{"id":1145,"date":"2025-10-02T04:03:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/putting-the-ideology-back-into-development\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:03:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:03:04","slug":"putting-the-ideology-back-into-development","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/goal-posts-what-next-for-the-mdgs\/putting-the-ideology-back-into-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting The Ideology Back Into Development"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"content column wide left blog_post content view\" id=\"content\">\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"Putting the ideology back into development\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n\t\t<!-- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/mandrill\/subscription\/add\/10432\/10760\">Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t -->\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPutting the ideology back into development<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pubDate\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/experts-and-authors\/vernon-phil\/\">Phil Vernon<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t22 September 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">So, the MDG summit is over, and all those with an interest in the outcomes will be taking stock and deciding if, on balance, the event has been a success. They\u2019ll be scanning the outcomes document, the transcripts of speeches and news reports diligently, measuring how many times their particular issue is mentioned, and trying to figure out what it all means for them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">My prediction is that most will feel increasingly short-changed as the excitement of the event wears off. Those who wanted more commitments from donors will start to question whether the promises made are going to be enough, and whether donors will conveniently forget what they promised when they get back home, as has so often happened in the past. Certainly those like President Jos\u00e9 Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste, who called for a different approach in fragile and conflict-affected states, will go home disappointed. Even those whose calls for greater efforts on child and maternal health will \u2013 after celebrating a successful event and new commitments of US$40 billion \u2013 no doubt begin to question whether the additional attention and money will really make as much of a difference as they claimed, given the complex web of different factors which keep children in poor health, and women from safe pregnancy and childbirth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">From my perspective, the summit would have been a success if it had made these kinds of interventions more likely in conflict-prone or fragile contexts:<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">1. Development policy and programmes to be designed primarily around the need to build a peaceful and well-governed society, rather than focused mainly on poverty eradication and the very technical MDGs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">2. National policy makers, businesses and international institutions to change their economic focus and, instead of aiming for rapid economic growth, to set themselves the task of building national and international economies that support peace. This means, for example, less reliance on minerals, forestry, etc., and a stronger emphasis on economic sectors which provide widespread employment and value-adding opportunities. It may mean forgoing opportunities for rapid growth based on minerals, in favour of a more sustainable but slower growth in other sectors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">3. Greater and sharper international efforts to limit the ability of narcotics traffickers from operating in fragile contexts, through creative new efforts that address problems of supply <i>and<\/i> demand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">4. Development strategies designed to support the emergence of institutions and values that allow citizens \u2013 men and women, young and old \u2013 to give voice to their political concerns without fear or favour, live their lives more safely, and have fair access to justice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">5. Building a sense of national identity which co-exists easily with the other forms of identity that people hold, such as ethnicity, religion, region, etc.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">6. Strategies to foster the evolution of <i>impersonal<\/i> private and public organizations, e.g. those which are owned by shareholders rather than &#8216;big men&#8217;, and those managed by office holders rather than patrons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Of course, these are just examples and plans need to be developed specifically for each given context, not devised generically in New York for countries thousands of miles away. But they are illustrations of the kinds of things we need to see more of, if the international community is serious about promoting genuine and sustained human progress in fragile contexts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Looking at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/en\/mdg\/summit2010\/pdf\/mdg outcome document.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">the Outcomes Document<\/a>, and following the news reports and speeches of the past few days in New York, I am sorry to say that I am one of the disappointed ones. Because I don\u2019t see much evidence of the political will needed to create an international framework which would enable these kinds of strategies and interventions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">There are plenty of reasons for this, but one of them is clearly that UN summits and similar processes have a habit of stripping the politics and ideology out of the development discourse. It is hard to think of anything that could be more ideological or political than &#8216;development&#8217; or &#8216;progress&#8217;. After all, it\u2019s what pitted West against East during the Cold War and, despite the premature claims that were made in 1989, we haven\u2019t reached the end of history yet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">What this summit tells me is that it is time to put the ideology back into development; time to start debating whether this or that is the right way to go about improving peoples\u2019 lives, instead of accepting \u2013 pretending, actually \u2013 that we have agreement. Of course this will put a dent in the hard-won agreements made in Paris and Accra, on closer partnerships and greater harmony among donors and between donor and recipients. But surely, at times, allowing discussion and disagreement is more helpful than making an agreement around the wrong approach?<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Ban Ki-moon has committed to start work on a new development framework for post-2015. So let\u2019s start working now to have a more genuine discussion about what human progress actually means, instead of going along with the idea that history can be described, and progress measured, only in terms of poverty, health, schooling and the like. Let\u2019s put the politics and the ideology back into development.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_identifier = '5559';\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n\t\t\t\t\tthis.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t\t}];\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tvar dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;\n\t\t\t\t\tdsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + 'https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/blogs\/goal-posts-what-next-for-the-mdgs\/.disqus.com\/embed.js';\n\t\t\t\t\t(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);\n\t\t\t\t})();\n\t\t\t<\/script><br \/>\n\t\t\t<!--\n\t\t\t<noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\" class=\"dsq-brlink\">comments powered by <span class=\"logo-disqus\">Disqus<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t-->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Putting the ideology back into development Phil Vernon | [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_2.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1145","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Putting the ideology back into development \/ Goal Posts - What next for the MDGs? \/ Blogs - The Broker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So, the MDG summit is over, and all those with an interest in the outcomes will be taking stock and deciding if, on balance, the event has been a success. 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