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Aid & Development links: Kenya tests universal basic income, Salome Karwah, South Sudan famine and more

Universal basic income experiment in Kenya, South Sudanese government increases foreign aid visa fees days after famine declared, fund opposing Trump's global gag rule reaches $190 million and more.

 Nakuru, Rift Valley, Kenya (Photo: Flickr/VictorDobai)
Nakuru, Rift Valley, Kenya (Photo: Flickr/VictorDobai)

  • Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton discusses topics ranging from extreme poverty, opioid addiction, Trump voters, robots, and rent-seeking in this fascinating interview in The Atlantic.
     
  • The fund to fill the gap left by President Trump’s global gag rule on family planning services has reached $190 million. 
     
  • Just days after famine was declared in South Sudan, the government increased the fee for business visas (including for foreign aid workers) from $100 to $10,000 while at the same time promising ‘unimpeded access’ to humanitarian and aid organisations working in the country. 
     
  • The tragic story of Salome Karwah, who appeared on the front cover of Time Magazine as an Ebola survivor and fighter, and her death from complications of childbirth in Liberia.
     
  • Compassion International, a massive development NGO with deep Christian roots, has been kicked out of India after 48 years of operations on suspicion of engaging in religious conversion.
     
  • Vox has now also jumped into the conversation on the universal basic income experiment in Kenya with some more balanced coverage than we've seen during the last few weeks.
     
  • Chinese hourly wages in the manufacturing sector have  surpassed Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.
     
  • Robin Davies puts forward the hard-to-argue-with point that Australia is failing to shoulder its fair share of the international foreign aid burden.
     
  • Aidpreneur has an interesting podcast interview about the evolution of impact evaluation with the World Bank’s David Evans.



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