I’ve spent enough time sitting in dusty offices in Goma and Juba to know that most people treat policy like a high-level chess game. They …
Designing Sanctions With Exemptions
March 2026
Reparations Beyond Money
I remember sitting in a humid warehouse outside Goma, staring at a stack of empty crates while a donor in Geneva gave a televised speech …
Protection Work and What It Involves
I remember sitting in a humid, windowless office in Goma, staring at a glossy twenty-page report about “advocacy frameworks” and “community-based protection mechanisms.” The document …
Truth Commissions and Their Powers
I spent a decade watching NGOs pour millions into “reconciliation frameworks” that looked great on a glossy annual report but meant nothing to the people …
Disarming and Reintegrating Fighters
I remember sitting in a dusty compound outside Goma, listening to a consultant in a crisp linen suit explain the “multi-dimensional frameworks” of peacebuilding. He …
Paperwork That Decides Whether You Go
I spent three years in South Sudan watching perfectly good medical supplies rot in a warehouse in Juba because a single stamp was missing from …
Treating Severe Malnutrition at Scale
I remember sitting in a humid warehouse outside Goma, staring at a stack of high-level policy briefs that detailed exactly how nutrition programmes work in …
Why Resource Wealth Can Hurt
I spent a decade watching academics in Geneva debate the nuances of institutional decay while I was sitting in a dusty Land Rover outside Goma, …
Planning Three Weeks of Reporting
I once spent three days stuck in a dusty transit hub outside Goma, watching a communications officer try to explain to a donor via satellite …
Strengthening a System Versus Running a Programme
I once sat in a humid conference room in Goma, listening to a consultant in a crisp linen suit explain a five-year strategic roadmap for …