Welcome!

Welcome to Development Directions! We’re so glad you’re here! This is Jonusta’s inaugural monthly newsletter! A space to share more of what’s happening across the international development space.

For those just joining us, a quick recap, Jonusta is an early stage on-demand work marketplace connecting for-purpose organizations and professional talent to project opportunities in the Global South. We launch later in 2021, and our platform is based on the simple idea to use technology better to connect for-purpose organizations with top-quality specialized freelancer talent to take forward worthwhile projects in the Global South.

We are working hard to develop and launch the Jonusta platform later this year. We hope this newsletter becomes a useful read to folks working in the sector - we’re always keen to improve, so please let us know what you’d like to see more of!

Until next month! Keep doing great work, and stay healthy!

- Team Jonusta

WHAT’S NEW?

As things return back to some sense of normalcy in the West, the multiple crises unleashed by COVID in the Global South are worsening. Many countries across Africa and Asia remain stricken by escalating COVID infections, low rates of vaccination, and a worsening of poverty as economies battle to recover from the rolling impact of shutdowns. The World Bank shows what can be done to rise to the triple challenge of ensuring a green, inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID in the Global South.

The world watched with horror at the murder of George Floyd and rightly protested against the prejudiced treatment of black and brown people in societies across the globe. The international development sector isn’t immune from this scourge and there are several examples of prejudiced behavior against minorities. The good folks at The Equity Index have embarked on a great effort to map equitable work cultures in the international development space and their pilot report can be read here.

Whilst the world battles with COVID, we should not forget that other humanitarian crises continue to affect several parts of the Global South as the IRC makes clear here.

After a lengthy pause, FCDO procurement has resumed activity with early market events on girls’ education and research/evaluation. The contracts team at FCDO are a connected bunch and they tend to regularly post updates on new procurement notices on Twitter. The British Government will soon kick off the comprehensive spending review process (which allocates budgets to UK government departments over the medium term) and the issue of the UK’s commitment to 0.7% of GNI will bubble back up to the fore. The FT rightly points out that whilst the Govt’s cut to aid was economically defensible, it was morally indefensible and unnecessary. The British economy is bouncing back as COVID restrictions are pared back and the economy reopens. It’ll be interesting to see how FCDO’s budget fares once the spending review process is concluded later on this year.

WHAT ARE WE READING?

Whatever you think about Gordon Brown, he has been a long-term exponent of aid for the global good. The establishment of the 0.7% funding commitment, the write-off of $40 billion debt for highly indebted developing countries, and the issuance of bonds to support global immunization all trace a direct line back to Gordon Brown. He continues to campaign tirelessly on a range of global development issues and has recently published a new book on “Seven Ways to Change the World: How To Fix The Most Pressing Problems We Face”.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our round-up for July and look forward to seeing you next month. Don’t forget to visit our landing page to be notified when Jonusta launches!