Aid and Accountability

Humanitarianism has become a multi billion dollar business, but who is holding it to account? When a catastrophic disaster hits; the 2004 Tsunami, the floods in Pakistan, the public reach into their pockets and give. But when all the television cameras have packed up and gone home who is left to monitor how that money is spent?

Join us at the Frontline Club with an expert panel to discuss where the money goes. Is there a need for a greater level of transparency and accountability? What systems are in place for this and are they working? To what extent are there levels of corruption in the system and how can this be addressed? Is aid targeted to the greatest effectiveness?

Chaired by Paddy Coulter, Oxford Global Media partner and communications director of Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at Oxford University’s Department of International Development,

With:

Vicki Peaple, international development professional who has been working in the sector for the past 6 years currently for the STARS Foundation managing a programme of funding and consultancy support to local organisations working in Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia and Somaliland.

Judith Randel, co-founder and director of Development Initiatives (DI). She provides strategic direction and expert advice across all DI’s programmes, including aidinfo and Global Humanitarian Assistance, following on from the success of the Reality of Aid reports.

Giles Bolton, closely involved in Africa and its development for more than ten years as a civil servant, diplomat and aid worker. From 1996 until 2004 he worked for the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Iraq. Author of Aid and Other Dirty Business: An Insider Uncovers How Globalisation and Good Intentions Have Failed the World’s Poor.

Jonathan Glennie, research fellow at the Centre for Aid and Public Expenditure (CAPE) at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). Previously, he managed Christian Aid’s aid programme in Colombia and worked on several international campaigns, including Make Poverty History and the Jubilee Debt Campaign. He is the author of The Trouble with Aid: Why less could mean more for Africa.