|
|
|
Burgess Manuscript
|
Hundreds of Issues
From the book 'Hundreds of Issues that Impact Relief and Development'
Section UUU
|
Issue
UXO
|
Basic observation
Unexploded ordnance is a part of every war. UXO kills people for years after a conflict.
|
Prevailing response
This problem is all but ignored by the ORDA community as a whole. The economic damage is huge, and injury and loss of life too much to be acceptable.
|
A better response
There is a dedicated community of international risk takers with a huge commitment to getting rid of UXO (and also land-mines). No community should have to operate with UXO and land-mines in the area.
|
Issue
Uniform costs
|
Basic observation
Uniform costs is a technique of costing that makes comparison across many entities feasible.
|
Prevailing response
There has been some effort at the IMF to get uniform systems of account analysis at the government level, but the approach is too “high” and anyway is not very good.
|
A better response
A set of uniform cost analysis systems for all the activities that are needed for relief and development is a first step in determining which organizations know what they are doing and those that do not.
|
Issue
Unintended consequences
|
Basic observation
Unintended consequences are always going to happen ... almost as reliably as Murphy's Law. Be prepared.
|
Prevailing response
Unintended consequences ought not to come as a surprise, but in most relief and development sector interventions, a variety of unintended consequences are replayed over and over again.
|
A better response
If the relief and development sector made better use of management information, and there was a feedback process and better institutional memory, then it would be easy to avoid the more common unintended consequences.
|
Issue
Unionism
|
Basic observation
Trade Unions had a big role in making the industrial revolution a more friendly place for the worker. It was a long and hard battle, and the results were impressive.
|
Prevailing response
The ORDA world has had little priority for Union activity as an integral part of development success. The rights of workers and people at the bottom of the pyramid are talked about, but rather little has been done to upgrade their economic status and their rights.
|
A better response
Workers, and all people at the bottom of the pyramid should have opportunity, and these opportunities should be of economic and social value, and it should not be necessary for worker abuse to be required in order for an enterprise to be successful.
|
Issue
UN Year of ...
|
Basic observation
The UN Year of ... draws some attention to an issue, but really not very much.
|
Prevailing response
The UN Year of ... might have been a novel idea 50 years ago, but it is of very little real PR value today. More the idea serves to give some UN staff something to do, and a budget to disburse. The UN will argue that these events draw attention to the issue at hand, but in reality they have little or no impact. Worse, the UN thinks it is having an impact, and some UN supporters are impressed, but the public at large is ignoring and going about its business without caring an iota more.
|
A better response
The UN and the other relief and development organizations need to get to grips with real management information, and start to do PR around performance and results. This might start to get the publics' attention in a meaningful way.
|
Issue
Urban migration
|
Basic observation
Big cities have been growing rapidly everywhere in the world ... people migrating from the countryside in search of a better life.
|
Prevailing response
Urban migration is an economic migration, driven by an expectation that life in the city is going to be better than life in the rural countryside. Often life in the city turns out to be much worse, but survival is possible because it is possible to scrounge to eat and survive.
|
A better response
The challenge is to create jobs that are meaningful and do valuable work. But jobs cannot be created if the economic resources are not available to fund such initiatives. Putting people to work requires a clear understanding of the dynamics of community economics, and how valuable works can get funded.
|
From 'HUNDREDS OF ISSUES THAT IMPACT RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT'
This books is available at 'lulu.com' using their print-on-demand system
To find this book, open the Lulu webpage ... then search for PETER BURGESS
|
Open the Lulu webpage
|
|
|
|
