ODI live events podcast

Can broadcast media help change gender norms? Lessons from South Asia by ODI Global

Securing Climate - Compatible Trade For Vulnerable Economies by ODI Global

Aligning Climate And Trade Strategies In The Least Developed Countries by ODI Global

Reviving Economic Opportunities For Women Affected By Conflict, Displacement And COVID - 19 by ODI Global

‘Under-the-radar’ innovations are happening across sub-Saharan Africa, but different barriers are blocking the region from leapfrogging the innovation gap in the era of the fourth industrial revolution.

We convene experts from across sectors to explore examples of technological and economic innovation in the continent, investigate what is needed to ‘fill the innovation gap’, and what role innovation can play in helping countries economically recover from crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

This webinar is supported by the Development and Economic Growth Research Programme (DEGRP), funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the world, with one in five girls aged between 15 and 19 having children, rising to 29% in rural areas. Research by the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) shows that most programming focuses on lack of information and access to contraception, emphasising girls as agents of change, with not enough attention paid to the wider context, especially social and gender norms.

To test different strategies to address the problem of teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone, SLRC implemented an Irish Aid-funded action research programme in partnership with Save the Children, Concern Worldwide and the International Rescue Committee. Born out of traditional research, the transformative programme sought to help the three implementing partners trial adaptive programming approaches to address the underexplored and complex drivers of teenage pregnancy–with a focus on social norms–and support and document their programme implementation.

Drawing on lessons learned from the Sierra Leone project, this event explores the benefits and challenges of transformative programming to consider how implementers can accelerate change and make programming more effective. The discussion shines a light on the social and gender norms that surround the issue of teenage pregnancy, and how an action research approach can help address such norms.

Technology can be a huge force for good, helping young people secure income to support their livelihoods. But equity and inclusivity challenges prevent the online revolution from reaching its full potential. Youth are the current leading users and innovators in tech, and have an instrumental role to play in shaping our digital future.

We bring together a diverse, trailblazing panel to discuss the role of technology for the future of work and youth access to employment, bringing pan-African insights from the experiences of tech hubs and youth-led digital innovation on the continent.

The panellists also explore how youth-focused programmes can work across the digital divide to prepare young people for the future of work, and how their experiences can be harnessed for designing policy to support digital innovation for youth and by youth.

This webinar is supported by the Mastercard Foundation through the Youth Forward Learning Partnership. It is the last event in a series of discussions exploring young people’s engagement with digital technologies in sub-Saharan Africa, continuing conversations started in a youth-focused participatory consultation in July 2020.

While the number of children completing primary school education has increased markedly over the past 50 years, in 2018, the World Bank found that 125 million children lacked the minimum literacy skills to continue their education, even after four years of enrolment. This realisation that schooling is not equivalent to learning has sparked a global debate on how to improve the quality of primary school education in low- and middle-income countries.

This renewed focus is critical now more than ever, as policymakers shift their focus to rebuilding the global economy after the Covid-19 pandemic. How can they ensure that the policies implemented bolster the access to and quality of primary school education? And more importantly, how can they ensure that these policies capture the multiple disadvantages of vulnerable children from left-behind groups?

Ahead of the G20 Education Ministers meeting and informed by ODI’s upcoming publication, ‘Pathways towards quality primary education: improving completion and learning outcomes’, we bring together a group of experts to examine successful reforms that have brought vulnerable children to the forefront of policy implementation and consider what is needed to push the agenda forward.

In the last two decades, Western states have frequently worked with non-state or sub-state armed groups to confront security threats, whether as partners in global counter-terrorism operations or as the de facto security providers in stabilisation and peacebuilding contexts.

In partnership with ODI's Centre for the Study of Armed Groups and GPPi, our webinar aims to explore emerging international practices on due diligence and risk mitigation measures in the context of partnerships with non-state or sub-state armed groups. To explore this emerging practice, we highlight findings from a recently published paper that looks at seven US partnerships with local, substate and non-state forces in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. This paper, and the lessons learned from the case studies within it, serve as a launching pad for a broader discussion about how states and the international community might try to mitigate some of the human rights, security, or other policy risks that arise with more irregular armed groups.

To provide a broader narrative, our webinar includes perspectives from UN, US and European policymakers who have worked in environments where non-state armed groups are a significant part of the political and security landscape. Panellists address how different states or international actors have tried to address these risks and suggest possible recommendations for the future.

The success of the G7 summit will be judged primarily on whether concrete measures are agreed to accelerate the global response to the pandemic.

While infection rates soar, and vaccine access remains highly unequal, there has perhaps never been a public policy challenge where national and international interests are so closely aligned. We know that no one is safe until everyone is safe, but COVAX will only cover around 30% of eligible populations in low- and middle-income countries with its current financing of $9.6 billion.

In light of recent developments in India, a major vaccine exporter in the midst of a devastating third wave, it is clear that critical barriers remain. What do countries battling the virus and struggling to vaccinate their people need? How should G7 leaders rise to the global vaccine challenge?

We explore these key questions with government and international decision-makers.