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Prelude to the Chronic Poverty Report 2008: Escaping poverty traps
posted Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:41 AM by Andrew Shepherd

It is clear that many of today's poor will simply stay poor, even if economic growth is sustained. They are caught in one or more of five poverty traps: insecurity of life or livelihood; weak citizenship status; living in a deprived area; experiencing social discrimination; or held back by poor quality work. The second international Chronic Poverty Report, launched next week, shows that the poorest can be included in progress. .. (more)

214 Views,  1 Comments


From Gleneagles to Hokkaido: Monitoring G8 commitments on aid to Africa
posted Friday, June 20, 2008 2:49 PM by Geoff Handley

In 2005, Africa was promised an additional $25 billion per year in aid. But has the G8 delivered? There is no simple answer, given the complex package of commitments. As we approach the Japanese G8 summit at Hokkaido in July, there is a dangerous dearth of concrete and accessible information in the public domain... (more)

739 Views,  1 Comments


Reading between the lines. Is EU aid in trouble?
posted Wednesday, June 18, 2008 1:01 PM by Simon Maxwell

The EU Council meeting on 19 and 20 June represents an important marker in this year of the Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There are some serious issues to consider, including the failure of European donors to meet their commitments on aid, both in terms of the levels of funding and in delivering harmonisation and alignment. Most importantly, however, the future of the MDG project itself will be debated... (more)

627 Views,  1 Comments


Lessons from Latin America: Donors, democracy and development
posted Friday, June 13, 2008 4:51 PM by Alina Rocha Menocal

Latin America is a laboratory of democratic governance and experimentation. As such, it is an important learning ground for other regions in the developing world. The challenge for donors is how to work with these weak democracies to harness their representative nature and their developmental potential. This means having to develop a deeper understanding of the political economy and context of the settings in which they are involved... (more)

719 Views,  0 Comments


Reform of the International System: the momentum is building
posted Friday, June 13, 2008 10:19 AM by Simon Maxwell

The Commonwealth mini-Summit in London is the latest sign that reform of the international system is moving rapidly up the agenda. The Summit discussed reform of the UN, the Bretton Woods Institutions and global environmental governance. On all these, there is enthusiasm among Heads of Government for faster and better coordinated change... (more)

798 Views,  2 Comments


Tackling inequality in Latin America: A report from the Organization of American States Private Sector Forum
posted Wednesday, June 11, 2008 3:13 PM by Enrique Mendizabal

While the Peruvian government has been busy figuring out how to talk about inequality and bold redistributive policies without scaring local and foreign investors and markets, the corporate sector has leap frogged them and is now – unlike the government – ready for radical policies. .. (more)

667 Views,  1 Comments


Rome exceeded expectations; will the G8 do the same?
posted Friday, June 06, 2008 12:12 PM by Simon Maxwell

The Food Summit in Rome turned out better than expected. It was not derailed by Robert Mugabe. It survived the unedifying wrangling over a final communiqué. It gave the topic a good hearing. It confirmed some practical actions. And it passed the torch successfully to the G8 in Japan in July... (more)

1214 Views,  1 Comments


Watch YOUR space 2.0
posted Thursday, June 05, 2008 7:07 PM by Enrique Mendizabal

In ’Watch YOUR Space’ I argued that open innovation would provide a new strategic solution for think tanks. I suggested the think net model as a way to keep think tanks on the cutting edge of production and communication of policy relevant, research-based.. (more)

905 Views,  0 Comments


The food price crisis: another 'lost decade' for development?
posted Monday, June 02, 2008 11:38 AM by Simon Maxwell

The Food and Agriculture Organisation summit is a vital step in a process that will develop through a series of events in 2008, including the G8 in Hokkaido in July, and the UN Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals, in New York in September. At this stage, the Rome summit must deliver four things... (more)

2004 Views,  0 Comments


The IMF Reform Package: Small progress towards increased representation for developing countries
posted Monday, May 19, 2008 3:01 PM by Lauren Phillips

In April, after several years of negotiation and discussion, the member states of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a governance reform package. The impetus for the reform was to ensure that the IMF maintains credibility and legitimacy with fast growing developing countries. It is, therefore, envisioned as a first step in a longer process of reform for the representation of developing countries in the IMF... (more)

1412 Views,  0 Comments


The importance – and absence – of good governance indicators
posted Friday, May 16, 2008 9:17 AM by Verena Fritz

As governance indicators have proliferated in recent years, so has their use and the controversy that surrounds them. As more and more voices are pointing out, existing indicators – many of them developed and launched in the 1990s – have a number of flaws. This is particularly disquieting at a time when governance is at the very top of the development agenda. .. (more)

1678 Views,  1 Comments


Tackling the food price crisis: five steps
posted Thursday, May 08, 2008 11:06 AM by Simon Maxwell

The word "crisis" is much abused. But the current food price crisis constitutes a genuine emergency. Urgency in tackling it is essential... (more)

