Roger Riddell is development specialist with 30 years’ experience, the last five in senior management as International Director of Christian Aid. His expertise covers the following areas: aid policy and impact; macroeconomic policy; land reform; the impact and modalities of foreign aid; the role and impact of NGOs in development; transparency and accountability especially in the voluntary sector; NGO cost-effectiveness issues; foreign private investment; globalisation and poverty; industrialisation; the mining sector; human rights, minority rights and development; relief, emergency and humanitarian aid; theology and development.
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Experience outside The Policy Practice
Advisor the International Council on Human Rights Policy (in Geneva) for its work on “Poverty, Development, Rights – Making Human Progress”, 2004 - 2007
Team leader on a review of a study for the Advisory Board for Irish Aid “Measuring impact: the Global and Irish Aid Programme”. The study, which includes two African case-studies, reviews different ways the impact of aid is measured and assessed, looking in particular at how donors are able to assess the impact of their aid in contributing to poverty eradication and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals - 2006 - 2007
Published book entitled 'Does Foreign Aid Really Work?', Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York. 510 pages. Provides an overview of the history of aid-giving, a summary of the approaches and policies of all the major donors, a comprehensive assessment of the impact of official aid, development aid provided by NGOs and emergency aid, a review of the way is provided and recommendations for changes in the way is provided and allocated in order to enhance its effectiveness. Topics include project aid, aid at the country level, technical assistance, capacity development, aid conditionality, bilateral and multilateral aid and the Tsunami. - 2007
Adviser to the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP)’s project on the practical contribution that human rights approaches to development make to the eradication of poverty. - 2006
Presentation on “Partnership and Accountability: new trends for NGOs” to the Board of DanchurchAid, Copenhagen. - 2005
Presentation on “NGO Accountability: Trends, Issues and Challenges”. Presentation to the Annual General Meeting of the Board of the Association of European Protestant Agencies. Copenhagen. - 2004
International Director of Christian Aid, working as a senior member of the Directorate on all aspects of corporate governance. Direct responsibility for overseeing the implementation and administration work of the International Department, which accounts for 75% of the agency’s budget, leading on all the agency’s emergency, development and research and advocacy work. Acted as senior spokesperson on development issues High-level media work. 1999 - 2004
Manager and lead consultant for a number of multi-country assessments of the impact of NGO aid, including for the Swedish and Finnish Government and the OECD (with ODI) - 2000
Senior member of UNIDO team commissioned by the Ministry of Industry in Harare to undertake comprehensive assessment of Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector for the Ministry of Industry (Harare) - 2000
Senior consultant in 1993 for the African Development Bank’s study on Economic Integration in Southern Africa, preparing reports on manufacturing and mining in the SADC - 2000
Initiated work on minorities, human rights and development for The Minority Rights Group (London) in the late 1990s; also developed methodologies to assess the impact of human rights projects (Government of Sweden.) (with ODI). - 1999
- Paper: ‘The Evaluability of Democracy and Human Rights Projects,’ (2000)
- Paper: ‘Minorities Rights and Development: An Issues Paper’. London: Minority Rights Group and Overseas Development Institute 1999
Review of National Policy on Non-Governmental Organisations for Uganda. Kampala: UNDP. Lead consultant - 1998
Study on the macroeconomics of regional integration in southern Africa for the South African Ministry of Finance under the umbrella of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Related work included industrial and foreign investment studies and advice within SADC, a review of adjustment and globalisation issues on the SADC economies (with ODI) - 1998
- Paper: Macroeconomic Study of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region: Convergence and Adjustment. Study Commissioned by the Finance and Investment Sector Research Unit of SADC, Pretoria. June 1998)
Senior member of UNIDO team commissioned by the Ministry of Industry in Harare to undertake comprehensive assessment of Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector for the Zimbabwean Ministry of Industry (with ODI) - 1995
