Viewing blog posts on: Governance and politics
Liesbet Steer -Senior Research Associate at ODI and project leader for the Development Progress Studies - reflects on Bill Gates presentation on development finance at the G20 summit in Cannes and asks: what’s getting the biggest buzz around the G20 leaders’ summit this week?; what’s the single word that best captures Gates’ thinking on development?; and What sort of delivery mechanism is most likely to succeed? .. (more)
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Liesbet Steer on
Thursday, November 03, 2011 3:53 PM
To get more traction on operationalising political analysis in the current climate you need to be able to demonstrate the difference it makes, and this remains a challenge. A recent meeting at ODI launched a jointly produced edition of the journal Developing Alternatives – focusing on ‘Political economy analysis and the practice of development’. I took away three main messages from the discussion... (more)
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Andrew Norton on
Friday, October 28, 2011 3:06 PM
Marta Foresti reflects on key messages of an event jointly hosted by the Overseas Development Institute and the Africa Governance Intitative where former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered a speech on the role of supporting African leadership to transform government and achieve development... (more)
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Marta Foresti on
Thursday, October 20, 2011 2:55 PM
With the publication of 'An Agenda for Change', the new EU development policy launched by EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, this ODI Blog explores important shifts in EU policy and what it means for the development agenda... (more)
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Mikaela Gavas on
Monday, October 17, 2011 5:20 PM
Whilst the tenth anniversary of the ‘war on terror’ has given rise to myriad reflections on the past decade of conflict, little attention has been paid to the impact that legislation to combat terrorism has had on humanitarian action across the globe. This blog explores how counter-terrorism laws have profound effects on the work of humanitarian organisations. .. (more)
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Sara Pantuliano on
Monday, October 17, 2011 9:14 AM
As the g7+ – a grouping formed in 2010 of 17 of the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected countries – has pointed out, the MDGs do not adequately take account of their very particular development needs. In response, the g7+ is calling for a ‘New Aid Deal’ based on a set of more realistic interim goals needed in fragile states. Lisa Denney explores what this means for the aid effectiveness agenda... (more)
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Lisa Denney on
Friday, October 14, 2011 3:33 PM
At the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and the Development Studies Association (DSA) conference in York, the voices of the world’s emerging economies were in the spotlight. Focusing on so-called ‘non-DAC donors’ as an emerging research topic and public affairs agenda, Lidia Cabral shares three observations. .. (more)
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Lidia Cabral on
Friday, September 30, 2011 3:07 PM
in the midst of a debt, equity and policy crisis, confidence is sliding amidst lags in global policy responses. A path out of the crisis is still possible – including through a G20-led rebalancing from the public to the private sector and from current account surplus to deficit countries. So far the markets have reacted favourably to yesterday’s G20 commitment, but it still needs to be followed by action... (more)
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Dirk Willem te Velde on
Friday, September 23, 2011 3:34 PM
The challenge of constructing a stable, prosperous and democratic country in Libya is infinitely complex. What is clear is that the endeavour will be very much harder without the active involvement of the international corporate sector. Those responsible for the reconstruction process ensure that international companies are engaged as a strategic partner from the outset, and are seen as fundamental to the stable and durable reconstruction of the country.
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Peter Davis on
Thursday, August 25, 2011 10:15 AM
The release of the report by the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka is to be welcomed on a number of fronts.
