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Andrew Mitchell’s speech on ‘Beyond Aid’ at the Wellcome Trust last night proved interesting timing. With the competence of governments, and particularly European governments, being severely tested at present, his core message struck an important chord: while aid and government matters hugely for development, development is also about much more: it’s about the private sector and wealth creation; it’s about world class research and the ability to turn good ideas into action (from ‘seeds to simcards’); it’s about a vibrant philanthropic and charitable sector supporting and funding innovation (aka the Wellcome Trust); it’s about the rules of the game that root out corruption and recover stolen assets on behalf of developing economies; and it’s about the everyday acts of ‘global-facing citizens’ who are motivated to support and work on behalf of those worse off than themselves.
The speech fizzed with examples of the way in which development draws on this powerful combination of private, public and citizen-based action: ‘Britain’s offer to the world’, Mitchell said, ‘comes from all of us and not just government’.
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