whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1.
(Comments)

...ple making money out of the poor are the morally bankrupt leaders who claim to represent them, and the NGOs who follow around picking up the pieces and blaming the rich. The truth about wealth-crea...

2.
(Comments)

...st year where a stunned British executive, having recently travelled through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Angola, declared that there is more agricultural land in these three countries than is currently u...

3.
(Comments)

I think you\'re confusing 1Time and Kulula with SAA\'s cross-subsidised Mango service. Budget operators are amongst the only airlines making real cash internationally (think Ryanair, easyJet, Southwe

4. Of Chiefs and Presidents
(Analysis/Analysis)

..., the current constitution has no limits to the maximum number of terms a president can stand. Omar Bongo is considered to be one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world. Bongo, Africa's lo...

5. Ending poverty means abandoning charity and accepting reality
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ding a useful and well-maintained highway between the principal cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo will require immense internal coordination, skills development and private business support. ...

6. The efficiency of markets and how protectionism leaves the poor behind
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ost of the land is either within unstable kleptocracies (like Zimbabwe) or covered in landmines (like Angola and Mozambique). Sub-Saharan Africa could produce enough food to feed the whole world. Bu...

7. Freedom of speech is fine, just don't try to use it, says Patricia de Lille
(Analysis/Analysis)

...unusual relationship with free speech. A few examples from her opus of quotes: On US mediation in the ongoing Palestinian Israeli conflict:  "The ID believes that the US is a threat to the i...

8. From Linux to Mozilla: donations mean that open-source isn't really free
(Analysis/Analysis)

...they are full-time professionals. The open-source movement considers itself an off-shoot of the whole NGO / development establishment that thinks that donations don't count as earnings because th...

9. Demonstration Enterprise Development Consultant B
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

...unds run down - some projects become less important and so concentration on the results wavers.  Ongoing Disclosure This is an initial rating and ongoing disclosure will be commented on in future...

10. Demonstration Enterprise Development Consultant A
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

...gradually scaling down we recommend caution in utilising the services of this organisation.  Ongoing Disclosure This is an initial rating and ongoing disclosure will be commented on in future...

11. Demonstration Health HIV / AIDS Orphanage B
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

...irector is required but there is little indication that much effort is being put into recruitment. Ongoing Disclosure Demonstration is making information available to Whythawk and has been more t...

12. Demonstration Health HIV / AIDS Orphanage A
(Ratings Demonstration/Demonstration)

...Requirements Currently supported by the community, as well as local government but does require an ongoing commitment of R 250 000 additionally every year Organisation Summary Demonstration ...

13. Development organisations need to engage with ratings agencies
(Analysis/Analysis)

... spend time with.  Donors take note and back off for a while from the entire development sector. NGOs, nonprofits, community benefit or public benefit - whatever you wish to call them - are run ...

14. Racial arguments muddy human rights and the ending of poverty
(Analysis/Analysis)

...rity rule is messy and unpleasant.  However, the injustices of the past should not be used as an ongoing excuse to perpetuate continuing injustice.  That way lies future corruption, autocrac...

15. The Last King, the Centralised State, and Democracy
(Analysis/Analysis)

...eties, journalists, rate-payers associations, animal welfare groups, child welfare, tourism societies, NGOs, charities … anyone or anything that acts to create work opportunities and promote di...

16. Rating to create a market; questions and answers
(Analysis/Analysis)

...development sector is a massive no-go area.  Who says that the products and services offered by NGOs and charities are any good?  You can give anything away, but that doesn’t make it...

17. Mama Jackie - the "Angel of Soweto" - assaults a journalist
(Analysis/Analysis)

... Once again she embarrasses her sponsors by association. Whythawk has received numerous letters from NGOs and charities threatening us with legal action for conducting our ratings.  As Maarohan...

18. The redistribution of poverty
(Analysis/Analysis)

...bsp; The former issues are unfortunate but you will recover.  It is the latter that is cause for ongoing concern.  For there is no medicine you can take that will prevent re-infection. &nbsp...

