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Burgess Manuscript
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Hundreds of Issues
From the book 'Hundreds of Issues that Impact Relief and Development'
Section FFF
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Issue
FBOs
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Basic observation
Faith based organizations (FBOs) are organizations where the common affinity is the religion or faith.
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Prevailing response
FBOs that carry with them
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A better response
Where there is a community focus, the community based FBO can be a valuable organization for local activity implementation.
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Issue
FGM
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Basic observation
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a traditional custom in many parts of the world.
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Prevailing response
History may explain why FGM exists in some cultures, but is not a good reason for it being practiced today. Confronting the issue as a “women's issue” is now widespread, but is not apparently changing practice in remote rural areas.
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A better response
And of course the RDS is not doing much of anything in remote rural areas. Perhaps more progress on reducing the practice of FMG would be achieved if the RDS actually did work in remote rural communities and helped these communities with practical education, health care and so forth.
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Issue
Fair Share
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Basic observation
Fair Share is a term to describe the equitable sharing or profit in a value chain so that all stakeholders can be farily remunerated.
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Prevailing response
This concept is not applied at all in the present relief and development sector, nor in the global market economy.
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A better response
Fair Share analysis will show that most relief and development cannot be sustainable, but that many of the major value chains could be made more equitable and there could be both profit and durable development.
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Issue
Fair Trade
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Basic observation
Fair Trade is a term that describes the idea that a fair price should be paid to the farmer.
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Prevailing response
This idea is catching on as a “marketing” gimmick with an international certifying organization validating the process.
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A better response
The Fair Trade words are themselves registered as intellectual property, and it is not entirely clear that this idea is translating into higher prices for most farmers
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Issue
Family
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Basic observation
Family seems to be a natural unit of human society going back thousands of years.
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Prevailing response
Family has been recognized as important in a lot of relief and development work.
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A better response
But family is difficult to work with, and accordingly community is a useful management level for relief and development sector intervention. However, the goal needs always to be that the benefit reaches the family.
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Issue
Famine
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Basic observation
Famine affects perhaps as many as 1 billion people ... all the time.
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Prevailing response
Many early warning systems have been created, but these systems are not an integral part of an effective way of mitigating famine impact. The world has enough food capacity, but it does not have the mechanisms to deliver food where it is needed.
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A better response
Giving food away keeps people alive, but it does not prevent famine. In fact, giving food away tends to create an economic response that makes famine more likely. Famine should not be happening, but the full facts about fund flows, activities and famine have still to be compiled and conclusions drawn. At the moment, in my view, famine is caused by a systemic failure of the economic system and governance.
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Issue
Feedback
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Basic observation
Feedback is the essential element of any effective management system. It has been refined in engineering control theory, and has been adapted to business process controls.
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Prevailing response
There is almost no feedback in the basic ORDA process. Some organizations like UNHCR have an effective feedback process but it is unusual. The ORDA management information and organizational structures are not good enough to provide a strong foundation for strong and effective feedback.
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A better response
Feedback is an essential part of any good management system, and it should be effective at all levels. The feedback is the critical key link between the measurement and the decision making needed to change and improve.
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Issue
Financial reporting
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Basic observation
Financial reporting is the foundation of world economics and capital markets. It is not perfect, but it is very widespread.
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Prevailing response
There has been little of no attention paid to financial reporting in the relief and development sector. Compared to the corporate world financial reporting in the RDS is primitive.
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A better response
Financial reporting in the RDS should be upgraded, and combined with other measures of socio-economic value. It should be routine for people to known what something has cost, what value it has, and the long term durable value that will be accomplished over time.
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Issue
Financial sector
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Basic observation
The financial sector provides key services that facilitate socio-economic progress.
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Prevailing response
The financial sector is missing from many poor places. In poor countries it has deteriorated both institutionally and in terms of financial condition. There is increasing interest, as for example, in micro-finance, but not in all the components of a strong sector.
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A better response
Services provided by the financial sector need to be available to all communities so that economic activities can be supported. Micro-finance is moving forward well, but it is not the only financial service needed for success. In a community there needs to be micro, mini and “muni” finance so that enterprise and community can be funded as well as the micro-entrepreneur.
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Issue
Financing for development
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Basic observation
Financing for Development has been a constraint for many years. This is more than merely the debt overhand, it is some fundamental strategic issues about development and financing.
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Prevailing response
Financing for Development has been avoided as an issue in poor countries. The conversation has been diverted to the existence of debt, but rarely to the question of why debt incurred a long time ago could not be repaid as intended.
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A better response
Financing for Development needs to be made a center point of international attention and instruments created that will make it possible for value adding development to be funded and for value destruction to be “managed” away.
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Issue
Fisheries
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Basic observation
Fisheries is a powerful sector, but often dominated by interests that are external to the local economy.
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Prevailing response
Few fisheries industries benefit the local country to an adequate degree ... the value is exported onto the consuming countries, often without the knowledge of the local country.
