ODI Blog
The ODI Blog features the personal views of ODI experts on a range of current events and issues. This page contains our most recent blogs. For a full list of ODI blogs, use the search on the left (selecting 'ODI blog posts' under 'Flagship resource series').
New research by ODI suggests that the climate change mitigation policies of rich countries could have as big an impact on growth prospects for developing countries as climate change itself.
These policies will also determine how the costs of reducing.. (more)
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Karen Ellis on
Thursday, September 09, 2010 10:51 AM
5 Views,
One antidote to pessimism lingering from China's strategic stalemate at last December's climate change negotiations at COP 15 in Copenhagen is to spend time with China's next generation of leaders. My recent encounter with an energetic, impassioned cohort.. (more)
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Michelle Kooy on
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 5:18 PM
411 Views,
Today is the second annual World Humanitarian Day. The day aims to increase public awareness about humanitarian work and the importance of international cooperation, to honour humanitarian workers in the field , and commemorate all of those who have lost.. (more)
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Sarah Bailey on
Thursday, August 19, 2010 9:21 AM
766 Views,
Shares in India's largest microfinance institution, SKS, are now on sale and are expected to raise as much as $360 million. But is there a real link between the commercialisation of microfinance and actual results for the poor? Or is India in danger of.. (more)
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Milford Bateman on
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 6:28 PM
1166 Views,
Climate research and policy make extensive use of two concepts, ‘mitigation' and ‘adaptation'. And while these are a helpful starting point, a broader focus on 'climate
compatible development' may now be needed.In the Kyoto Protocol (1997), and more.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Friday, July 23, 2010 4:50 PM
1113 Views,
Current debates on South-South cooperation (SSC) and its effectiveness are marked by the absence of some of the most prominent providers of financial and technical assistance to the South. Brazil is a case in point. But is the country ready to engage.. (more)
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Lidia Cabral on
Thursday, July 22, 2010 3:13 PM
1309 Views,
The debate over whether the UK should continue providing development assistance to India is not new, but it has become a lightning rod for those who argue that the UK aid programme has lost its way. In reflecting on the specifics of the case it is worth.. (more)
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Alison Evans on
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 9:46 AM
2752 Views,
The UN system has long been criticised for not matching its often impressive and widely supported commitments to gender equality with the human and budget resources, as well as the requisite institutional muscle, to translate commitments into reality.. (more)
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Nicola Jones on
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 6:04 PM
1690 Views,
When the great and the good gather at the Millennium Development Goals Review Summit in New York in September, it will be interesting to see how prominent general budget support (GBS) is on the agenda. Back in May, a paper on ‘Budget Support and MDG performance',.. (more)
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Heidi Tavakoli on
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 9:58 AM
1225 Views,
Responding to policy-makers' needs is important, and being able to clarify and communicate research is an essential skill for development researchers. But it may have unintended consequences. By always giving policy-makers what they want – shorter, simpler and easier things to read – are we implicitly accepting that they should not be held up to the same standards as other professionals? In short, are we unintentionally ‘dumbing down' the audience? .. (more)
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Enrique Mendizabal on
Monday, July 05, 2010 2:50 PM
1592 Views,
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
1464 Views,
Most developed G-20 countries are walking a tightrope, trying to balance actions to promote growth whilst ensuring fiscal sustainability. So most headlines about the G-20 Summit in Toronto were about the agreement on growth-friendly plans to reduce deficits,.. (more)
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Dirk Willem te Velde on
Monday, June 28, 2010 1:17 PM
1812 Views,
Next week, G-20 leaders will meet in Toronto, only weeks after their Finance ministers agreed a shift toward collective austerity. Today, ODI launches a collection of essays in a study to inform the G-20 leaders and underline the impact their decisions.. (more)
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Dirk Willem te Velde on
Friday, June 18, 2010 10:49 AM
1057 Views,
In New York this week, leaders from civil society, NGOs and the business world met at Informal Interactive Hearings of the General Assembly on the MDGs. The hearings were organised as a forum for UN Member States to engage with civil society, NGOs and.. (more)
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Kate Higgins on
Friday, June 18, 2010 9:53 AM
1148 Views,
Juba – an isolated garrison town during Sudan’s civil war – is now an important political and economic centre as the new capital of South Sudan, and a hub for regional trade. But the throngs of hard-headed investors, the new roads and busy restaurants.. (more)
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Ellen Martin on
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:31 AM
1298 Views,
There is strong consensus that growth is important to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We know that growth tends to be positively correlated with improvements in income, and that there is a strong link between growth and poverty reduction... (more)
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Kate Higgins on
Thursday, June 10, 2010 3:04 PM
1246 Views,
At his recent speech at the Royal Society, UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, representing the new coalition government, made a significant step forward in the push for greater aid transparency by announcing a commitment.. (more)
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Samuel Moon on
Monday, June 07, 2010 11:20 AM
1345 Views,
A renewed donor interest in stabilising countries affected by political violence, armed conflict and chronic poverty – so-called fragile states – should come as a welcome development to humanitarians who have long complained of the indifference shown.. (more)
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Samir Elhawary on
Friday, May 28, 2010 4:34 PM
1729 Views,
Yesterday saw the launch of the UK coalition agreement. Whilst such documents should not be seen as White Papers (and while continental European coalition negotiations tend to take longer to prepare such documents), it is rather tempting to go directly.. (more)
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Dirk Willem te Velde on
Friday, May 21, 2010 4:06 PM
1935 Views,
The overall tenor of the report by the Reflection Group on the future of the EU to 2030, issued earlier this month, can best be described as alarmism leading to a call for renewal. According to the report, internal and external threats to Europe's prosperity.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Thursday, May 20, 2010 4:35 PM
935 Views,
European Union Foreign Ministers are meeting today to agree the shape and functions of the new European External Action Service created by the Lisbon Treaty . This is not the final stage of the approval process. The European Parliament must agree the.. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Monday, April 26, 2010 12:03 PM
1787 Views,
The EU Commission’s ‘Spring Package’ on development, launched this week, will be scrutinised with special care, as the first major policy statement by the new Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs. Does it mark new strategic leadership? Does it suggest the Commissioner will take political risks? Will it excite and challenge the Member States? .. (more)
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Simon Maxwell on
Thursday, April 22, 2010 4:15 PM
2469 Views,
The UK election campaign is hotting up. Last week all the major political parties issued their manifestos and a few others besides. We also witnessed the first live televised debate between the three main contenders for the UK’s highest.. (more)
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Alison Evans on
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 10:47 AM
2774 Views,
