CGD's weekly Global Prosperity Wonkcast, event videos, whiteboard talks, slides, and more.
The last decade has seen considerable progress enrolling children in schools worldwide: today most people live in countries on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of 100% primary completi
CGD and Foreign Policy Magazine honored Senator Richard Lugar, winner of the 2012 Commitment to Development Award, The award is bestowed annually since 2003, and honors an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to changing attitudes and policies towards the developing world.
Nancy Birdsall discusses CGD's Twelve-Step Program for Policy Change, ideas originally published by Lawrence MacDonald and Ruth Levine in 2008.
The Center for Global Development was pleased to host Michael Froman, President Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor and Assistant for International Economics, for a discussion of the Obama Administration's strategy to achieve poverty alleviation and sustained economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Froman recently led an interagency delegation to Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria to meet with a cross section of government officials, private sector leaders and young entrepreneurs on a range of issues and initiatives including the East African Community trade and investment partnership, the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition; energy; and infrastructure.
Twenty years after the original summit, world leaders will reconvene in Rio for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Ahead of the Rio+20, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde will focus on key challenges to be addressed by the international community in Rio. World leaders are faced with an economic crisis, an environmental crisis, and sometimes a social crisis that cannot be treated separately. The IMF has an important role to play in exploring how macroeconomic and especially fiscal instruments can be used to address these urgent problems. The institution has also highlighted that social and environmental problems really do matter for economic performance, and are themselves affected by macroeconomic performance.
Partnership for Growth (PFG) is a new model for the United States to engage with a select group of countries to accelerate and sustain broad-based economic growth. It involves rigorous joint analysis of constraints to growth, the development of joint action plans to address these constraints, and high-level mutual accountability for implementation. One of PFG’s objectives is to engage not just aid but also a range of available tools to unlock new investment. CGD is pleased to host Gayle Smith to present on PFG. Todd Moss will then moderate a conversation with representatives from the U.S. agencies involved in the partnership as well as representatives from the first set of PFG countries, El Salvador, Ghana, Philippines, and Tanzania.
Industrial policy—an active government role in shaping the direction of the economy—is often disdained by Western-trained economists but frequently embraced by Asian policymakers. Is it the path to development success or a slippery slope that leads to development failure? “New Structural Economics: A Framework for Rethinking Development and Policy” by World Bank chief economist Justin Lin and contributing authors provides a timely opportunity to review the evidence. Are systemic reforms to strengthen the business climate enough? How can policymakers guard against the well-known risks of favoring specific sectors or firms? Is there such a thing as a "New Industrial Policy" and can it provide useful guidelines for developing countries? This debate is of particular interest for low-income countries in Africa and elsewhere and the advice provided by their development partners.
Worldwide, about 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity, while 2.7 billion lack access to clean cooking fuels. Meeting their needs is central to reducing poverty but relying on existing technologies would make runaway climate change unavoidable. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is leading a “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative that is built on his vision for deploying renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, and achieving universal energy access during the next two decades. Can the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro this June help to foster a global consensus for action? What could the United States do to spur progress? The Secretary General and other distinguished speakers provide a thoughtful discussion of one of the world’s most pressing development issues.
John Githongo, an advocate for transparency and good governance, is well-known for his work as the anti-corruption czar in Kenya, where in 2003 he uncovered a $1 billion scheme involving some of the country’s top ministers. His probing incited a backlash that forced him to flee the country for fear of his life, taking up a fellowship at Oxford where he released a report documenting government graft. Since then, Githongo has devoted his efforts to eliminating corruption and injustice in Kenya and across Africa. His lecture focuses on what outsiders—the high-income countries and emerging powers—can do to help foster democracy and poverty reduction in the developing world.
José Antonio Ocampo presented his vision for the future of the World Bank at an event organized by CGD and Washington Post Live.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala presented her vision for the future of the World Bank at an event organized by CGD and Washington Post Live, urging that the selection of the next president be based on merit. A second event will be held on Tuesday afternoon with José Antonio Ocampo.
Program-for-Results (PforR), a new World Bank lending instrument, is one of several innovative approaches to development aid that focus on measurable development outcomes. Proponents argue that PforR will help strengthen institutions, build capacity, and enhance partnerships. Critics contend it may bypass hard-won social and environmental safeguards. This event will include an overview of the approach followed by a panel discussion with aid experts with a variety of perspectives.
Lawrence Macdonald, vice president for communications and policy outreach at the Center for Global Development, explains how CGD helped make $1 trillion available to developing countries after the global financial crisis. In the spring of 2009, the participation of developing countries in the global stimulus was made possible at the G-20 summit. But how much money was needed for the most vulnerable countries and where would it come from? Nancy Birdsall, president of CGD, prepared a note stating that they would need access to 1 trillion dollars to cope with the effects of the crisis. Birdsall then put together a blueprint for making the resources available. By channeling the plan to the right people and testifying in front of Congress, CGD helped to unlock the $1 trillion and make it possible for the IMF and World Bank to help vulnerable countries cope with the crisis.
In this two-minute clip from 2010, Ayah Mahgoub, former CGD special assistant to the president, discusses Cash on Delivery Aid (COD Aid), a CGD initiative for making aid more effective. COD Aid builds on existing initiatives to disburse aid against results but links payments more directly to a single, agreed-upon outcome. The approach gives recipients the autonomy to achieve progress however they see fit and ensures greater transparency. Mahgoub explains how this hands-off approach creates incentives for countries to discover what really works and shows funders that their money is making a difference. The development community has already shown a strong interest in applying COD aid to health, education, and water sanitation. Learn more about the COD Aid initiative here.
In this two-minute 2006 video clip, CGD’s Todd Moss explains how the Center helped to open the way for Nigeria to obtain $30 billion in debt relief, one of the world’s biggest ever debt deals. Moss tells how CGD research led the World Bank to reclassify Nigeria so it could become eligible for a favorable Paris Club deal. Completion of the deal enabled Nigeria to focus resources on social sector spending and policy efforts on promoting private sector growth and development. Former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela, and Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, praise CGD’s catalytic role. Learn more about CGD’s work on Nigeria debt here.
Fallout from the killing of Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town has prompted an anxious reassessment of all facets of the complex, troubled alliance between the United States and Pakistan. A new report from CGD’s Study Group on U.S. Development Strategy in Pakistan shines light on a crucial and too-often neglected aspect of the relationship: the aid, trade and investment policies that constitute America’s effort to support Pakistan’s development.
Bringing together voices from inside and outside the Fund, the IMF interviewed a number of government officials, NGO representatives, and IMF staff to discuss the new role of emerging market and low-income countries in the IMF.
In this video clip, CGD’s president Nancy Birdsall explains what compromises must be made before emerging market economies assume more control over the IMF. While the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) need to convince the US and Europe that they can be reliable global stewards, rich countries must realize that greater participation is in the long-term interests of all countries.
Since being sworn in as the 16th administrator of USAID on January 7th, Dr. Rajiv Shah has taken a number of steps to position U.S. development efforts as a critical and dynamic component of U.S. foreign policy. From taking the lead on the Feed the Future initiative to internal reforms within USAID, Dr. Shah has demonstrated his leadership in making the agency a cutting edge actor in development, one that puts renewed emphasis on partnerships, innovation and learning, and evidenced-based results. Over the last 12 months, Shah also co-chaired the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) and played an active role in the formulation of President Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy.