I support the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, to co-chair the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, which was set up in June 2012. The partnership aims to make aid, and other policies and finance from countries like the UK - such as trade, investment, remittances and technology - deliver as much poverty reduction in developing countries as possible. I’m an economist by training, and I used to be a Climate Change Negotiator. I am also a co-author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and a winner of the 2012 Observer’s Ethical Award for this blog. If you like my blog posts, do also follow me on Twitter - @hmryder.
A few weeks ago I went to see the new James Bond film Sky Fall. Without giving away too much, at one point in the film James Bond goes to a remote part of the UK. The area is portrayed …
Happy New Year to all my DFID friends and blog readers! Traditionally, the new year is a time for making new resolutions. Go on that new diet, start that exercise regime, enrol in that evening class you've been eyeing for …
The world is definitely changing. The song "Gangnam Style", made in Korea and sung in Korean, has gone to number 1 in the UK, number 2 in the US, and has broken the record for being the "most viewed" video …
About a year ago, I experienced one of the hardest working days of my life. It was the first day I chaired a meeting of a new 20-ish person taskforce on green growth and poverty reduction. It sounds odd and …
It might be over a month away, but my husband and I have already begun to think about the Christmas and New Year holidays here in the UK. In particular, it looks like lots of my family are likely to travel from …
Economists have a reputation for being sceptical. So much so that there is a book called the Skeptical Economist, and a new book referring to economics as the dismal science. This has a lot to do with our teaching. For …
Over the past couple of weeks, two big changes have happened in my life. First, one of my sisters has moved to Glasgow from London with her little baby girl. So I've become a very busy auntie! Second, I've got …
Last week, there was a great quotation doing the rounds on Twitter, Pinterest and other social media from the Mayor of Bogota in Colombia. The quotation was "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's …
A couple of days ago, I had coffee with a friend and ended up talking about my move from London to Glasgow, just over a year and a half ago. I told my friend that when I first moved, I started …
Every morning for the past three months, I've been saying a little mantra to myself when I wake up: "I am a marathoner". I've been training for my first marathon and ten days ago I finally did it! It was pretty hard, …
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