ODI live events podcast

Adolescents are a driving force for development. If we are to deliver on the 2030 Agenda and ‘leave no one behind’, young people must be provided with the tools needed to reach their full potential. Particularly those who are disadvantaged and often face high levels of stigma, discrimination and exclusion.

In commemoration of Universal Children’s Day and the 30th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we discuss ways to develop and strengthen the voice and agency of disadvantaged adolescents. We draw on recent Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) participatory research findings on adolescent refugees, adolescents with disabilities and married adolescent girls.

China's investment in the African continent is increasing at a steady rate, with the country announcing the provision of $60 billion in financial support to Africa at the 2018 China–Africa Cooperation Forum.

As China plays an increasingly key role in the continent, we explore the future of Sino–African development relations. In particular looking at the impact and implications of opportunities generated by Chinese investment, such as lending practices by Chinese stakeholders.

We also focus on the Belt and Road Initiative in the East African context, looking at how it is financed by state actors and private investors who seek access to Belt and Road opportunities.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasises the critical role of social protection in achieving the SDGs, including gender equality. If appropriately designed and implemented, social protection policies and systems can transform women’s and girls' lives by addressing lifecycle risks and transitions, increasing access to services and infrastructure and promoting women’s and girls' voice and agency.

Building on the momentum achieved through this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), we discuss the role of social protection in promoting gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment, identifying opportunities and concrete actions for making progress towards gender equality and social protection for all.

For nearly two decades, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have all sustained average economic growth of 5 per cent or higher. To maintain and top this performance, while making growth more inclusive for their rapidly expanding populations, governments in the region know that the main drivers of their economic growth need to change.

Economic transformation is crucial for sustained growth and job creation. However our understanding on how to support economic transformation in different contexts is far from complete. Recent research has stimulated thinking around more targeted and joined up support, especially around sectors.

This event discusses approaches and strategies to economic transformation in the region, including high-level coordination among different policy areas and sectoral approaches in the African context.

We live in a globalised world. Just as people, goods and services cross borders, so do the impacts of climate change and our subsequent adaptation responses. A localised drought, occurring more frequently and intensely as a result of climate change, disrupts a global supply chain, which in turn affects consumers many thousands of miles away. An adaptation response, to increase irrigation by tapping a transboundary river, affects a shared ecosystem and shifts sensitive political dynamics across a region. The stakes are high, yet our current adaptation plans often fail to recognise or account for such transboundary risks or our global interdependence.

Ahead of the UN Climate Action Summit 2019, ODI and Wilton Park convene a high-level discussion to present new research on transboundary climate risk. Together with our partners, SEI and IDDRI, we are also launching a new initiative–Adaptation without borders–to harness the international cooperation needed to effectively govern and manage such risks.

We explore how we can raise visibility of transboundary climate risks, gather evidence and analysis, build connections between stakeholders and drive action from both policy-makers and practitioners, to ultimately reposition adaptation as a global public good.

We cannot afford to wait. The last four years were the hottest on record. Winter temperatures in the Arctic have risen by 3°C since 1990. As governments grapple with the adaptation actions required today and tomorrow, we must complement local action with enhanced multilateral cooperation–'adaptation without borders’ is a global imperative.

Over 4.2 billion people currently reside in urban areas. By 2045, it is predicted that the number will increase to six billion, with most growth taking place in Asia and Africa. Against this backdrop, there has been a sharp rise in crises affecting cities over the past decade.

Many aid agencies have started to urbanise their response, taking into considering the dynamism of cities, resilience on markets and intricate logistics, and the diverse range of populations' needs. While the humanitarian sector recognises that the traditional ways of working in rural areas need revising with tools more suited to urban areas. Most practitioners still lack the practical guidance needed to capitalise on what cities have to offer and take the long view to build help build resilience.

This event launches the Humanitarian Practice Network's Good Practice Review on humanitarian response in urban contexts and addresses the following:

How can the humanitarian sector better balance between responding to the immediate needs but also add value in the long-term?

What are the continual challenges faced when operating in urban areas?

What will the future look like for humanitarians responding to urban crises?

In order to meet SDG 8 and secure ‘decent work and sustainable economic growth for all’, governments and their development partners will need to achieve the right balance between promoting ‘growth from below’ (GfB) and ‘growth from above’ (GfA).

Policy measures to tighten labour markets will need to be coupled with more strategic efforts to empower women, support asset development and productivity in agriculture and support migration and remittance, to facilitate sustained escapes from poverty.

Using the key findings of the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network’s forthcoming Chronic Poverty Report on Growth, this high-level side event at the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) discusses the concept of ‘growth from below’ and its policy implications for sustained poverty reduction in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

Education is central to achieving economic and social benefits for migrants of all ages, and their host communities; improving livelihoods and health outcomes, reducing gender inequality and enhancing political participation. Education and skills development are essential for all people on the move, young and old, and especially for women, who are not always able to make the most of the opportunities that migration brings. Too often refugees and other migrants have limited access to education and to opportunities for skills development.

This high-level discussion at the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) addresses key questions to move this agenda forward.

What would it take to make quality basic education and learning available to all migrant children and young people?

How do skills development and life-long learning affect global human mobility?

What practical actions can be taken to address the barriers that refugees and other migrants face in?

This event is held in collaboration with UNICEF and UNESCO, and with the support of Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Philippines and Ethiopia.

NGOs have been central to efforts to improve the humanitarian system. Yet international NGOs are often criticised for a lack of coordination, destructive competition and unnecessary duplication – especially in ‘crowded’ and highly fragile contexts. Some have called for consolidation – reducing the number of international NGOs to increase efficiency and empower local and national organisations, particularly in protracted crises. This proposition warrants attention. Yet it is both complex and potentially controversial.

Aid effectiveness: Would consolidation of international NGOs increase efficiency and effectiveness, or would it create larger organisations with the same persistent challenges?

Localisation of aid: Would mergers create space for the localisation of aid and empowerment of smaller organisations, or would it lead to the increased dominance of a few ‘mega-agencies’?

Trust: Would consolidation demonstrate that international NGOs are sincere about increasing value for money and impact, or be seen as an attempt to grow market share?

Relationship with the public: Would mergers threaten the affinity people have with particular organisations and brands, or present an opportunity for a new narrative and new understanding?

This high-level debate on the benefits and risks of consolidating international NGOs is co-hosted by ODI and Mercy Corps.

The power of the media to influence gender norms both towards greater equality and reinforcing discriminatory attitudes and behaviour has long been recognised. Through the representation of men and women on television shows, news, social media and advertising, gender norms are demonstrated, negotiated and challenged. Public policymakers and donors support the potential of mass media to educate, and change attitudes and behaviours, investing particularly in edutainment (soap operas) and interactive media such as phone-ins and chat shows.

This panel debate critically analyses the power of media as a space for positive change to gender norms, exploring the merits and limitations of different types of mass media, focusing on:

- Whether one form of media is more powerful than others for challenging harmful gender norms?

- Examples of media influencing campaigns aimed at gender equality back-firing

- Whether a cross-media approach is always best to tackle the complexity of gender norms?

- Who the power for norm change lies with?

- How norm change through media influence can be monitored?