GDP - The Global Development Primer

Child exploitation.  Any is too much.  No government in the world would openly advocate for child exploitation.  Yet, it occurs with impunity.  The Out of the Shadows Index is a tool that can help get governments get on track to prevent vulnerabilities for child exploitation. Check out this episode with Rute Caldeira from Ignite Philanthropy, who is overseeing the strategic direction of the Out of the Shadows Index.

Rute Caldeira has almost two decades of experience in the development and the good governance sectors, where she has built considerable expertise in evaluating the impact of evidence-based advocacy initiatives that aim to enable policy changes, and in developing effective and sustainable strategies for these initiatives. Currently she works as Ignite Philanthropy’s senior strategy advisor responsible, among other things, for the strategic direction and impact of the Out of the Shadows index.

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We want affordable housing!  And we want housing to be the greatest appreciating asset!  How can it be both?  

This antipodal relationship is not only impossible to fulfill, its consequences are falling on renters.  In the United States the average renter has a few thousand dollars of net wealth, while home owners boast hundreds of thousands.   

Michael Barnes sees this problem not as a wealth management problem, but as an issue of racial and gender discrimination.  The renter wealth equity gap is aimed at single mothers, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and newcomers.  His firm, Viva Equity Fund, has a plan to get more wealth into the pockets of renters, while costing landlords nothing in the process.  How?  Tune in to this Episode of GDP, recorded live at the Clinton Global Initiative 2022, to find out. #CGI2022

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A 17-year old student from Ukraine who may be able to put the land mine business out of business.  A video game that connects players to solving pressing climate change challenges.  And a robotic habitat for bees.  These are 3 stories of innovations that are unfolding not just so people can thrive, but so they can thrive.  In this episode of GDP, broadcast live from the CGI 2022 meeting in New York City alongside the UNGA, we meet 3 innovators who's ideas put into action may make a world of difference.  Praise aside, these innovators show how a commitment to be present to a problem can lead into an executable action.  It's a lesson for students, teachers, and policy makers alike on how to beat "development anxiety" and put it into commitments to action.

Igor Klymenko studies Physical and Mathematical sciences at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Igor is passionate about raising awareness of, and solving, the global landmine problem.

Sankari Studies is  a team of game developers, ecopreneurs, creatives, dreamers, technologists, solutionists, visionaries, storytellers, rebels, disruptors, and environmentalists, who have rallied to take a stand to fight the demise of our planet and pull it back from the brink of destruction.

Saar Safra is a tech-geek, a serial entrepreneur, and CEO of Beewise

Learn more about Igor Klymenko's Anti-mine quad copter here:  

Learn more about Katoa the Game here from Sankari Studios.

Learn more about Beewise here.

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#CGI2022

Not since 2016 has the Clinton Global Initiative met in person to make commitments for action against pressing global challenges.  Climate change, health care, inclusive economic growth, gender inequalities, even the health and well being of bees.  It's all on the table.  For this episode of GDP, Dr. Bob heads to New York to catch the conversations of world leaders in government, business, or the non-profit sector to better understand "The business of how".  How are these leaders approaching these problems, and what will they do about it?

In this episode we hear from Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and José Andrés founder of world central kitchen about getting ideas "unstuck" and what needs to happen going forward when it comes to climate change and the emergencies that follow climate-related disasters.

Learn more about the Clinton Global Initiative Here.

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Imagine this.  A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) founded in a post-conflict country in Western Africa that offers assistance to the Global North.  And what if that same NGO refuses funds from those who disagree with its feminist mandate, and yet continues to thrive?  And what if this organization, Purposeful - based in Sierra Leone, is a leading example of how to turn the development industry right around.  In Sierra Leone Chernor Bah the Co-CEO of Purposeful joins GDP this week to explain exactly how a commitment to values, respect of morals, and belief in the goal of empowering girls is an approach to development that is so sorely needed.  For any development practitioner, student, or scholar, you will not want to miss this conversation.  

Chernor Bah is a feminist leader, activist, and champion who works in Sierra Leone and around the world to empower girls and young people. As the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Purposeful- the first Africa-rooted global feminist hub for girls activism - he dedicates his time to building power and amplifying  the voices of girls and young women while promoting distribution of  unrestricted funds to girls and feminist activists in Sierra Leone and over 150 countries around the world. He’s a leading voice of reform and decolonisation of the global development industry.  A lifelong champion for human rights, at age 15, Chernor founded and led the the Children’s Forum Network  -a mass movement of children who mobilized to demand their voices be included in peace and reconciliation efforts after Sierra Leone’s civil war. Globally recognized for his activism and expertise on girls, global education and youth rights, he has been appointed numerous times by the United Nations Secretary-General and is a frequent speaker and advisor at high-level platforms including the United Nations, The European Union, the World Bank, and at major universities around the world. His writings have appeared in the Lancet, the New York Times, the Guardian, Africa is a Country, DEVEX, and several other influential platforms.

Learn more about Purposeful here.

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Great ideas can be contagious.  But they need networks, validation, and times mentorship.  For the first time since 2016, the Clinton Global Initiative is coming back to New York alongside the United Nations General Assembly to bring together established and emerging leaders from government, business and philanthropy to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges.  From war in Ukraine to the global climate crisis, to searching for inclusive economic development coming out of the pandemic.  It is a gathering, both in person and online, that will foster commitments to action to address these issues at local and global levels.  In the words of President Clinton, this event is about bringing diverse partners together to take action and to achieve real results to create a cultural of possibility in a world hungry for hope.  Kevin Thurm, the CEO of the Clinton Foundation joins us to discuss how this initiative works.

