CGD Policy Blogs

April 5 marked the official launch of our new book, Millions Saved: New Cases of Proven Success in Global Health. The new volume features case studies of 22 health programs from around the world and draws out what we can learn from each.

I want to discuss country ownership in US development activities. Let’s take the case of El Salvador. As you may have heard, El Salvador has the highest homicide rate in the world right now. But what you may not know is that El Salvador is also home to the largest locally-led public-private partnership in USAID’s history.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the British Virgin Islands, you might have heard of the massive leak of documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm whose services included helping its clients create shell corporations and store their assets in offshore tax havens. In addition to a torrent of political scandals and crises, the leak has resulted in a renewed rallying cry to reform the international tax system. But aside from the political implications, the Panama Papers have the potential to help us better understand two things: what kinds of countries do these offshore firms do business with and are the tools we use for determining the relative risks of hidden cash any good?

Last week, the World Bank released a new Forest Action Plan (FAP) following presentation to the Board’s Committee on Development Effectiveness.  And the tagline for a high-level event during the Spring Meetings is “Think Forests: Why Investing in Forests is the Next Big Thing.”