Over the past year, we featured the wittiest, most contentious and most insightful sound bites on global development in our publications and posted them on our social media channels. You’ve liked and shared them on Facebook; on that basis, and along with our own favorites, we compiled the 15 most memorable Devex Quotables of 2012.

1. “The Best global
development quotes of
2012 ”
-The wittiest, most contentious and most
insightful sound bites on global development.

2. “ [S]o often the big resources
to support a country only
come when it is plunged
into severe crisis, when a
stitch in time might have
saved nine. ”
- Helen Clark, administrator of the
United Nations Development
Program
Photo credit:
Some rights reserved by National Assembly For Wales / Cynulliad Cymru
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalassemblyforwales/6937334746

3. “ We need to help companies
find profit opportunities
abroad, not photo
opportunities. ”
- Rajiv Shah, administrator of the
United States Agency for
International Development
Photo credit:
Some rights reserved by Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fordschool/8099878896

4. “ Money alone does not buy
better health. Good
policies that promote
equity have a better
chance. ”
- Margaret Chan, director-general of
the World Health Organization
Photo credit:
All rights reserved by WHO/Europe
http://www.flickr.com/photos/who_europe/7979492478

5. “ It is not good enough to
say you know about
poverty. You Have to
live it. ”
- Ngozi Okono-Iweala, finance
minister of Nigeria
Photo credit:
Some rights reserved by World Bank Photo Collection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/3980752236

6. “ In the future, regional and
global power and national
stability will be
determined not by who
controls arms, but by who
controls access to
medicines.”
- Michel Sidibé, executive director
of UNAIDS
Photo credit:
Some rights reserved by UN Women Gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unwomen/5809494699

7. “ There’s no copy-and-
paste system in foreign
aid. ”
- Atifete Jahjaga, president of
Kosovo
Photo credit:
Some rights reserved by European Parliament
http://www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/6122714447

8. “ It is shocking that we have the
most complex and strict rules
on all sorts of products from
bananas to ipods, but no global
rules for trading tanks,
machine guns and bullets. this
needs to change. ”
- Nicolas Vercken,
spokesperson of Oxfam
Photo credit:
Oxfam France
https://www.facebook.com/oxfamtrailwalkerfrance/posts/391455670903719

9. “ We all must move from a
greed economy to a green
economy. ”
- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
president of Indonesia
Photo credit:
Some rights reserved by World Economic Forum
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/5433522415/

10. “ Neither peace,
development nor human
rights can flourish in an
atmosphere of corruption. ”
- Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of
the United Nations
Photo credit:
World Economic Forum [CC-BY-SA-2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

11. “ Electing Sudan to the U.N.
body mandated to promote
and protect human rights
worldwide is like putting
Jack the Ripper in charge of
a women’s shelter. ”
- Hillel Neuer, executive director of
U.N. Watch
Photo credit:
All rights reserved by We Have A Dream: Global Human Rights Summit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wehaveadream/6171196440/sizes/l/

12. “ As long as countries wave
chequebooks over our
heads, we can never be
equal. ”
- Louise Mushikiwabo, foreign
affairs minister of Rwanda
Photo credit
www.imbere.com
http://imbere.com/spip.php?article608

13. “ There is no silver bullet
to change the world, but
educating girls is like
silver buckshot. ”
- Nicholas D. Kristof, columnist at
The New York Times
Photo credit:
World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland [CC-BY-SA-2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

14. “ We usually say there is
always a ‘Plan B,’ but
there is no ‘Planet B’. ”
- Jan Eliasson, deputy secretary-
general of the United Nations
Photo credit:AP
Photo source: http://www.voanews.com/content/un-mali-military-operation/1533315.html

15. “ The point is not for the
giver to have a good
feeling, but for the people
we’re trying to help to
have a good feeling. ”
- Bill Gates, philanthropist
By Photo credit:
World Economic Forum (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

16. “ Increased food yields do not
necessarily mean a decrease
in hunger; they just mean
more food. Who is going to get
access to that food is a
difference issue. ”
- Justin Kilcullen, director of Trocaire
Photo credit:
All rights reserved by Trocaire
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trocaire/5597398939/

17. “ What did we miss? ”
Comment below and tell us your
favorite quotable moment of 2012
Read the full article here