Last week’s startling news that Chinese trade shrank for the first time since 2001 and that India’s industrial output fell for the first time since 1994 will have dispelled any remaining hope that developing countries would be insulated from the global financial crisis... (more)
This blog, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, argues that signing up to an international convention is easy enough, but does not change reality. .. (more)
The Doha Financing for Development Conference closed this afternoon. Six thousand delegates, politicians, NGOs, private sector representatives, journalists and hangers-on breathed a sigh of relief and headed for the airport. The Conference wasn’t the political train wreck some had predicted, and even achieved some useful outcomes. But the atmosphere is very different from the heady optimism at the end of the original Monterrey Conference in 2002... (more)
The early recovery agenda is gaining momentum in bilateral and multilateral policy circles and this high-level event was a major contribution to efforts to strengthen international support and push forward this agenda. But what is it?.. (more)
This blog comments on the final report of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, raising five key questions that need to be answered in the debate on health equity... (more)
This blog marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on 25 November -- a brief moment to reflect on the state of women’s rights and empowerment. It argues that complacency in tackling gender concerns is reinforcing appalling human rights abuses. .. (more)
This blog assesses the recently-published Eliasch Review on international financing to reduce deforestation. It argues that the review focuses too much on the finances and not enough on the politics that affects forest conservation, at national and international level... (more)
According to the most recent UN World Urbanization Prospects around half of the world's population is living in urban areas in 2008, and the world will be increasingly urban from now on. The World Bank, in a recent piece on 'The Urbanisation of Global Poverty', noted a simultaneous trend towards the urbanisation of poverty, with the poor moving into towns and cities faster than the rest of the population. Are donor strategies, policies and programmes keeping up with the pace of change occurring in the least developed countries?.. (more)
The global financial crisis is bound to have a major impact on developing countries, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF ) having downgraded its growth forecasts for 2009 for both developed and developing countries. With two key global events coming up (the G20 crisis summit and the Doha Finance for Development meeting), this blog asks how deep a fall developing countries can expect, and what should be done about it. .. (more)
Reshaping Economic Geography, the World Development Report for 2009, is launched today. The World Bank’s flagship report puts place and space very firmly in the development spotlight, outlining how countries can speed up their own development by ‘reshaping economic geography’... (more)
The World Economic Forum's Summit on the Global Agenda has just ended in Dubai. By both luck and judgement, the meeting was well-timed to contextualise current crises and look ahead. The big debates were on this being a time of great risk, but also an opportunity to get things right – on finance, of course, but also climate, ecology, social welfare and global governance. There was much talk of 're-booting' world systems, ranging from better regulation to more collective action, and from green growth to better global leadership. .. (more)
The Millennium Villages Project (MVP) is headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The MVP is similar to a number of other new village-based initiatives (1, 2) – born, in part, out of frustration with limited progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But are these initiatives just a replay of the unsuccessful Integrated Rural Development (IRD) programmes of the 1970s and 1980s – or can they make poverty history?.. (more)
This blog argues that the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) need to be well informed, deal proactively with legitimate criticism, and ensure stakeholder buy-in. Three features of the EPAs stand out: their complexity; their potential impact; and the fact that there has been almost no informed discussion of their potential impact based on independent analysis. News on the EPAs will be coming in at erratic intervals and in varying forms for the foreseeable future. The blog invites visitors to the ODI website to subscribe to updates on the EPA process... (more)
In a recent keynote address, World Bank President Robert Zoellick called for a ‘modernisation of multilateralism’ to meet the challenges of the present era, and for a new approach to dealing with fragile states. Fragile states are not just ‘harder cases’ of development but wholly different cases that require new thinking and a new integration of international tools and actors... (more)
It has been argued that “think tanks exist to bring fresh ideas to bear in policymaking and politics”. This, for sure, is what most of their mission statements say. But think tanks exist for other reasons too. A look at think tanks in the rest of the world sheds some light into this eclectic family of organisations... (more)
The global financial crisis has caused a considerable economic slowdown in developed countries such as the UK, Germany, France and the USA. The USA and UK face the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s. By contrast, the Malawian finance minister told me last week that he projects growth in Malawi of more than 8% this year. Nigeria is also projected to see economic growth of 8%, and China 9%. Will all developing countries be isolated from the downturn in the west? If not, which countries are at risk and how might the global financial crisis affect them?.. (more)
A renewed commitment to multilateralism may be one of the benefits of the financial crisis. Coordinated action by Governments and Central Banks is one indicator of change. There are others... (more)
If I had two minutes with Dr Diouf, the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), I would pitch for the rebuilding of physical stocks of food, back to something like 30% of typical annual use, or around 650 million tonnes. .. (more)
There is lots to say about risk analysis. Global or Local? Long-term or short-term? Financial or social? There is lots to say, too, about the implications for development planning. It is a useful approach. However, a risk analysis is only half the story. We are missing the opportunities. A sensible guide to making decisions and spending money should take account of risks, but also of opportunities. Where is the opportunity analysis?
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Can developing countries isolate themselves from the financial turbulence in the developed world? Will the crunch negate any achievements made on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in New York this week?.. (more)
Gender-based relations of power are at the root of gender inequality and form one of the most influential social determinants of health. Yet, immunisation – one of the ‘best buys’ in health, and a focus of MDG 6 – is often assumed to be ‘gender-neutral’... (more)
A high profile European report on the MDGs is being launched in Brussels on Friday and in New York on 24 September. It says the Millennium Development Goals have been a force for good in the world, but that progress is uneven, too slow and threatened by the global economic slowdown. The authors also argue that the European Union brings particular strengths to the MDG project... (more)
I've just returned from the ministerial day at the third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, where I moderated the two main plenary discussions. The forum generated a great deal of drama over the outcome document, known as the Accra Agenda for Action. This had been carefully prepared over many months, as a consensus statement to be approved by Ministers. When I turned up for my breakfast briefing at 7 am on Thursday morning, the news was that the process had broken down over dinner the previous evening and that the whole negotiation was in jeopardy... (more)
The recent UK progress report on aid effectiveness is a positive step towards providing a transparent account for meeting the Paris Declaration. The report is not only aimed at aid agencies but a more broader audience to follow the UK’s 'model' on better aid effectiveness... (more)
Why has the world been unable to solve the water supply and sanitation crisis and what solutions will the international community of water experts propose? The "World Water Week" in Stockholm had a special focus on sanitation under the heading 'Progress and Prospects on Water: For a Clean and Healthy World'. The conference was characterised by agreement and pragmatism and emphasised the key role of political decision makers. .. (more)