2664 Views,  5 Comments


The aid story in 2008. What’s next?
posted Wednesday, April 16, 2008 2:39 PM by Alison Evans

2008 is turning into another of those milestone years for aid. A cluster of high level meetings are focusing international attention on the challenges around effective development assistance. This presents familiar challenges: how to scale-up, align and harmonise aid to support achievement of the MDGs by 2015. But what is crucially different is the global context in which this must now be achieved. .. (more)

3124 Views,  5 Comments


Watch YOUR space
posted Thursday, April 10, 2008 12:10 PM by Enrique Mendizabal

Think tanks like ODI have traded successfully for decades on creating and sharing specialised knowledge by hot-housing groups of smart people. But they may not be able to do so for much longer. .. (more)

2926 Views,  7 Comments


The African Economic Partnership Agreements – what the details reveal
posted Tuesday, April 08, 2008 9:59 AM by Chris Stevens

We have been busy working with the European Centre for Development Policy Management to analyse all the African interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).Our new report on the subject has been described as 'encyclopaedic' – another way of saying 'mind bogglingly complex'. If so, it reflects the character of the EPAs themselves. Absorbing all the detail, and identifying priorities for further in-depth country- and issue-specific work, will take time, but we have pinpointed some general themes... (more)

2721 Views,  4 Comments


Accra High Level Forum – Accountability before aspiration?
posted Friday, March 28, 2008 1:22 PM by Kent Buse

This proliferation of global health initiatives is ringing alarm bells in terms of the challenges for partner country leadership and transaction costs. So it was welcome news that the concept of "Health as a tracer sector" would be on the table at the Accra High Level Forum (HLF) in September 2008. But when we look at the agenda, why has health been relegated to one of three topics to be addressed in one of the nine round tables? .. (more)

3395 Views,  7 Comments


Moving beyond the rhetorical: Investing in gender equality to achieve the right to health
posted Thursday, March 06, 2008 5:59 PM by Cora Walsh and Nicola Jones

After decades of work to tackle gender disparities in healthcare, gender remains a significant factor in the poor health of millions around the globe. Women account for the majority of the world’s poor, and being a poor woman carries serious health.. (more)

2711 Views,  3 Comments


Will rising food prices derail development efforts?
posted Friday, February 29, 2008 1:45 PM by Simon Maxwell

Rising food prices are very much in the news.  Farmers may gain, but poor consumers are hard hit – and don’t hesitate to let the politicians know. Governments and aid agencies are under pressure to provide more robust safety nets, while simultaneously.. (more)

4259 Views,  6 Comments


Can the international community deliver on the ‘Democratic Imperative’?
posted Monday, February 18, 2008 6:24 PM by Alina Rocha Menocal

The UK’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, delivered an excellent speech last Tuesday (12 February) on the importance of international efforts to support democracy in the developing world, or what he called ‘the democratic imperative’. The speech.. (more)

3903 Views,  1 Comments


Turning up the volume: Voice and accountability in Kenya
posted Friday, February 15, 2008 5:23 PM by Fletcher Tembo

What began as a dispute over election results in Kenya has escalated into something much worse in recent weeks. More than 1,000 people have now been killed and around 600,000 have been forced to leave their homes. Though Kofi Annan, who is currently leading.. (more)

2953 Views,  2 Comments


Global social justice as a new focus for development policy?
posted Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:46 AM by Simon Maxwell

When Douglas Alexander talked at the Foreign Policy Centre last week, he described climate change as an issue of ‘global social justice’. This has triggered me to pull together some thoughts on ‘global social justice’, to ask how the concept relates.. (more)

3307 Views,  7 Comments


NAO report could risk fuelling calls for a return to old ways of working
posted Friday, February 08, 2008 4:01 PM by Nick Highton

The National Audit Office report on General Budget Support (GBS) published today is, in most respects, very much to be welcomed. However, by focusing narrowly on the risks of misappropriating GBS funds, the report risks a return to projectised aid to poor countries, in ways that avoid government systems... (more)

2526 Views,  1 Comments


The view from Davos - Part four: The Davos agenda – more to watch
posted Tuesday, February 05, 2008 9:23 AM by Simon Maxwell

In the last of four blogs with reflections and predictions from Davos, I look at web 2.0, Africa, governance and institutions... (more)

4029 Views,  1 Comments


The view from Davos - Part three: Perspectives on the environmental debate
posted Monday, February 04, 2008 10:46 AM by Simon Maxwell

In the third of four blogs, I consider perspectives in three key areas- biofuels, climate change adaptation and water... (more)

2819 Views,  0 Comments


The view from Davos - Part two: Hunger and malnutrition – the forgotten MDG?
posted Friday, February 01, 2008 10:36 AM by Simon Maxwell

Last week, I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos. This is the second of four blogs with my reflections and predictions on how the debates will be taken forward in 2008. (for the other blogs, visit 'ODI on... Davos 2008')Substantively, my enduring.. (more)

4729 Views,  4 Comments