UK's report on Safeguarding, working with Millennials, is the aid system broken, and much more

The UK House of Commons, International Development Committee, has released a report into "Sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector," following issues with sexual exploitation by senior aid staff in Haiti in 2011.

The report is a tough read and concludes that "abuse in the aid sector (internationally) is endemic and that organisations are more concerned with protecting their reputations than with looking after victims."

The House of Commons International Development Committee has called for a register of workers and a specialised ombudsman for the overseas aid sector, after concluding that organisations in this area displayed "complacency verging on complicity" towards the issue of sexual abuse and exploitation.

ACFID's response to the report “Sexual misconduct has absolutely no place in our sector. ACFID and our members are committed to addressing the concerns that have arisen and will work to further ensure accountability; drive prevention, and change behaviour so that we go above and beyond what we already have in place."

CID has also expressed its concerns, and is working with MFAT and our members to develop a Safeguarding workshop that will be held in Wellington and Auckland in September.  More information on this will follow in the next few weeks.

Turkey’s recently reelected president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has made expansion of Muslim schools a top priority. Erdogan’s government is reported to have approved a religious education budget of US$1.5 billion this year, an increase of 68 per cent.

Religious schools (madrasas) are a common feature of Muslim life.  Madrasas focus on teaching the Qur’an, the recorded sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, sacred law and other Islamic subjects.  

Since Erdogan came to power, the number of these schools has grown from 450 to 4,500.  They now require students to study the concept of holy war, to learn that Muslims should not marry atheists, and to believe that wives should obey husbands. These schools also emphasize rote learning over critical thinking.

Education has become a central issue as parents around the country are protesting his changes and scrambling to find schools of their choice as standards slide and unemployment swells.

An open letter was written by fifteen development experts and economists in which they push back against the dominance in foreign aid of micro-level projects and short-term thinking over macro-level planning that tackles the root causes of underdevelopment. 

"Aid projects might yield satisfying micro-results, but they generally do little to change the systems that produce the problems in the first place. What we need instead is to tackle the real root causes of poverty, inequality, and climate change.”

"The existing aid structure may be broken. There are times when aid is detrimental. Donor fragmentation impedes effectiveness and creates reporting burdens for recipient governments. Aid allocation based on donor interest may leave some states behind. Fragile states have tremendous needs but present significant challenges for aid delivery.

This is a challenging read. We all need to move beyond a mindset that treats short-term and long-term goals as substitutes rather than complements.

The Development Initiatives is an independent international development organisation that focuses on the role of data in driving poverty eradication and sustainable development.  They have released an interactive pdf to see profiles on how the poorest 20% of people (P20) are doing in every country across the world based on available data.

The P20 Initiative produces data to show whether the poorest 20% (the P20) of people are getting their fair share of attention, investment and opportunity, and therefore whether people are being left behind.

They have also released a report on which countries are being left behind.  Using a range of models and measures for evaluating poverty, human development and fragility, they are trying to assess the commonality between the countries most at risk in all three fields.

But how do you actually gauge how much control a woman has over her life?

There is a growing effort to actually measure women's empowerment but there are many challenges, one being getting program participants to give an honest account of their views and experiences on a topic where traditional societal expectations can be so strong. "People tell you what they think you want to hear,"

"Programs like this are potentially very valuable, but it is vital that rigorous research is done to make sure they are accomplishing their goal."

The Global Compact for Migration is now final, but the real work is beginning. “As countries prepare to adopt the Global Compact for Migration in December, discussions will revolve around how to operationalize and implement the commitments agreed to in this document”.

“The road ahead will be difficult and many of the challenges and points of contention that arose during the Compact’s negotiations will not disappear with its adoption.  Countries will need to tackle these challenges head-on as they work toward pragmatic, evidence-based, and coordinated migration policies and practices that fulfil the objectives and commitments of the Compact." 

Rachel O'Connor from the New Zealand Red Cross spoke to us about the Global Compacts on Refugees, you can find notes on this talk, her presentation slides and a video of the talk here.

“In a small Southeast Asian nation, nine young women with previously grim prospects have started tertiary education in the past 12 months because of Denise Arnold. Next year, another 50 or 60 will enrol.”

Denise Arnold founded the Cambodia Charitable Trust in 2008 to target sex trafficking in the region by enhancing access to education – for girls especially. The CCT works using a localised approach in partnership with longstanding Cambodian networks to improve and equalise education in the region. CCT’s impact includes providing teaching resources, building safe and dignified toilet blocks, constructing playgrounds, and connecting running water to keep young brains hydrated and active. CCT also collaborate with the local education ministry to train teachers, and Denise makes it a priority to include health programmes in schools and is always working to find sponsors to help keep students clothed and in class.

More recently, the Cambodia Charitable Trust have showcased some serious innovation in their involvement with Bestow Sisterhood, a New Zealand company specialising in natural health and beauty. Bestow sponsors 6 girls through the CCT, and donate to the trust all profits from sales of their ‘Generositea’, a delicious organic blend lemongrass, peppermint, hibiscus, cinnamon and cardamom.

Read more about the Cambodia Charitable Trust and our other fantastic Members of the Moment here.