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Viewing blog posts on: Governance



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


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


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


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


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


Which way Pakistan?
posted Friday, November 09, 2007 2:50 PM by Diana Cammack

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)

2283 Views,  0 Comments


Assessing governance: No easy task
posted Tuesday, October 02, 2007 12:43 PM by Marta Foresti

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)

2641 Views,  1 Comments


Engaging with Fragile States: Challenges and Opportunities
posted Tuesday, July 31, 2007 5:17 PM by Alina Rocha Menocal

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)

2551 Views,  5 Comments


Where are the political divides on international development?
posted Friday, June 22, 2007 1:05 PM by Simon Maxwell

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)

2708 Views,  4 Comments


Parliaments and political culture: Regime change by stealth?
posted Tuesday, May 08, 2007 4:05 PM by Alan Hudson

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)

1720 Views,  0 Comments


Arms to Africa? Policy coherence for development and power
posted Wednesday, January 31, 2007 4:23 PM by Alan Hudson

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)

2699 Views,  2 Comments


What will the High Level Panel on UN Reform announce this Thursday?
posted Monday, November 06, 2006 12:32 PM by Simon Maxwell

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)

2120 Views,  1 Comments


Is ‘human security’ a neat way of framing a poverty-focused aid programme, or a clever device for the EU to appropriate development aid for the purposes of foreign policy?
posted Friday, October 27, 2006 4:26 PM by Simon Maxwell

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)

3173 Views,  3 Comments


IMF Governance Reform: Real change still years away
posted Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1:18 PM by Lauren Phillips

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)

2495 Views,  1 Comments


The Mexican electoral cliffhanger part 2: To recount or not to recount - is there a question?
posted Monday, July 24, 2006 10:29 AM by Alina Rocha Menocal

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)

2493 Views,  1 Comments


The White Paper on Governance and Corruption: saying many right things, avoiding to communicate some difficult choices
posted Friday, July 14, 2006 12:12 PM by Verena Fritz

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)

2997 Views,  0 Comments


The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Mexican Presidential Elections at a Cliff Hanger
posted Friday, July 07, 2006 2:14 PM by Alina Rocha Menocal

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)

2051 Views,  0 Comments


Six approaches to fragile states
posted Monday, January 16, 2006 11:44 AM by Simon Maxwell

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)

5719 Views,  2 Comments


Making poverty history - the state as the missing link
posted Monday, August 08, 2005 3:28 PM by Clare Lockhart

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)

4142 Views,  1 Comments