Working in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance


Book Description

This is an indispensable career guide for everyone wanting to work in or already working in the international development and humanitarian emergencies sector. It provides a general introduction and insight into the sector, for those exploring it as a potential career, and offers students up-to-date advice when choosing a course, whether it’s at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Should they study International Development, or will Public Health, Environmental studies or Media get them closer to where they want to get? This book offers graduates or career changers who are new to the sector an understanding of what skills and experience will make them stand out above the competition and get that job. It enables those already working in the sector to gain a long term view of where they want to go and how they might structure their professional development to gain the skills and competencies necessary to get their career on to an upward trajectory. This book draws heavily on insiders’ advice, case studies and top tips, to provide the reader with various perspectives and insights. How do you become a country director for an international NGO? How can one become a gender mainstreaming expert? What can you do to get in to consultancy? Career trajectories, Career clinics Q&A boxes and the personal planner in the appendix will help you get to where you want to go. It also gives a detailed account of the myriad of careers and specialism available within the sector and methodologically describes the pros and cons of each option. So if you are not sure where you want to go with your career, you will be after you have read this book. Whether it’s Programme Management, becoming an Environmental Advisor, or an Acadmic this book will give you an insight into what the job entails and how you can get in to it. It will be an invaluable guide to all readers, irrespective of their country of origin, who are interested in the sector.




Choosing a Career in International Development


Book Description

For those considering a career in International Development, this book gives down to earth information and advice. It is an intriguing look at the field from top to bottom. What is International Development, its specialties and careers? How can one prepare? The book describes operations, challenges, and personal rewards through real life accounts.




Striking a Balance


Book Description

At a time of rapid global change, development NGOs are having to scale up their impact, diversify their activities, respond to long-term crises and improve their performance on all fronts. Striking a Balance offers both analysis and a practical guide to how NGDOs can fulfil these demanding expectations. Written for all those involved with NGDO work, the book describes the objectives of sustainablepeople-centred development and the process required to achieve it, focusing on the five factors which determine effectiveness: suitable organisational design; competent leadership and human resources; appropriate external relationships; mobilisation of high quality finance; and the measurement of performance coupled to 'learning for leverage'. In each are the book explains the capacities needed and how they can be assessed and improved. Effectiveness calls for NGDOs which retain their non-profit values, establish the right type of Professionalism, manage dilemmas and balance choices to continually reflect the priorities, rights and needs of those who give them legitimacy: people who are poor and marginalised. This book provides a reference of current and future practices which will help NGDOs to do so.




Disability and International Development


Book Description

Despite growing evidence of a close and complex relationship between disability and poverty, development policy, planning and programming has often failed to take full account of the concerns of disabled people. However, following the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the post-2015 sustainable development agenda, which promises to ‘leave no one behind’, there have been increasing calls from governments and development agencies for disability to be mainstreamed into all development planning. Disability and International Development provides a comprehensive overview of key themes in the field of disability and development, including issues around identity, poverty, disability rights, education, health, livelihoods, disaster recovery and approaches to researching disability. The book engages with relevant theory and draws on existing literature in the field, as well as the author’s own research and teaching experience, to explore key issues using a range of examples taken from around the world. Written in an accessible and engaging style to suit both students and practitioners, the book also includes a wide range of reflection exercises, discussion questions and further reading suggestions, making it the perfect introduction to disability and international development.




The No-nonsense Guide to Globalization


Book Description

Globalisation has become one of the most used and encompassing words over the past decade, of undeniable influence in economics, politics and activism. Globalisation is literally all around; every aspect of life is affected by a global structure of communication and economy. This fully revised and updated guide condenses this complex subject into clear, concise commentary. It examines the debt trap, the acceleration of neoliberalism, competition for energy resources, the links between the war on terror, the arms trade and the alternatives to corporate control.




Encyclopedia of International Development


Book Description

International development is now a major global activity and the focus of the rapidly growing academic discipline of development studies. The Encyclopedia of International Development provides definitions and discussions of the key concepts, controversies and actors associated with international development for a readership of development workers, teachers and students. With 600 entries, ranging in length from shorter factual studies to more in-depth essays, a comprehensive system of cross references and a full index, it is the most definitive guide to international development yet published. Development is more than a simple increase in a country's wealth and living conditions. It also implies increasing people's choices and freedoms; it is change that is inclusive and empowering. Development theory and practice has important applications to questions of economic growth, trade, governance, education, healthcare, gender rights and environmental protection, and it involves issues such as international aid, peacekeeping, famine relief and strategies against HIV/AIDS. The Encyclopedia treats these topics and many more, and provides critical analyses of important actors within development such as the United Nations and World Bank, non-governmental organizations and corporations. Contributors to this volume reflect the multidisciplinary and international nature of the subject. They come from social science disciplines such as economics, international studies, political science and anthropology, and from specialities such as medicine. This Encyclopedia provides crucial information for universities, students and professional organizations involved with international development, and those interested in related topics such as international studies or other studies of social and economic change today.




The Divide


Book Description

________________ As seen on Sky News All Out Politics ‘There’s no understanding global inequality without understanding its history. In The Divide, Jason Hickel brilliantly lays it out, layer upon layer, until you are left reeling with the outrage of it all.’ - Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics · The richest eight people control more wealth than the poorest half of the world combined. · Today, 60 per cent of the world’s population lives on less than $5 a day. · Though global real GDP has nearly tripled since 1980, 1.1 billion more people are now living in poverty. For decades we have been told a story: that development is working, that poverty is a natural phenomenon and will be eradicated through aid by 2030. But just because it is a comforting tale doesn’t make it true. Poor countries are poor because they are integrated into the global economic system on unequal terms, and aid only helps to hide this. Drawing on pioneering research and years of first-hand experience, The Divide tracks the evolution of global inequality – from the expeditions of Christopher Columbus to the present day – offering revelatory answers to some of humanity’s greatest problems. It is a provocative, urgent and ultimately uplifting account of how the world works, and how it can change for the better.




Involving the Community


Book Description

Provides advice to researchers, community members, and development practitioners on how to improve their ability to effectively reach policy makers and promote change. Covers their roles as a communication actors, how to plan a participatory development communication strategy, and the use of communication tools.




International Development


Book Description

International Development is a comprehensive inquiry into the field of socio-economic development founded on an understanding that economic advancement involves transformation of society. It explores successful developmental strategies but also tries to identify factors behind failed endeavours and the human costs associated with them. The book evaluates the role played by influential agents of development, such as the state and its institutions, authoritarian leaders, international organizations, donor agencies, non-governmental organizations, civil society activists, and private business actors. Key features: A multi-disciplinary approach taking into account politics, economics, sociology, cultural aspects, and history of development; Examines a breadth of different theoretical approaches and their practical applications; Presents both mainstream and critical viewpoints; Addresses such complex issues as governability processes, rights of the poor, colonial legacy, armed conflict, environmental sustainability, gender relations, foreign aid, urbanization, rural development, and international trade; Suggested further reading list at the end of each chapter. This well-balanced book will be a key text for students and practitioners working in the area of socio-economic development and more broadly in development studies, the politics of development and international political economy.