death
rates are rising and life expectancy is falling in the
poorest countries, despite the global health advances of recent years.
Health workers hold the key to tackling these challenges. But urgent action
is needed to improve the supply, capacity and distribution of the global
health workforce.
A report by the Joint Learning Initiative, an enterprise involving over 100 global health leaders, estimates that there are 100 million people working in health care worldwide. |
Global Equity Initiative Annual Report 2004-2005
The Global Equity Initiative seeks to advance understanding and to promote more equitable global development. We believe that global inequities, among people and nations, are among the greatest challenges of our times. Many disparities -- in health, education, economic opportunity, and democratic freedoms – are not only morally offensive but exacerbate or precipitate negative social consequences, such as distrust, malfunctioning institutions, and even violence. To address these challenges, our Initiative brings together scholars, policy-makers and practitioners from around the world to conduct research, to convene and share ideas, to educate and communicate, and to develop the next generation of leaders.
Continue reading the Global Equity Initiative Annual Report.
Professor Lincoln Chen Appointed as Special Envoy for the World Health Organization
| Geneva - Professor Lincoln Chen has been appointed as the World Health Organization
(WHO) Special Envoy on Human Resources for Health (HRH).
Professor Chen is a distinguished professional in international public health and development. He founded the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University and has co-chaired the Joint Learning Initiative on Human Resources for Health, with its landmark report entitled Human Resources for Health: Overcoming the crisis. |
|