ODI live events podcast

A recent analysis by ODI found that a small share of development finance investment is explicitly directed toward the health sector. However new health sector initiatives from the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the UK’s CDC following the onset of the Covid-19 crisis indicate that this may be changing. In response to the crisis, development finance institutions (DFIs) have supported clients that have traditionally been outside the health sector to refocus their operations in support of the global crisis response.

Our research also highlights DFI risk taking and innovative approaches in the health sector; examples which demonstrate the ability of DFIs to mobilise much needed investment into health. The use of pooled investment vehicles, volume guarantees, first loss guarantees and development impact bonds (DIBs), exemplify how DFI investment can act as a catalyst for market development in different areas of health supply chains.

We explore how DFI investment could support and complement public sector investment in the health sectors; both in the short-term and with a view to building long-term resilience. We also discuss which innovative financing approaches could best suit different-sized DFIs and how these entities could partner to maximise their approach.

The past five years have been pivotal for advancing disability inclusion in the humanitarian sector. The World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in 2016 was a key moment at which it was recognised that while persons with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by conflicts, disasters and other emergencies, they also face barriers to accessing life-saving humanitarian assistance.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee guidelines on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action, is the latest in a range of commitments, standards and guidance developed in the wake of the Summit to address these barriers. Despite this progress challenges to effective inclusion remain. Chief among these is acknowledging that persons with disabilities and their organisations are not passive beneficiaries but agents of change, rights holders and key actors in humanitarian response. The lack of data about people with disabilities that any efforts to strengthen inclusion depend on is another important gap.

Drawing on the upcoming Humanitarian Exchange on Disability Inclusion and Network Paper on addressing the disability data gap, we discuss disability-inclusive practices and approaches being used; and what more needs to be done to ensure the rhetoric around disability-inclusive humanitarian preparedness and response is being translated into action.

A video introduction is provided by Christian Modino Hok, Humanitarian Director at CBM Disability Inclusion and Co-Chair of the Global Reference Group on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.

The November 2020 pledging conference in Geneva will provide a vital platform for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) and the international community to demonstrate progress and recommit to a peaceful future for the country. Given the recent deal between the United States of America and the Taliban, and tentative steps forward on an intra-Afghan dialogue including all key domestic actors, the outcomes of the pledging conference will be decisive in determining how Afghanistan grasps the present prospect of a peaceful and stable future.

Ensuring justice for all, in line with Afghan and international commitments to achieving SDG16+, is an essential prerequisite for a durable peace. Today, only 38% of Afghans who experience an everyday justice problem are able to access help; among key state institutions, the courts are the least-trusted by ordinary citizens. Access to justice will enable Afghan women and men to assert and enforce their rights, obtain redress for grievances, and resolve disputes amongst themselves non-violently, within a framework of rule of law.

This event provides a space for consultation and policy discussion on the role of access to justice in securing a peaceful and stable future, and how GoIRA and international stakeholders can incorporate justice commitments in the lead-up to and during the conference. This event aims to contribute to shifting justice to the top of the agenda in Geneva, and present practical recommendations for how to operationalise commitments to justice.

The UK contributes around £181 million a year to the three organisations that make up the African Development Bank Group, representing around 1.3% of the UK’s development budget.

A recent review by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) found that the institution’s reach and deep expertise in Africa meant that contributing to the Bank could be a more effective way for the UK to achieve development impact and economies of scale. But the review also highlighted concerns about the UK government having 'crossed a line' by unilaterally imposing performance measures on the Bank in 2017.

ICAI also expressed concern about the Bank’s critical lack of resources in key areas such as environmental and social safeguards and highlighted the need for greater engagement with civil society. The review also noted that the UK should do more to build the Bank’s capacity to manage trust funds if it is going to continue to invest in them.

This event, co-hosted by ODI and ICAI, explores how the UK can strengthen its strategic engagement with the Bank, how the UK can work with the Bank to ensure maximum impact and value for money, and the role the Bank should play in the 2020s.

In 2018, the ILO estimated that approximately 42% of the global workforce, 1.4 billion people, were in vulnerable employment, for developing countries this proportion was 76%. The 2020 Covid-19 crisis will significantly reduce the number of people in jobs and proportionally increase the number in vulnerable employment. As market demand comes to a sudden halt, developing country firms that are linked into, and supply global value chains face major challenges. Looking forward, lead firms are also likely to shorten their supply chains, potentially cutting high productivity and high-income jobs in manufacturing in poorer countries.

This presents an opportunity for Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to strengthen firms in their target markets, through strategic, practical and financial means. In the short-term, finance and specialist guidance could be provided to more productive firms at risk of closure to ensure that higher productivity jobs are maintained, as these will act as the engine driving economic recovery. In the medium term, investments could target diversification opportunities that play into regional supply chains, making markets and jobs more resilient to international shocks. Finally, longer term investments could target economic transformation opportunities driving high value employment and economic growth. This involves transitioning of workers form informal to formal sector and making the most of a digital economy.

