Next week, a once-in-a-decade UN conference will meet to address the challenges facing Least Developed Countries (LDCs). It will plan delivery of the Doha Programme of Action (PoA), and review implementation of the Istanbul PoA. As part of this, attention should be given to a set of lesser-known UN ...

The European Commission has quietly announced that it now has major ambitions to recruit international workers for its green transition. This is sensible, necessary, and can be positive for all involved. It will, however, face challenges. This blog reviews the EU’s goals, and suggests ways to go abo...

Finding coherency in the EU’s migration approach has always been hard. Demographic pressures and labour shortages highlight the need to rethink the restrictive migration policy, while voters preferences and tensions within the bloc on how to deal with irregular migrants highlight how contentious the...

Months of innovative work by AfDB staff have resulted in an attractive SDR recycling scheme that overcomes a major hurdle by successfully embodying the reserve asset characteristic. And it will allow leveraging SDRs to multiply their lending power 3-4 times. Now politicians have to step up and commi...

Despite increased capital 2022 was a particularly risk-averse year for EIB Global. On paper at least, the bank intends to increase its risk profile and become a development bank. Whether that change materialises remains to be seen.

Today, we publicly launch an independent assessment which offers an overview of the global lead poisoning crisis; takes stock of current initiatives within G7 partners and international organisations to reduce lead poisoning globally; and identifies promising opportunities to make a difference. Here...

Malin Grape, Sweden’s Ambassador of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), joins Javier Guzman to discuss Sweden’s track record on AMR, the outlook and priorities for its EU presidency, and initial reflections on Sweden’s innovative program for purchasing antimicrobials.

The new year brings with it a host of challenges for the EU. In a global race for strategic influence, the EU will need to make rapid choices and respond to these challenges. At stake is its own credibility as a major actor in international development. 

If economists are the ‘dismal scientists’ always harping on about limited resources, evaluators are often considered the ‘pessimist scientists’ who only see the half-empty glass, rather than the half-full one. The end of the year is, however, a perfect time to break with that tradition. It is a time...