Cash on Delivery Aid: Nancy Birdsall’s proposal for a new aid modality gained traction as the UK Department for International Development launched a pilot program that will pay Ethiopia for each additional student who takes a 10th-grade exam.
Europe Beyond Aid: Owen Barder is using CGD’s Commitment to Development Index as a framework to examine whether Europe’s apparent generosity on aid masks a less impressive record on other policies affecting development.
H2 Visas for Haiti: Michael Clemens’s research and policy engagement led to a home run when Washington added Haiti to a list of countries able to send temporary workers to the United States—unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in new economic opportunity.
Preemptive Contract Sanctions: CGD pushed for a new type of sanction in Syria—an international declaration that new contracts (e.g., selling oil to China or buying guns from Russia) could be reputed by a legitimate successor. Kimberly Elliott’s short video carried the idea to US and UK decision-makers.
Priority-Setting in Global Health: A working group report led by Amanda Glassman prompted the Pan American Health Organization to strengthen regional mechanisms for assessing which health technologies are cost effective and thus appropriate for public funding—saving money and improving health.