However, some key issues need to be investigated. For example, how will DFIs balance the need to preserve jobs with increased investment risk? Can they play a role in identifying and developing sectors that will drive the diversification and transformation process? Finally, what can DFIs do to develop the technical capabilities that would be required to sustain such processes?

The negotiations for COP26 were always going to be tough, but the need to secure more ambitious nationally determined commitments now comes at a time of profound economic turmoil within the global economy due to Covid-19.

On the one hand, there are concerns that efforts to address climate change will receive less priority as efforts to reboot economies dominate. On the other hand, efforts to build back better can address both climate and trade-related vulnerabilities. International trade has a powerful role to play. But divergences between the climate, trade and development communities must be bridged.

During Climate Week NYC 2020, we bring together climate and trade negotiators to discuss what’s on the negotiating table at COP26, the trade related implications and how development friendly outcomes can be secured.

2020 was set to be the year when governments upped their ambition for action on climate and biodiversity. Yet, we know the reality – exacerbated by the coronavirus – has been different. The world has only a few years left to deliver drastic greenhouse gas emission reductions and stem the loss in biodiversity, or we lose any realistic chance of addressing the climate crisis successfully. While policy makers wrestle with the challenges of Covid-19 and economic recovery, the climate emergency continues and cannot be put on hold.

While there is recognition of possible trade-offs between the different pathways of recovery, there is little concrete discussion to pin down the level of ambition for a green recovery and the political, social and economic space to achieve that ambition. We discuss the level of ambition we should aim for on climate action while the world recovers from the Covid-19 crisis and the opportunities and barriers to achieving this level of ambition.

This event is part of the ODI at 60 series, challenging decision-makers to provide more sustainable and equitable pathways for the future.

Governments worldwide are relying on cash and tax transfers to households with children in response to the Covid-19 crisis, amid growing calls to strengthen and expand cash transfers and social protection. A recent UN SDG report states: 'It is particularly urgent to rollout or expand social assistance to families, preferably through the use of universal child benefits.'

Universal child benefits (UCBs) can play a critical role in reducing poverty and inequality while promoting social cohesion and public support for social protection. In countries with established UCBs, they constitute a cornerstone of national social policy systems and have proved effective in scaling up social protection in times of crisis.

Drawing on recent country experience and on new policy analysis, this live digital event discusses key issues and emerging lessons concerning the challenges and trade-offs policymakers face when introducing or expanding a child benefit; the administrative and political economy implications of universal versus narrowly targeted approaches; policy financing options; and the effectiveness of alternative child benefits, including in crisis contexts.

The webinar marks the launch of an ODI-UNICEF report on universal child benefits.

The behavioural challenges of post-conflict life by ODI Global

Please note this podcast is in Arabic. To listen to the event in English, please visit https://soundcloud.com/odi-live-events/coronavirus-and-local-peacebuilding-efforts-in-north-africa-soundcloud-e.

في مارسوسط جائحة كوفيد19 و بعد أن دعا الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة أنطونيو غوتيريس إلى وقف إطلاق النار في العالم ، رأى العديد من المحللين السياسيين فرصة للسلام. ومع ذلك، فإن الواقع في العديد من مناطق الصراع اليوم يظهر أن هذه الفرصة قد ضاعت. فقد تم تجاهل وقف إطلاق النار - وهو اتجاه له تداعيات إنسانية خطيرة. لكن في شمال إفريقيا، لم يمنع الوباء وما تلاه الجهات الفاعلة المحلية من مواصلة عملها، مع بعض النتائج المثيرة للإعجاب.

انضم إلى USIP و ODI لإجراء مناقشة تضم خبراء وممارسين في بناء السلام من شمال إفريقيا. تبحث المحادثة في تداعيات Covid-19 على بناء السلام على المستوى المحلي في ثلاثة سياقات خاصة بشمال إفريقيا: ليبيا وتونس ومصر.

In March, after UN Secretary-General Antοnio Guterres called for a global cease-fire amid the Covid-19 pandemic, many political analysts saw an opportunity for peace. However, the stark reality in many conflict zones today shows that, so far, that opportunity has been missed. Cease-fires are being ignored, and the politics of the pandemic have enabled violence rather than deterred it – a trend that has serious humanitarian implications. But in North Africa, the pandemic and subsequent surge in violent conflict have not stopped local actors from continuing their work, with some impressive results.

Join USIP and ODI for a discussion featuring peacebuilding experts and practitioners from North Africa. The online conversation looks at the implications of Covid-19 on peacebuilding at the local level in three particular North African contexts: Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt.