GDP - The Global Development Primer

Almost 1/3 of the 8 billion people on this planet have never used the internet. Landlocked countries, conflict zones and remote islands have the highest rates of people who have never "logged on". This is a problem that goes beyond being a new face of inequality. As Anir Chowdhury says, the internet "is like oxygen"as those who have it, exist through it. But for those who do not have access or have low-literacy skills in technology the opportunities for exploitation, deception, and misinformation are enormous. Through "frugal innovation" Bangladesh's a2i programme plans to push back against the threats of the digital divide. Anir Chowdhury joins us from Dhaka.

Anir Chowdhury is the Policy Advisor of the a2i Programmme of the ICT Division and the Cabinet Division of the Government of Bangladesh supported by the UNDP. In this capacity, he leads the formation of a whole-of-society innovation ecosystem in Bangladesh through massive technology deployment, extensive capacity development, integrated policy formulation, whole-of-government institutional reform, and an Innovation Fund. His work on innovation in public service has developed interesting and replicable models of service delivery decentralization, public-private partnerships, and transformation of a traditional bureaucracy into a forward-looking, citizen-centric service provider.

He is a regular speaker in international conferences on public service innovation and reform, digital financial inclusion, data driven policy making, civil registration and digital identity management, SDGs, youth and community empowerment, educational transformation, public-private partnerships, and South-South Cooperation. He regularly writes in reputed national and international blogs, journals and publications. 

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The Sustainable Development Goals were at the top of the agenda for the United Nations General Assembly in New York this year. How many donor countries get a failing grade when it comes to meeting the target of contributing 0.7% of their Gross National Income? A lot. But 3 countries in Europe are standing out as leaders in surpassing the 0.7% commitment. And this comes at a time when countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are focusing more development dollars back on to their own shores and borders.

In this episode of GDP, Ian Mitchell from London's Centre for Global Development joins us to talk about why some countries are giving more than ever to international development, and why others are losing interest.

Ian Mitchell is a senior fellow and the director of development cooperation in Europe at the Center for Global Development. He leads CGD’s work in Europe on how governments’ policies accelerate or inhibit development and poverty reduction—considering both the effectiveness of aid and policies beyond aid including trade, migration, environment, and security. He is also an associate fellow at Chatham House and at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

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Did the bedlam of Brexit impact the United Kingdom as a global partner and donor? Is Russia and China pushing the UK out of Africa? Are partner nations in Africa rejecting the "assistance" from former colonial powers? Looking at the changing dynamics in East Africa, Simon Rynn and Michael Jones take a deep dive into the subject with their recent policy paper Furthering Global Britain? Reviewing the Foreign Policy Effect of UK Engagement in East Africa - Occasional Paper. In this discussion we learn that British foreign policy is struggling to keep up with changes underway in East Africa, but they're not out of the game, yet. Rynn and Jones offer advice on how Britain can retune its foreign policy to be a strong player in the region.

Simon Rynn is Senior Research Fellow for Africa at the International Security Studies department at RUSI. His experience covers conflict prevention and peacebuilding, stabilisation, security and justice, de-mining, humanitarian, governance and small arms control. 

Michael is a Research Fellow in the Terrorism and Conflict team examining political violence, governance by non/pseudo-state armed groups, and the convergence of violent extremism and insurgent militancy in East and sub-Saharan Africa. 

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It continues to baffle many as how hunger remains in a planet of 8 billion people when there is the ability and potential to feed everyone. In this conversation with Tim Prewitt, CEO of the Hunger Project, we explain why Las Vegas buffets probably won't save humanity from hunger. But local level community development projects in Uganda just might.

In Uganda, The Hunger Project is working in nine districts where agro-ecological zones - referred to as epicenters - have been set up. Across the epicenters in Africa, participants create community farms, where they learn regenerative agriculture practices such as composting, intercropping, and drip irrigation to promote biodiversity, improve crop yields, restore soil fertility, and make the best use of scarce resources. In addition, community partners receive training on food processing to reduce food waste. 

Tim Prewitt is an international executive, CEO and board member with more than 20 years of experience leading global teams to deliver impact at scale, through agricultural development, social enterprises, gender empowerment, impact investment, community-led development, and policy reform. He joined The Hunger Project as President and CEO on February 1, 2021. 

