...quoting the change makers

U®Quote

This page lists quotes from change makers or top influencers signaling important changes in the international development sector. For full reference links are provided to relevant articles or webpages.

27-5-2014

"We need to recognize that there is a tension between pure freemarket capitalism, which reinforces the primacy of the individual at the expense of the system and social capital, which requires of the individual a broader sense of the system. In other words: a sense of self must be accompanied by a sense of the systemic."

Mark Carney, Bank of England
at Inclusive Capitalism Initiative

20-5-2014

"Character is the most important element in change. An exclusive focus on capacities, knowledge and skills misses what matters most. It’s individual and organisational character that determines whether genuine change takes place."

Dr. Rick James, principal consultant, INTRAC, UK

(read the full blog post at http://www.intrac.org/blog.php/55/cultivating-character-in-capacity-building)

7-5-2014

"What is the point of economics if not to improve peoples' lives, what is the point of economic policy if not to build more inclusive, more harmonious societies."

Angel Gurria, Secretary-General, OECD 
at OECD Forum 2014

7-5-2014

"A billion people are suffering from malnutrition while another billion overconsumes. We partner with dining halls encouraging their clients to share meals over the same table beyond time and space"

Masa Kogure, Table for Two, Tokyo Japan
at a lunch session during the OECD Forum 2014

7-5-2014

"I am not a big fan of industrial policy. Government is not very good at picking winners, but losers are very good at picking governments"

Mohamad Shatib Basri, Minister of Financek, Indonesia
at OECD Forum 2014

22-1-2014

"Where there is concern & care for others there we can see fresh ideas blossom"

President Park Geun-hye of Korea
at Davos World Economic Forum 2014

22-1-2014

"The evidence is clear that significant employment is not created by large concessions and corporations (...) but by the small and medium enterprises."

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia 
at Davos World Economic Forum 2014

4-10-2013

"The real conflict is between a new and an old era. Every boy and girl know they will have to change the world. The others still live by old stories. A new generation is rising in the world and in the Middle-East."

Shimon Perez
 President of Israël at College Tour at Dutch television

27-7-2013

"As more lives and communities are destroyed by the system that creates vast amounts of wealth for the few, the more heroic it sounds to "give back"

Peter Buffett
chairman of the NoVo Foundation in The New York Times

21-7-2013

"There is no such thing as “the enterprise” in China"

Yingyi Qian
 Dean of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, in Beijing (in: McKinsey Quarterly)

May 22, 2013

""If all agencies are collectively accountable then no one is accountable"

Dr. Todd Moss
Vice President for Programs and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
during Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing

April 19, 2013

"Stronger statistical capacity will help drive more sophisticated decision making, for example, through the application of natural wealth accounting, a clearer
understanding of the distributional effects of social and economic programs, and the ability to take account of the impacts of decisions on women."

Donald  Kaberuka 
African Development President and Meeting Chairman
at the IFI meeting to discuss post 2015 

17-1-2012
"Civil society is a partner here, not a dependent implementer of my policy."

Lilianne Ploumen
Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
at the Ambassadors Conference (Source: website Ministry of Foreign Affairs) 

15-1-2012

"food security’ or ‘insecurity’ is locked into the function of global trade and making a profit from anything possible, even at the cost of human survival. This is expressed in the policies and practices of international financial institutions, global economic regulating bodies and the aid architecture."

Fantahun Wakie Birhanu
SNV Ethiopia (Source: Questions everyone avoids answering, The Broker Online) 

13-12-2012

"Where the mistake was made, is that we only expect (and manage) a return on FINANCIAL capital. In order to address the current crises in a systematic way, we must also begin to demand a return on SOCIAL and on NATURAL capital. That's where we need to change the rules of the game. (...) We need a revolution of capitalism"

Peter Bakker
Chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
at Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project annual event