Kevin Thurm is the chief executive officer of the Clinton Foundation. He previously served as a senior counselor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he worked with Secretary Sylvia Burwell and HHS senior leadership on a number of cross-cutting strategic initiatives, including continuing implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Prior to that role, Kevin held various leadership positions at Citigroup, including chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel. Before joining Citigroup, Thurm served as the deputy secretary and chief of staff for the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Donna E. Shalala. He received a bachelor’s from Tufts University in 1983; a bachelor’s/master’s from Oxford University in 1986, where he was a Rhodes Scholar; and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1989.

Learn more about the Clinton Global Initiative Here.

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Finish your prescriptions even if you feel well.  Wash your hands.  And get ready for a tough new era of global health: Antimicrobial resistance.  Antibiotics were the greatest heroes of World War 2.  Thanks to this miracle medicine the 2nd world war was the first major conflict where people died of the actual wounds, not of infection.  Praise for antibiotics was so high following World War 2 that it put entire global health literatures of disease prevention and health promotion on the shelf - with the hope that pills would be enough.  And in 2022 we're still overprescribing antibiotic technology from the 1960s and 1970s to people and animals alike.  The consequence?  Bacterium is starting to adapt.  And when it does, as with diseases like tuberculosis, the consequences are horrendous.  Anthony McDonnell is sending a clear warning, that without proper change and action, antimicrobial resistance will impact global health so hard, it will make COVID-19 look like an annoyance.  

Anthony McDonnell is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Global Development (CGD), working to support national decision making and prioritisation of healthcare in Ethiopia through iDSI and as the technical lead for CGD’s working group on Antimicrobial Procurement. Previously, McDonnell led CGD’s work to analyse the COVID-19 vaccine portfolio and a project examining policy interventions to protect the supply chains for pharmaceuticals from COVID-19 induced shocks.

Before joining CGD, McDonnell worked as the Head of Economic Research for the UK’s independent review into antimicrobial resistance (O’Neill Review). Following this, he co-wrote a book with Harvard University Press called Superbugs: An Arms Race against Bacteria. He has also worked as a Senior Health Economist at the University of Oxford studying malaria interventions, and as a research associate at ODI where he led work examining why countries established universal health coverage and how best to get health care to left behind groups.

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In Uganda 1 in 5 high-school aged children attend classes.  In rural areas the number plummets to only 5% for young girls.  This is in a country where 55% of the population is under 18.  Ronald Kibirige works with InteRoots, an organization that sees how serious this education crisis is in Uganda.  Beyond getting students into classrooms, there is real concern that traditions, oral histories, and knowledges are at risk of vanishing.  It is why his work is about keeping traditional knowledge alive and well for all generations in Uganda.  It is a project with a solid and sound reminder that it is community strength and resilience that is at the heart of development.  

Ronald Kibirige is a Music and Dance Practitioner, Instrumentalist, Educationist and Researcher of African Music and Dance traditions. He pursued his undergraduate education in Music and Dance at Makerere University – Kampala. He completed graduate studies in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage in a consortium of four Universities; University of Blaise Pascal-France, University of Szeged – Hungary, University of Roehampton – London, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology – Norway, where he recently completed his doctoral studies in Humanities and the Arts.

Beyond Academia and the Arts, Ronald has significant experience with nonprofit collaborations and management in Africa.

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Check out InterRoots here:  https://interoots.org

People are paying more for food in 2022 - a lot more!  And in countries where food security is frail, access to the basics is going to get harder.  Price spikes are being felt around the world.  In some cases leading to violence, in other cases, triggering famine warnings.  Russia's war in Ukraine is fuelling the crisis first by targeting Ukraine's wheat and sunflower oil producers, and second by disrupting global trade networks.  What should G7 and G20 nations be doing about this?  According to Ian Mitchell, it may be time to go beyond traditional notions of food aid, and to look at a bigger determinant:  Finance.

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.

Mitchell has expertise in the economics and developmental impact of including on trade, agriculture, and policy development in the EU and G20. He leads the annual Commitment to Development Index (CDI) and the Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA). Recently, he has developed new measures of how agriculture and trade policies affect lower income countries; identified new metrics of aid effectiveness; and developed new approaches to the UK’s development policy post-Brexit.

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In this season finale of GDP, James Grall joins the conversation about how development practitioners can do what they do best in a challenging post-pandemic world.  Will remote working be part of the equation?  Are there risks of relying remote technology in countries with heavy handed internet surveillance?  Are there opportunities for development scholars and practitioners to get "back in the field".  Now with the war in Ukraine grinding on, what other challenges will continue to unfold for global development going forward?  Don't miss this conversation with James Grall. 

James Grall has 25 years of experience in international development. He has designed and implemented complex activities in economic growth, democracy and governance, energy, environment and natural resources, health and education. James currently leads the Pact regional portfolios for Asia, Europe, Latin America and global programs. James has lived and worked in Southeast Asia since 2005 and is presently based in Bangkok, Thailand. James holds a master's degree in international affairs and U.S. foreign policy from The American University. When not at work, James is usually found with his husband and four dogs on a beach somewhere in Asia or at the piano.

Learn More about PACT HERE

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