New Books from Canadian International Development Professionals

Under Development: A Journey Without Maps, by Ian Smillie

Now available as an e-book from Practical Action Publishing; best Canadian price for paperback (free delivery): Indigo.

Armed with a university degree, the Boy Scout’s solemn oath and a snakebite kit which he left on the plane, Ian Smillie set out more than 50 years ago to confront ignorance, want and war.

In his travels as a writer, consultant and teacher, he was instrumental in the campaign to halt blood diamonds, and he was the first witness at the war crimes trial of Liberian warlord Charles Taylor. Smillie’s story moves from Sierra Leone, civil-war Nigeria and newly independent Bangladesh to war-torn Bosnia, the Khyber Pass, a Paul McCartney quest in Moscow, and a just-before-9/11 meeting at CIA headquarters.

This is an insightful and sometimes hilarious memoir about development: personal development, the development of ideas and understanding, rights and justice, war and peace, poverty and survival. It’s about one of the greatest imperatives of our time: the drive to end global poverty and why, despite exaggerated claims to the contrary, it isn’t working.

Alan Fowler calls this book ‘an explorer’s guide for the developmentally curious,’ and Lansana Gberie says it is ‘a spellbinding memoir…rich, penetrating and deeply moving.’

Bill Clinton called one of Smillie’s books about international development ‘insightful’ and of another, The Economist said, ‘Read Smillie if you want something constructive.’

See the Review: https://www.mcleodgroup.ca/2024/08/development-over-the-decades/

The Twelfth of February: Canadian Aid for Gender Equality during the Rise of Violent Extremism in Pakistan, by Rhonda Gossen

Available September 15 from McGill-Queen's/Brian Mulroney Institute of Government Studies in Leadership, Public Policy, and Governance #17

Pakistan has been a priority country for international development assistance since the early years of its creation. Though Pakistan celebrates National Women’s Day on 12 February each year to commemorate the 1983 women’s march, three decades of war in neighbouring Afghanistan have stoked violent extremism and constrained development gains and gender equality. Canada led the first global efforts to support women’s rights and gender equality in the region. The Twelfth of February tells the story of the Canadian International Development Agency’s support for women’s organizations and civil society in Pakistan. Rhonda Gossen traces the ebbs and flows of financial aid, drawing on her own unique experience as a development worker as well as compelling interviews with activists, non-governmental organizations, officials, and diplomats. She assesses how women’s organizations work to resist violent extremism and makes the connection between gender inequality and security threats in a volatile region. Despite the influence of Islamic extremism, the gender equality movement in collaboration with civil society in Pakistan did make tangible headway. The Twelfth of February addresses a problem that is all too timely: given violent extremism’s devastating impact on development gains including women’s rights, security, and the elimination of gender-based violence, what is the future role for international development?