human rights

We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Hayek

Posted on Tue, 08/31/2010 - 23:05

Universidad Francisco Marroquin recently made available both the video and transcripts of a series of interviews with F.A. Hayek from the mid-1970’s. Not only do they furnish an in depth look into the ideas of one of the past century’s most influential thinkers, and pair him with some of the other great economists of the past half-century, they do so with a level of style that only the 1970’s could provide.

Why is promising a right to food more politically appealing than delivering that food?

Posted on Wed, 08/11/2010 - 23:01

In India, the system that delivers subsidized food and fuel to the nation’s poor is badly broken. Many people who are supposed to receive the subsidized fuel and bags of grain do not, and “studies show that 70 percent of a roughly $12 billion budget is wasted, stolen, or absorbed by bureaucratic and transportation costs.”

Highlights of our workshop on ICT and Elections in Nigeria

Posted on Tue, 07/20/2010 - 04:09

The past two days, I’ve been participating in the first day of a two-day event on information technology and government transparency in Nigeria. It’s a conversation that’s both timely, and also a bit late – decisions recently made in Nigeria mean that the upcoming presidential election will take place in January 2011.

Separating the wax from the gold: social accountability in Ethiopia

Posted on Mon, 07/12/2010 - 23:01

This post was written by Helen Epstein, author of The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing the Fight Against AIDS.
I was heartened to see that Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa, blogged about my article Cruel Ethiopia in the New York Review of Books.

Social Change - to go, please

Posted on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 09:50

Cross-posted at the FrontlineSMS Blog
The recent Technology Salons have been on local and sectoral implementations of mobile technology in development.

And a Happy 60th to the Geneva Conventions!

Posted on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 12:10

Speaking of anniversaries, on August 12 1949, 64 countries came together in the wake of the worst war the world has ever seen and signed the four Geneva Conventions.

Obama statement on Aung Sun Suu Kyi

Posted on Tue, 08/11/2009 - 13:55

Fresh from the White House: 
The conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today on charges related to an uninvited intrusion into her home violate universal principles of human rights, run counter to Burma’s commitments under the ASEAN charter, and demonstrate continued disregard for UN Security Council statements. I join the international community in calling for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate unconditional release.

Another day, another ridiculous John Bolton op-ed

Posted on Tue, 08/11/2009 - 12:12

In The Wall Street Journal today, John Bolton -- the "Glenn Beck of foreign policy," in Dan Drezner's words -- demonstrates once again his uncanny ability to pen ludicrous partisan blindsides and convince major editorial boards to

Ending a culture of rape

Posted on Tue, 08/11/2009 - 10:12

Hilary Clinton is in Kinshasa, Congo, today, calling for an end to rape as a weapon of war. She blamed an unprofessional military and a trade in minerals that fuels violent militias. She was passionate and stirring as she talked about human rights abuses, and ending a culture of rape.

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