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The spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank are underway. Climate change adaptation is a top concern, and many wonder whether or not emerging economies can be part of the New Green Industrial Age. Technology, resources and political will exist. But do the finances? Will green technology remain a reserved commodity for affluent nations? Is it possible to change over millions of two-stroke Tuk-Tuks to emission free vehicles. None of it will happen without the right economic model behind. Oliver Schwank joins us this week to talk about how we can actually make that possible.

Oliver Schwank is a senior economist in the Financing for Sustainable Development Office of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and one of the authors of the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Bridging the Finance Divide. He is part of the policy analysis team that leads the substantive follow-up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, and focuses on debt sustainability and integrated financing frameworks. Prior to his current role, he held various positions in the Secretariat of the United Nations, including as part of the writing team of the World Economic and Social Survey, a flagship UN publication, and in the Office of the Special Advisor on Africa. He also was a consultant with UNIDO and a lecturer in development economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and at the University of Vienna. He holds a Doctorate in Economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business. 

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Globally, public health is pretty beat up after the pandemic. High and low income countries alike are struggling to get their own health systems back to capacity, let alone think about preparing for the next global pandemic. Yet, if pandemics teach us anything, being prepared for the next one is what really matters. As Spring meetings commence for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Amanda Glassman from the Center for Global Development joins us to talk about what world leaders should be thinking about when it comes to pandemic readiness, and the lessons learned coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amanda Glassman is executive vice president and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and also serves as chief executive officer of CGD Europe. Her research focuses on priority-setting, resource allocation and value for money in global health, as well as data for development. Prior to her current position, she served as director for global health policy at the Center from 2010 to 2016, and has more than 25 years of experience working on health and social protection policy and programs in Latin America and elsewhere in the developing world.

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It's hard to predict what will happen next week, let alone more than 25 years down the road. Nevertheless a new report has come out from the Centre for Global Development titled: Scenarios for Future Global Growth to 2050. In it, there are many positive calls made. Severe poverty may disappear as we currently know it and measure it. Military spending may well be exhausted, and rich country growth will slow down. What can we make of these global predictions and trends? What can be said about how the future will unfold at the local level? Countries will continue to submerge into the sea. The poles will get warmer, and urban centres may face punishing extremes from a changing climate. To help us navigate this foggy crystal ball, is Charles Kenny.

Charles Kenny is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. His current work focuses on global economic prospects, gender and development, and development finance. He is the author of the books “The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease,” "Getting Better: Why Global Development is Succeeding," “The Upside of Down: Why the Rise of the Rest is Good for the West,” and “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Utility: Happiness in Philosophical and Economic Thought.” He has been a contributing editor at Foreign Policy magazine and a regular contributor to Business Week magazine. Kenny was previously at the World Bank, where his assignments included coordinating work on governance and anticorruption in infrastructure and natural resources, and managing a number of investment and technical assistance projects covering telecommunications and the Internet.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic women health care leaders stood out. Jurisdictions with women as elected leaders or top public health policy experts seemed to manage the challenges of the pandemic a bit better, and with a bit more public trust. Well before the pandemic, in parts of rural India communities that train Dalit women as community health workers often experienced dramatic improvements in health outcomes, all the while challenging rigid gender norms. We know that gender equity in health delivery, policy and management only brings better outcomes. Yet, the glass ceiling remains, and is seemingly reinforced. In countries where more than half the medical students are women, the majority of specialists remain men. In other countries women who enter the health professions as nurses stay planted as such while men ascend to leadership roles. For Ann Keeling this needs to change. Listen to this episode of GDP where she discusses why we'd all benefit from taking gender equity seriously in global health.

Ann Keeling is Women in Global Health’s Senior Fellow, is a British citizen whose 40-year career in global health and social development has included posts in Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Caribbean, Belgium, the USA, and her home country, the UK. She held the post of Head of Gender Equality Policy with the UK Government and is currently the Chair of the NGO Age International and Senior Fellow of Women in Global Health. Ann Keeling has been CEO of two global health NGOs, was UNFPA Country Representative Pakistan, and Director Commonwealth Secretariat leading on Health, Education, and Gender. Between 2008 and 2012 she was Chief Executive Officer of the International Diabetes Federation, founded the NCD (Non-Communicable Diseases) Alliance, and as Chair, led the successful campaign for the 2011 UN High-Level Summit on NCDs. Ann Keeling spent 9 years in Pakistan with the British Council, DFID, and UNDP working on human development and women’s rights. She also held senior posts with the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Pakistan. She studied at Oxford University UK, Ann Arbor University USA, and in 1981, at the People’s University in Beijing, China.

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