The rapid evolution of the development landscape, amid ongoing crises such as the war in Ukraine and climate change, presents profound challenges for all development actors. The various challenges intersect in unprecedented ways, amplifying the complexities faced by development cooperation providers...

For 20 years, the Commitment to Development Index has assessed countries' policies and the level of effort they go to in order to contribute to international development. Because development depends on much more than foreign aid, the Index looks at countries’ performance across eight different polic...

While donors are increasingly interested in both promoting evidence-based policymaking and advancing locally led development, the two agendas have often remained separate. This is a missed opportunity. A recent CGD working group underscored the value of locally immersed researchers and organizations...

USAID administrator Samantha Power’s aim to advance localization—with at least a quarter of funds going directly to local partners—has been widely lauded. A recent USAID report on localization indicates progress towards this goal, but major operational and contractual directions about how to impleme...

Recent CGD events have shown several bright spots for the evidence-informed policy agenda, demonstrating leadership commitment to evidence generation and use. The new World Bank president, Ajay Banga, called for the institution to deepen its role as a knowledge bank in a recent speech at CGD. Newly ...

No longer the new kid on the block, Effective Altruism (EA) has evolved from its early days in the quadrangles of the University of Oxford to become a thriving community with a well-established architecture of philanthropic institutions. EA organisations now marshal resources in the hundreds of mill...