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As stakeholders gather for this year's Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, CGD is hosting important discussions with leading global development experts, policymakers, representatives from international finance institutions, and more. Learn more about our schedule of events and sign up below.
For questions, please reach out to [email protected].
Past Events
Industrial Policies for the Developing World: What Can Developing Countries Do Themselves?
April 22nd, 9:30 am - 11:00 am ET | At CGD and Online
From subsidies to the new US trade barriers, high-income countries are leaning in to industrial policies. But many of these policies are putting even more pressure on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which were already contending with high debt burdens, flagging growth, shrinking capital and aid flows, rising climate costs and risks, and conflict.
How should LMICs design and target their own industrial policies as a way to boost growth in a worsening global environment? Which policies are likely to work best? What lessons from the East Asian growth miracles are still relevant today?
Join CGD for a fresh and timely look at LMIC industrial policy choices.
A Fireside Chat with Asian Development Bank President Kanda
April 22nd, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm ET | At CGD and Online
Masato Kanda assumed office as the Asian Development Bank’s 11th President in February 2025. This fireside chat will feature him in conversation with CGD President Rachel Glennerster.
How Should Africa Navigate the New Development and Climate Finance Landscape
April 22nd, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm ET | At CGD and Online
A drastic reduction in the US and UK aid budgets and similar signals from other major donors have left the development community reeling. Sub-Saharan African countries will bear the brunt of these cuts, as well as heavy debt burdens, increasing climate-related shocks, and other challenges.
Join CGD and Africatalyst for a discussion on responses to this crisis with former and current policymakers, thought leaders, economists, and advocacy partners. Participants will discuss the impact of the new development landscape, how African leaders can react, and ways the continent can accelerate the process away from aid dependency.
Doing More with Less: Rethinking European Development Cooperation in a New Age
April 23rd, 9:15 am - 10:15 am ET | At CGD and Online
Heightened geopolitical tensions, mounting fiscal pressures and shifting priorities are putting huge pressure on Official Development Assistance. Many governments are cutting aid budgets and reordering spending to reflect their international strategic priorities. While the immediate human consequences have justifiably been the primary focus, it is also an opportune time to consider the longer-term vision of development cooperation.
One of the biggest challenges European providers face is the need to balance the ambition for global influence and mutually beneficial partnerships with huge financing needs for urgent development priorities. This session will address how providers can continue to support economic and social progress in low- and middle-income countries. Panelists will consider what win-win cooperation looks like in a fragmented global landscape, and how European governments can maximize the impact of concessional resources.
A Fireside Chat with Muhammad Aurangzeb, Finance Minister of Pakistan
April 23rd, 11:15 am - 12:00 pm ET | At CGD and Online
CGD is pleased to welcome Muhammad Aurangzeb, Finance Minister of Pakistan, for a fireside chat to share his perspectives on opportunities and challenges in the current environment. Minister Aurangzeb will be in conversation with CGD President Emeritus Masood Ahmed.
How Do Multilateral Funds Survive the Donor Retreat?
April 23rd, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm ET | At CGD and Online
Multilateral concessional funds like Gavi or the World Bank’s IDA are the largest source of development finance for the world’s poorest countries. But with shrinking donor commitments, the system needs to change its business model to remain relevant.
Join us for an event that aims to spark debate on the state of the concessional finance landscape, drawing on recent CGD research. Ideas for discussion include: Should multilateral concessional funds adapt their financial models to reduce reliance on donor support? If so, how? Are the allocation models employed by concessional funds working? And should certain funds be harmonized, or even consolidated?
US Foreign Assistance: Lessons Learned and Future Priorities
April 24th, 9:00 am - 10:30 am ET | At CGD and Online
In the wake of a dramatic upheaval in US foreign aid and trade relations, questions about what the future holds abound. This timely conversation brings together experts with diverse perspectives to explore lessons learned from decades of global development initiatives and foreign assistance programs.
Our panelists will examine key areas for future US international engagement, reflect on the priorities and objectives that will define tomorrow's global assistance landscape, and offer strategic insights on rebuilding a more effective and resilient foreign aid framework. Join us for this discussion on America's role in global development and creating a better foreign assistance program for the challenges ahead.
A New Era of International Partnerships: A Fireside Chat with European Commissioner Jozef Sikela
April 24th, 11:15 am - 12:00 pm ET | At CGD and Online
As the world's largest provider of development assistance, the EU (and its member states) are crucial to responding to the challenges that the world is currently facing. But the current seismic shift with large aid cuts among traditional donors is putting huge pressure on EU development cooperation. As the bloc faces down rising competition and shifting alliances, multiple security threats along its borders, and fiscal constraints—the EU’s role as global leader in development cooperation is going to have to change.
Launched in 2021, the Global Gateway (the EU’s flagship initiative on international partnerships, a EUR 300 billion infrastructure and connectivity plan) embodies a new direction for EU international development cooperation focused on strengthening its global influence through investments in infrastructure and sustainable development.
Join us for a fireside conversation with the newly appointed European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela, to discuss his vision and priorities for EU’s international presence, including via the Global Gateway, and the importance of partnerships at this critical time.
Climate Adaptation Finance: Targeting the Most Vulnerable
April 24th, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm ET | At CGD and Online
As evidence mounts that mitigation alone won’t prevent significant global temperature increases, climate adaptation and resilience to protect the poorest are more urgent than ever. Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are among the largest sources of adaptation finance to lower-income countries, providing $25 billion per year. But that’s still a fraction of what’s needed, and too often the conversation stops at the size of the gap, rather than other key issues like targeting—highlighted in a forthcoming CGD paper, which finds that some of the most at-risk countries receive relatively little adaptation finance from the World Bank.
This event goes beyond the financing shortfall to explore several urgent questions, building on the new CGD paper: How can we target MDB adaptation finance to the most vulnerable countries? How do we mobilize more adaptation finance? What's the best way to boost investments in countries vulnerable to both climate shocks and conflict? What will it take to build more resilient agriculture, and expand energy access for greater resilience?
Increasing Financing for the Early Years: Returns for Children, Women, and Economies
April 25th, 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm ET | At CGD and Online
Around the world, there are critical shortages in affordable and quality services for early childhood development (ECD), care, and education, with significant impacts on wellbeing, human capital development, and the labor force participation of caregivers. The evidence for prioritizing investments in these areas is strong, but strained national budgets and cutbacks to foreign aid put it at risk of falling off the agenda.
Join CGD and Theirworld, in partnership with the Act for Early Years campaign, for a high-level discussion bringing together experts and policymakers from the finance, women’s economic empowerment, childcare, and ECD sectors. Speakers will discuss the benefits of supporting ECD and childcare and how to increase investment in these crucial years to achieve the triple dividend for children, women, and economies.
Past External Event
Gender Gaps and Structural Transformation: Country Perspectives
April 25th, 9:30 am - 11:15 am ET | At the Gates Foundation
This event, organized in partnership with Yale Economic Growth Center and the Gates Foundation, will present new research on gender, labor markets, structural transformation, and policy intervention in India, Mexico, and Morocco, bringing in additional insights from a set of studies across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The session will address the following questions: how do gender gaps in labor market outcomes evolve with structural transformation as labor moves out of agriculture and into manufacturing and services? How can policy decisions avoid the downward-sloping section of the historic inverse-U relationship between female labor force participation and economic growth, and enable growth that matches talent to opportunity regardless of gender? What is the differential impact on women and men of digital transformation? How does migration out of agriculture into urban areas affect gendered outcomes in labor markets? What is the impact of a minimum wage policy intervention on the gender wage gap?