Inspired by David Roodman’s list of his 20 most popular blog posts for 2010, we have done something similar for CGD’s Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance blog, and the Global Health Policy blog.
Bipartisanship made a reappearance in a most unlikely place last Wednesday – at the podium of the United Nations. In his address to the United National Millennium Development Goals Summit, President Obama unveiled his “new” approach to development, emphasizing a focus on results, investing in countries committed to their own development through sound governance and democracy, tapping the forces of the economic growth through entrepreneurship and trade, and the need for mutual accountability between developed and developing countries. In doing so, he followed precisely in the footsteps of
As many of you who closely track U.S. development policy doubtlessly already know, one of CGD's first senior fellows, Steve Radelet, joined the U.S. government this week as a senior advisor on development in the office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Trade deserves some credit for the small but significant improvements to Haiti’s economy before the earthquake. U.S. efforts to help Haitians recover from the disaster should include further improvements in our trade preferences program to promote job growth and better working conditions in Haiti.
The massive earthquake that struck Haiti last week has wreaked havoc on a scale that appears unprecedented. Unfortunately, there are many precedents, including several in the last five years, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which killed an estimated 220,000 people, the South Asia earthquake of 2005, which killed 86,000 people, and the Chengdu earthquake of 2008, which killed a similar number. Learning from these is critical to succeeding in minimizing the suffering in Haiti in the next few days and weeks and maximizing the opportunities for recovery over the next several years. While different people involved in the response to these disasters will draw different lessons, from my perspective at the White House during the tsunami and the South Asia earthquake, the following come most quickly to mind:
The G8 leaders gathering in L’Aquila, Italy for their annual summit have an opportunity to help developing countries escape the worst impacts of the financial downturn. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ambitious agenda for the meeting outlines a list of priorities that directly affect short- and long-term development in these countries. The agenda includes climate change, development in Africa, dialogue with developing countries, and the Millennium Goals.
