September 25, 2006
Poverty is so Hot for Fall (and Why That's a Good Thing)
When I told my co-workers I was going to an event called "Fashion Fights Poverty" (co-sponsored by the United Nations
Views from the Center
August 14, 2006
2006 Commitment to Development Index Launches
I am pleased to announce the release of the 2006 edition of the Commitment to Development Index. Each year the CDI rates and ranks 21 rich countries on how much their policies help or hurt poorer nations. The CDI assigns scores in seven policy areas (foreign aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology), with the average being the overall score.
June 30, 2006
DATA stands for "Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa": Are G-8 Promises Kept?
Some years ago, after the Jubilee 2000 debt-cancellation campaign wound down, Bono and other activists founded a group called DATA, based here in Washington, DC.
April 13, 2006
Remittances aren't charity, and one country does not make an index
The Hudson Institute has just released its new Index of Global Philanthropy. The report makes an important point: U.S. private charitable flows to developing countries are on the rise and can do much good. In a world with the Gates, Turner, Hewlett, Soros and other foundations doing plenty of good things, it is a point worth making. But this new index is flawed in crucial ways.
March 27, 2006
U.S. aid skyrocketed in 2005--at least in Iraq
The U.S. Agency for International Development just released its initial estimates of how much foreign aid the U.S. government gave to developing countries in 2005. It submitted the figures as part of normal reporting processes to the Paris-based Development Assistance Committee. The overall figure is a stunner: U.S.
February 9, 2006
Something's Forgotten in the Hate of Denmark
The recent attacks by Islamic fundamentalists on the Danish embassies in Lebanon and Syria can be called blind, tragic, even cartoonish. To that list of adjectives, add this one: ironic. According to the Commitment to Development Index, which rates rich countries on how much their government policies help or hurt poorer countries, no nation works harder than Denmark to help people in poorer parts of the world, including predominantly Muslim nations. Few less deserve this hatred.
December 8, 2005
Better Ways to Measure Aid Quality?
We at CGD, inspired by queries and suggestions from our local partners in the NGO world, including especially David Beckman, President of Bread for the World, are beginning to consider how we might construct a measure of the quality (beyond the quantity) of the aid programs of the major donors.
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