Commentary

Well, that was quite a week. Mark Lowcock and I finally published our book charting the birth, life and demise of the Department for International Development (DFID), for whom we both worked for a substantial portion of our respective careers. The launch, on Wednesday, was attended by much of the gr...

Five years ago, we made a proposal to help address a capital market gap that pervades the developing world: the lack of finance for young, innovative firms with potential for rapid growth and job creation. With the emphasis on climate finance and green innovation today, we asked ourselves, why not d...

This year, donors will replenish IDA and much of the focus is rightly on IDA’s development effectiveness. But, IDA’s macro role in the broader development finance architecture is profoundly consequential. Here are some ideas on what IDA can do to help carry forward the Nairobi-Washington Vision and ...

An essential step to peace is that the UAE stop arming the RSF and be held to account for its actions, which it officially denies. The United States is one of the few countries that has enough sway to have an impact.

The donation of mpox vaccines to Africa is a critical first step, but there’s much more to do to ensure that these vaccines are used effectively and equitably. By targeting the right groups for vaccination, strengthening delivery systems, and building public trust through early community engagement,...

Advancing sustainable yet impactful health systems must keep domestic, public spending on health as the bull’s eye of global health success. But letting a thousand flowers bloom with many agencies’ different policies may be yet another example of donors getting in the way. In the spirit of the Lusak...

In the wake of the pandemic, world leaders agreed to a US$650bn allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to bolster global liquidity. Countries across the world benefitted, but the lion-share of SDRs are allocated to larger economies in line with their IMF quotas. The G20 and other advanced econo...