Significantly, it offers the first UN estimate of the death toll in Sri Lanka’s war, which culminated.. (more)
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Samir Elhawary on
Monday, May 09, 2011 12:44 PM
The World Bank’s latest World Development Report (WDR) presents some sobering realities for the relationship between conflict and underdevelopment in the world today. It estimates that 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles.. (more)
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Leni Wild on
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 11:26 AM
Why do we still see development support provided in ways which does not account for existing political conditions and processes? There is an urgent need to identify the different elements of this problem in order to start identifying solutions: this is the main aim of a high level policy debate organised by ODI’s Politics and Governance programme. .. (more)
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Marta Foresti on
Monday, December 06, 2010 2:32 PM
The EU's Foreign Affairs Council discussed development issues on 14 June. Its Conclusions can fairly be considered as a partial endorsement of the proposals put forward by the Commission in its Spring Package back in April. Of 31 specific proposals,.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 3:16 PM
As discussions begin in Rome on donor support to the Comprehensive Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), it is time to move beyond debate on sound principles and address the root causes of failed policy coordination in agriculture The Annual General Assembly of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GPDRD) seems a good opportunity to start this shift in thinking. .. (more)
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Lidia Cabral on
Monday, January 25, 2010 1:49 PM
Piracy off the coast of Somalia has its roots in state collapse and fragmentation within Somalia itself. This blog argues that security measures alone will not solve the problem, and that a development approach is needed that will restore order and rule of law within Somalia. It sets out three principles for an effective development approach: strategies that are driven locally; a willingness to engage with those on all sides; and the development of new economic opportunities. .. (more)
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Leni Wild on
Thursday, June 04, 2009 6:56 AM
A ground-breaking study on participatory governance in Nepal is launched, as the country celebrates its first peace-time Republic Day. As well as highlighting participation issues in Nepal, the study has implications for wider governance issues both within and beyond the country... (more)
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David Walker on
Thursday, May 28, 2009 3:38 PM
UK Members of Parliament face public scrutiny in the wake of an expenses scandal, sparking a wide-ranging debate on the very nature of politics and governance. Taking this further, the blog warns against the wholesale transfer of western 'models' of democracy, such as the Westminster Model, to other contexts. It suggests that various governance initiatives in developing countries may provide useful lessons for western democracies. .. (more)
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Alan Hudson on
Thursday, May 28, 2009 1:47 PM
Investment in sanitation for the dignity and health of millions of poor people should be an urgent development priority. Based on research carried out by ODI and the RIPPLE Programme, this blog proposes three rules for successful policy-making for sanitation... (more)
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Peter Newborne on
Tuesday, April 07, 2009 9:20 AM
ODI Director, Simon Maxwell, outlines why we need to reinvent globalisation and international institutions to ensure they genuinely reflect and represent regional, cultural and income diversities and provide a framework to govern the world amid new global threats. .. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 9:30 AM
This blog investigates responses by donors and governments to the cholera epedemic in Zimbabwe, arguing that more analysis of the roots of current cholera outbreak is needed to draw lessons and options for future policy in the sector... (more)
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Sobona Mtisi on
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 1:34 PM
The crisis in Gaza raises serious questions about the means and methods of warfare in densely populated areas. Past experiences in Sarajevo, Grozny and Baghdad show how the conduct of war in contexts of high civilian concentration intensifies the consequences for civilian populations. .. (more)
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Sorcha O'Callaghan and Sara Pavanello on
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:25 PM
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)
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Dirk Willem te Velde on
Friday, December 19, 2008 12:40 PM
Evo Morales has jumped over yet another hurdle this weekend. He has managed to secure a new vote of confidence from among the social movements and grassroots that constitute the loose coalition that is his political platform. This backing is what he needs to further advance his drive to transform Bolivia into a socialist state. But this is also an unfortunate step further into a vicious cycle of ideological polarisation from which, Latin American history says, one can only leave through violence and the absolute rejection of the past... (more)
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Enrique Mendizabal on
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 11:23 AM
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)
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Alina Rocha Menocal on
Friday, June 13, 2008 4:51 PM
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)
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Simon Maxwell on
Friday, June 13, 2008 10:19 AM
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)
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Lauren Phillips on
Monday, May 19, 2008 3:01 PM
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)
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Verena Fritz on
Friday, May 16, 2008 9:17 AM
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)
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Alison Evans on
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 2:39 PM
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)
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Alina Rocha Menocal on
Monday, February 18, 2008 6:24 PM
At the end of a turbulent week in Pakistan, there are two questions to ask about the nation’s return to a state of emergency. First, how should we interpret it? Second, what, if anything, should Western powers and aid donors do? This blog focuses on the.. (more)
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Diana Cammack on
Friday, November 09, 2007 2:50 PM
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance is the latest addition to the flourishing field of governance assessment. The World Governance Assessment (based at ODI), the Kaufman and Kraay indicators, and the Bertelsmann Transformation Index all seek to tell us about governance scores and progress in developing countries. So, what does the Ibrahim Index measure? Why is it distinctive? Is it offering something new? What are the most interesting features? How does it compare to other indices? .. (more)
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Marta Foresti on
Tuesday, October 02, 2007 12:43 PM
The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank hosted a conference in Addis Ababa on ‘Engaging with Fragile States: Challenges and Opportunities’ on Tuesday and Wednesday last week (24-25 July). It was organised in close collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Overall, I thought the conference was very interesting, especially in terms of the people it was able to bring together.
.. (more)
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Alina Rocha Menocal on
Tuesday, July 31, 2007 5:17 PM
With Gordon Brown about to take office, ODI asked representatives of the three main political parties in the UK to speak on the theme ‘What’s Next in International Development?’. These three speeches tell us something about the issues that will.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Friday, June 22, 2007 1:05 PM
Speaking at the 2nd meeting in a series on 'Parliaments and development' organised by ODI and the Africa All-Party Parliamentary Group, the Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn talked about two things. First, the contribution which improved governance, support to democratic politics and 'politics that work' can make to poverty reduction. And second, DFID's support to parliaments in developing countries... (more)
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Alan Hudson on
Tuesday, May 08, 2007 4:05 PM
On Tuesday of this week, British MPs debated the decision taken in 2001 by the UK Government to license the export of an air traffic control system to Tanzania. Here, Alan Hudson, a Research Fellow at ODI, reflects on one of the many issues which the.. (more)
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Alan Hudson on
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 4:23 PM
Kemal Dervis, the UNDP Administrator, spoke for ODI and the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development on Wednesday and hinted at the recommendations of the UN High Level Panel on System Wide Coherence, due to be published next Thursday,.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Monday, November 06, 2006 12:32 PM
We need to start having a discussion about ‘human security’ as a vehicle for thinking about aid, especially with respect to the EU, and with the following question in mind: is human security a neat way of framing a poverty-focused aid programme in the modern era, or is it a clever device to appropriate development aid for the purposes of foreign policy?.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Friday, October 27, 2006 4:26 PM
The front page of today’s Financial Times carried another story on the impending reform of the governance of the IMF. But where’s the news?
The article repeats what has been in the press since at least April (see article in the FT.. (more)
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Lauren Phillips on
Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1:18 PM
Three weeks after the presidential elections held on 2 July, the situation in Mexico remains tense and volatile. The race was decided by the narrowest of margins. According to the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), Felipe Calderón of the Party of National.. (more)
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Alina Rocha Menocal on
Monday, July 24, 2006 10:29 AM
The UK government is re-enforcing its commitment to improving governance and anti-corruption efforts. To do so, it will work at the national level in recipient countries, at the international level - promoting anti-bribery efforts and greater transparency.. (more)
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Verena Fritz on
Friday, July 14, 2006 12:12 PM
Last night at 11 o’clock, the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE), the Mexican federal institute in charge of elections, announced that the presidential election that took place yesterday was too close to call. Results will have to wait until this coming.. (more)
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Alina Rocha Menocal on
Friday, July 07, 2006 2:14 PM
An explanatory note: using the blog to help develop ideas
In our blog on the WTO last week, we posted a text by me and then four sets of comments by ODI colleagues. This seemed like an interesting way to share our own thought processes and perhaps.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Monday, January 16, 2006 11:44 AM
The increased financial commitment to Africa must be welcomed, not least because it is indicative of renewed political will to tackle global inequities. However, there is a missing link between the generous financial commitments, and the chance of the.. (more)
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Clare Lockhart on
Monday, August 08, 2005 3:28 PM
