All Articles

People sometimes hear my criticism of international aid and assume I want the large NGOs abolished. I do not. When an earthquake destroys a city, when war cuts families off from food, when floods contaminate water supplies, large humanitarian organisations can move people, money and supplies at a scale that local groups may not yet be equipped to manage. Their staff often work in dangerous conditions. Many are local staff serving their own communities. Walking away from that

We are often told that our Western system for making political choices, what we call democracy, is the best in the world, with the implication that if every nation adopted it many of the world's problems would be solved, or at least made less bad. Every country, we assume, aspires to copy that system because they want the level of individual rights and freedom we have. After all, in the UK, Churchill told us: 'democracy is the least bad form of government, after you have trie

Lasting development begins with the realities facing farmers, workers and communities, not with grand strategies designed far away. The base must shape the solution.

Small, locally rooted projects can see needs clearly, adapt quickly and remain accountable. Their success challenges the assumption that bigger aid programmes achieve more.

Emergency relief can save lives, but it cannot replace long-term development. Communities need the power, resources and stability to build beyond repeated crisis response.