Theory in Practice

Denika Blacklock Originally Published in Kanava Global Connection http://www.kanavainternational.com/2015/04/can-sustainability-really-be-achieved-without-government-led-development/#.VTe2s_mUemM Parallel Programming – ‘Speedier’ But At what Long-Term Cost? You have most likely heard the term ‘parallel programing’ – but do you know what it really means? It is the process of implementing development programs outside (parallel to) the official government process. It means that government, whether national or local, is not the final decision maker and the program funds are not implemented through the government financial management system. This often takes place due to weak accountability and transparency mechanisms within the government (particularly local government), and the potential for speedier implementation of development activities and thus more immediate impact with targeted communities.

Denika Blacklock  Originally Published on AidLeap https://aidleap.wordpress.com/ ‘Asia’ as a singular region is massive – it has a population of 3.73 billion people. The Pacific, in contrast, consists of 22 island nations with a population of just over 10 million people. Yet, time and again, development analysis looks at the ‘Asia-Pacific’ as a singular entity, with the Pacific constituting 0.2% of the population of the ‘Asia-Pacific’ region. Indeed, the entire population of the Pacific barely equals the population of a single Asian country. However, culturally, economically and historically, Asia and the Pacific are vastly different. The remoteness of Pacific island countries means that challenges which have mostly been overcome in Asia – such as the accessibility of technology, transportation and access to markets – are daily challenges; not only between countries, but within them, too. And while all countries are vulnerable to climate change and its associated risk...

Denika Blacklock Karim Cyclone Pam tore through the Pacific in March 2015, the second largest cyclone to make land fall in recorded history. The cyclone affected four countries, lefts dozens of thousands homeless, destroyed infrastructure including hospitals and schools and resulted in severe flooding in some areas. And yet only 10 people died, which is a dramatic reduction in the loss of human life if we compare to Cyclone Haiyan which devastated parts of the Philippines in December 2013 in which more than 6,000 people died. This is an impressive indicator of how much early warning and disaster preparedness components of disaster risk management have improved over the course of the past 10 years. Nonetheless, lives and communities were destroyed in Pam’s wake and we must ask ourselves why we, in the development community, have not seen a comparable increase the risk reduction aspects of disaster risk management - in the ability of communities to increase their resilience to dis...