A picture can say a thousand words. An infographic can say them better. 
Today, Development Roast brings you visual food for thought by proposing an alternative evolution of man and the role that education can play within it (click on the image to expand).
Please share the infographic with your friends and colleagues. Read More »
James Belgrave reports on the increase in violence experienced over the last six months and its implications for long term stability of Burundi. Photo Credits: Teddy Mazina.
Since the peace agreements of 2005 and since the former rebel FNL (Forces Nationales de Libération) forces laid down their weapons and joined the political process in 2009, relative peace has reigned over Burundi.
However, since the 2010 elections, which were characterized by sporadic political violence, the security situation has steadily deteriorated. Several recent armed attacks stand out amongst a list of worryingly violent incidents. The government has so far blamed ‘armed bandits’, but some point to the violence as bearing the marks of a potential conflict with the potential to destabilize a country which is already recovering from a civil war which left around 300,000 people dead and more than 500,000 displaced. Read More »
Guest Roaster Aliza Amlani shares her experiences from Colombia.
A few weeks ago I began reading “Writing on the edge”, a book about Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) missions Worldwide. One reporter was in Phnom Penh in Cambodia, an area rife with malaria and unexploded landmines planted by the Khmer Rouge. As I sat sipping on a cup of tea in the comfort of my own home, I wondered what it must be like to put yourself in such a dangerous situation. Three weeks later that is exactly what I did.
I have been living in Bogotá for 3 months now, working at an NGO. One evening a call from a colleague informed me that we were going to carry out monitoring and evaluation of projects in the department of Meta, only a few hours by car from Bogota but a place that feels like a world away. It is well known as the “home” of the FARC, the left wing guerillas that have terrorized citizens for decades. Cocaine plantations and a close proximity to the capital make Meta a hotspot for guerilla activity. Like where there is smoke there is fire, where there are guerillas there are paramilitaries, the deadly opposition right wingers. These two groups fiercely battle for land and cocaine plantations, destroying anything and anyone that stands in their way. Read More »
The Second Bolivian Conference on Development Economics (BCDE 2010) was held in La Paz last week with approximately 150 participants and 55 presenters, including keynote speakers Máximo Torero from IFPRI and Beatriz Armendáriz from Harvard.
The principal organizers were the Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD, the Society of Bolivian Economists (SEBOL) and Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB), with crucial support from Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Many other institutions and individuals contributed to the success, including several generous sponsors (the Danish Development Research Network, the Poverty Reduction, Equity, and Growth Network, BancoSol, SOBOCE and Fundación Estás Vivo)and of course the many talented presenters who had made the long trip to Bolivia from every corner of the World.
I recently came by a simple but astonishing experiment that shows you how easily you can be deceived. If I told you too much about it, I would ruin it for you, so please do the experiment yourself before reading my comments.
You will have to watch a short video of about 1 minute. In the video you will see a group of basketball players, some in white and some in black passing two balls around. Your goal is to count how many times the ball is passed by those wearing white shirts. It’s that simple. Once the movie is over, write down the number of passes you have counted.
At this special anniversary of the Monday Morning Development Newsletter (75 issues), I would like to thank the faithful readers for all the comments, ideas and encouragements you have been sending over the years. Without all the positive feedback we have been receiving, the Newsletter certainly would not have survived as long.
However, it cannot survive on praise alone either, and we do want to keep it free for the readers, so we are now inviting sponsors to make contributions to the next 75 issues.
Development Roast Giving international development a proper roasting