19. Western Cape economic development support agencies lack the capacity to halve unemployment
(Analysis/Analysis)

Whythawk Ratings (white-hawk), the South African NGO rating firm, has just released their review of the performance of enterprise and small business development consultants in the Western Cape, South

20. We're from Mars and we want to help: four lessons in development
(Analysis/Analysis)

...develop civil society movements that act to counterbalance the power of the state (from newspapers, to NGOs, to independent judiciary, corruption investigators, and police). Everything else must be b...

21. Coffee, the miracle of poverty, and other wonders
(Analysis/Analysis)

... “Although the trade is profitable for importers and roasters, it has confounded governments and NGOs hoping to use the bean to stimulate developing economies.  The collapse of trade barrie...

22. South Africa and China, or why democracy isn't connected to economic growth
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ances and sociopolitical tensions.  One of the most pressing macroeconomic challenges ... is the ongoing battle with high unemployment and low skill levels, which pose a significant threat to eco...

23. How do we prepare nonprofit organisations for the long term?
(Analysis/Analysis)

...ired. That is to say, social benefit investment should be temporary and therefore too the existence of NGOs – in a non-profit, donor dependent form – should be temporary. Importantly, thi...

24. Is the ownership of property at odds with the needs of the poor?
(Analysis/Analysis)

... wait in line to take the property I want away from someone else. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the recent civil war, live cows were worth significantly less than fresh beef.  ...

25. No matter how hard you try bad environments lead to bad results
(Analysis/Analysis)

...about the Millennium Development Goals is how many of them are dependent on government intervention. NGOs may work in Africa to assist with medication and symptomatic relief for individuals sufferin...

26. The quiet nobility of the men by the side of the road
(Analysis/Analysis)

In 1993 I was travelling in the Caprivi Strip in northern Namibia.  The long civil war in Angola was drawing to a close and the northern border of Namibia was safe to travel in once more.  T

27. A revitalised UN may improve development in Africa
(Analysis/Analysis)

...al land in the world is currently under plough.  And all this land lies in a broad swathe across Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi, , Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique.  Most of the agri...

28. The danger of wanting to believe in the power of good intentions
(Analysis/Analysis)

... money.  Bob Geldof with his Live Aid concert in 1985 raised £ 150 million for food sent to NGOs in Ethiopia.  Much of the food and money went to local warlords who traded it for influ...

29. Poverty: when second best isn't good enough
(Analysis/Analysis)

...urn poverty - a problem of slow development and limited initiative - into a chronic disease requiring ongoing medical support. It is almost as if rich countries are saying to poor countries, "We&...

30. Why Use Whythawk
(Static Content)

... unstructured environments. Whythawk also investigates regional development needs and assists in the ongoing surveillance and vigilance of investment initiatives. Whythawk first acts to assist compa...

31. Privacy Policy
(Static Content)

Whythawk believes that electronic privacy is important for the ongoing success of the Internet as a service, commercial, and entertainment medium. On occasion, Whythawk will make available to potentia

32. Ratings Methodology
(Static Content)

...s. Once a rating relationship is initiated, the maintenance of the rating is not onerous, if there is ongoing communication. Rating Process Getting Started Whythawk develops metrics and methodology fo...

33. Why Use Whythawk
(Static Content)

... unstructured environments. Whythawk also investigates regional development needs and assists in the ongoing surveillance and vigilance of investment initiatives. Whythawk first acts to assist compa...

34. Privacy Policy
(Static Content)

Whythawk believes that electronic privacy is important for the ongoing success of the Internet as a service, commercial, and entertainment medium. On occasion, Whythawk will make available to potentia

35. Ratings Methodology
(Static Content)

...s. Once a rating relationship is initiated, the maintenance of the rating is not onerous, if there is ongoing communication. Rating Process Getting Started Whythawk develops metrics and methodology fo...