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A better response
The fisheries sector can often be expanded using local organizations so that there is more valuing adding domiciled in the host country, but the best strategy may not be self-evident because the fishing industry values are driven by markets and freshness and NOT by manufacturing and processing.
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Issue
Food for work
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Basic observation
Food for Work (FfW) is widely practiced by the UN system, and especially the World Food Program (WFP).
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Prevailing response
Food for Work is used in many forms by WFP. As the only resource being controlled by WFP, they find themselves in a difficult position. Food for Work has some value, but the distortions associated with FfW programs are substantial, and detrimental.
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A better response
Food is a very important economic asset, and should be used in a strategic manner to encourage sustainable relief and development that creates durable value. The FfW paradigm arguably uses food in ways that fail dramatically to get the maximum socio-economic value.
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Issue
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
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Basic observation
FDI should have helped make the “south” and local communities wealthy. In fact only an elite has benefited, and wealth has been moved from the host location to corporate headquarters and stockholders.
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Prevailing response
The prevailing view is that FDI is good, and more is better. There is little transparency, accounting and accountability about FDI. The value chain often results in value export and an increase in poverty at the local community level.
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A better response
FDI can be very valuable to relief and development, but the business model must deliver on value adding in the local host communities. Improved attention to corporate international investment can improve local value adding without having a bad impact on corporate results. The issue of FDI and bribery needs to be addressed through clarity and active interaction with corporate leadership.
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Issue
Fraud
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Basic observation
Fraud has been common throughout history, and very damaging.
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Prevailing response
Fraud has been bigger and worse in modern times, in spite the power of information technology and the breadth of modern education. But ethics and management information have been avoided by a lot of leadership and the organizations and economic structures they control.
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A better response
Leadership must address the issue of fraud in all its manifestations. The missing components of ethics and management information make the control and suppression of fraud very difficult, but it should be done and can be done. Fraud has difficulty to thrive in situations where there is good management analysis and commitment to efficient economics.
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Issue
Freedom
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Basic observation
Freedom is one of the greatest attributes of the best countries in the world, but it is always in danger.
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Prevailing response
Freedom is fragile, and freedom gives opportunity not only to good things but also to bad. Removing freedom may reduce the risk of bad, but at the cost of the loss of good. Freedom thrives in arenas where there is confidence ... not where there is a culture of fear.
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A better response
Freedom is a great value of good organization, in family, in community, in country and in the world. Freedom allows all sorts of good things to happen ... and with good strategic thinking can help move bad things to the sidelines.
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Issue
Free Trade
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Basic observation
Free Trade is usually better than trade that is closed and limited, but terms of trade can be damaging in a distorted world economy.
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Prevailing response
Free trade is a starting point for better trade, but free trade without decent terms of trade can end up being a lot worse than constrained trade.
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A better response
A lot more work needs to be done to understand trade as a value chain to ensure that free trade does not end up being merely a process than ends up moving wealth from poor to rich countries with little poor country benefit.
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Issue
Fund flow accounting
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Basic observation
Fund flow accounting is the basis for cash flow basis government accounting.
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Prevailing response
Fund flow accounting and cash basis accounting has limited analytical value compared to full accrual accounting, but even this fund flow accounting in the overall relief and development sector is poor and insufficient to track resources.
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A better response
Fund flow accounting should be done thoroughly with as much inclusion of accrual based principles as possible. Good accounting should be practiced and also be visible to interested stakeholders.
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Issue
Fund flows (official flows)
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Basic observation
Fund flow accounting to help understand and keep track of resources flows is a key foundation for good resource management in the relief and development sector.
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Prevailing response
Though fund flow accounting should be strong, and quite easy to do, leadership has seen fit to give it a low priority. This is a signal that too much of leadership has an interest in accounting sloppiness either because of corrupt practices or a high level of incompetence.
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A better response
Far better fund flow accounting is needed so that all resources are accounted for, and then value chains can be better understood and people and organizations held accountable for good results.
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Issue
Funding
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Basic observation
Funding is a huge constraint on development success, not only because of the absolute shortage, but also because it is being made available in the wrong ways.
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Prevailing response
Funding is driven by an approval process defined by “north” donors and very much failing the “south”. Failed funding has resulted in de-facto sovereign bankruptcy and a huge debt overhang rather than universal development success.
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A better response
Financial sector strengthening is essential. Funding is needed for everything and in all segments from micro finance to national level public finance. All segments of the economy, both public and private, large and small, urban and rural, should have funding access on terms that are fair.
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Issue
Funding (for projects)
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Basic observation
Funding for projects is almost totally derived from international donors and funding agencies.
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Prevailing response
What gets funded are activities wanted by the donors rather than activities to deliver outcomes needed by the community. This has been described in “phantom aid”
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A better response
Beneficiaries have to get into a position so that they are able to get more projects that deliver locally needed outputs. With focus on local priorities, donor funding can be used more effectively in support of development progress. What is needed is “real aid” and not “phantom aid”
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From 'HUNDREDS OF ISSUES THAT IMPACT RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT'
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