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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Posts:February 26, 2010A New Home at USAIDBy Ruth Levine
And, yes, it is hard to leave CGD. Read More… 13 Comments »January 25, 2010Mind the Girls: How to Take Care of the Adolescent Girls in Haiti during the ResettlementBy Ruth LevineMore Fresh Ideas for Haiti
See alsoEven before the earthquake, it was hard to be young and female in Haiti. It’s estimated that more than 35,000 women and girls have been the victims of sexual violence in Haiti since 2004. Gender inequality, poverty and economic vulnerability, along with cultural factors have put girls and women at heightened risk of sexual assault in recent years in Haiti. Rape, particularly gang rape, is used as a means of social control. 6 Comments »October 19, 2009To Rebrand America, Unbrand AidBy Ruth LevineBono argues in Sunday’s New York Times that President Obama has already taken major and very welcome steps to “rebrand” America in the eyes of the world. How? By making this statement at the United Nations:
7 Comments »August 24, 2009Reflections on NYT Magazine Special Issue on Gender: Three Questions to Guide the New CrusadeBy Ruth LevineThis is a joint post with Molly Kinder. This week The New York Times Magazine is dedicated to a single theme: women. The main attraction of this special issue is a stirring essay by journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, who write passionately about the great moral, national security and economic development imperatives of investing in the world’s women and girls. The “women’s crusade” they call for seems already to have begun. A few pages beyond, an interview with Secretary Clinton heralds the start of a “new gender agenda” at the highest reaches of the U.S. foreign policy. Also noted is the growing philanthropic attention to the cause of women and girls – a trend that will be further evidenced next month, when the issue headlines at the annual (Bill) Clinton Global Initiative meetings in NYC. Read More… 9 Comments »March 13, 2009Women and Girls Here…or Everywhere?By Ruth Levine
4 Comments »November 26, 2008Hard Times Call for Hard Data: India and UK Will Work Together to RespondBy Ruth LevineAmidst the profound concerns about a lengthy economic downturn (or worse), public officials are taking measures to improve the effectiveness of public dollars — or public rupees, as the case may be. Comment »October 20, 2008UNAIDS: Preparing for a New PhaseBy Ruth LevineThis is a joint posting with Danielle Kuczynski and Kristie Latulippe, co-authors of the Background Report for the UNAIDS Leadership Transition Working Group 1 Comment »September 22, 2008Thoughts on the Financial Crisis and the Other Kind of Contagion (Development Impacts of Financial Crisis)By Ruth Levine
Comment »September 3, 2008Tanzanian President Kikwete Focuses on Education & Malaria ControlBy Ruth LevineThis is a joint posting with former CGD special assistant Rena Pacheco-Theard
Last week, CGD was honored to host Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and senior officials in his government for a discussion with a small group of development experts on Tanzania’s recent education and malaria control activities. The importance that the government places on core social sectors is unmistakable – and continues a long Tanzanian tradition. Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Jumanne Maghembe, noted that, “Education is the highest priority, and the foundation of any social development venture.” In fact, the education sector – primarily teacher salaries – accounts for a full 17% of the national budget. Over the past few years, the country has consolidated progress toward universal primary education and has increased secondary school enrollment by two and a half times (from a very low base). The Minister also reported on expansion in post-secondary education, including universities and vocational training centers. Attention is also being given to the early years. Zanzibar’s Minister of Education, Haroun Ali Suleiman, stressed the importance of pre-primary education. As the sector expands, the challenges are profound. The most obvious is the shortage of teachers. Historically, secondary schooling has been so limited that there simply aren’t enough graduates to train as teachers. In response, at least for the near term, the government has implemented programs to bring in teachers with non-traditional training, and is looking at distance education technologies. Comment »September 3, 2008Tanzanian President Kikwete Focuses on Education & Malaria ControlBy Ruth LevineThis is a joint posting with former CGD special assistant Rena Pacheco-Theard 2 Comments »August 4, 2008The Best Innovative Financing Mechanism for Development — Ever!By Ruth Levine
Comment »May 28, 2008A Smart $100 Million Investment in GirlsBy Ruth LevineIt looks like Peter Buffett has acquired his father Warren’s knack for finding the highest-yield investments. The younger Buffett, along with his wife Jennifer, just announced a collaboration with the Nike Foundation to put $100 million into programs that will benefit adolescent girls in the developing world. Like the cleverest stock pick, this venture is almost guaranteed to bring impressive short-term returns and will steadily increase in value over generations. And, like many high-growth investments, there are risks. Comment »December 19, 2007Howard White Selected as First Head of the New International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3IE)By Ruth LevineOur efforts toward more and better impact evaluation of development programs made a major advance this week with the announcement that Howard White, who has dedicated his career to building evidence about development effectiveness, has accepted the position as the first director of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (see the CGD initiative: Closing the Evaluation Gap). This culminates a broad international search (conducted by an excellent team at the London-based executive search firm of Heidrick & Struggles), and represents a very promising and concrete step toward the launch of the 3IE, an entity that will bring new financial and technical resources to conduct and disseminate impact evaluations around the world. Howard comes to the leadership position with a genuine vision for the role that evidence-building can play in making the most of the precious resources available for improving lives and livelihoods in the developing world. Comment »May 29, 2007Bono and DATA Get a Heavy MedalBy Ruth Levine
Comment »April 13, 2007Global Service Fellowships: Like the Scott Family Fellowships in Liberia!By Ruth LevineSeeking a way to engage American volunteers and Congress in “concrete initiatives that lift up the lives of the poor throughout the world,” a proposal for Global Service Fellowships has just been floated by our friends across the street at Brookings: David Caprara, John Bridgeland and Harris Wofford: We propose that Congress establish a program of Global Service Fellowships to support American volunteers – nominated by congressional members – serving abroad with qualifying nongovernmental organizations, faith-based groups, and universities that are committed to advancing peace and development. The benefits: the positive connection across countries that comes with community-level diplomacy; the fruits of the volunteers’ service; and greater understanding by Americans of the realities of developing countries. Presumably there is also a benefit to involving Members of Congress; the selection process would present a “teachable moment” for those who are otherwise spending their time thinking about domestic policies and programs. Interestingly, while the proposal describes a way to use public funds to support work in private organizations, a parallel volunteer program – using private monies to support work in the public sector – is already underway. The Scott Family Liberia Fellowships, just established, offers Fellows the opportunity to work as a “special assistant” to government officials in Liberia. This simultaneously provides the Government of Liberia with some extra hands-on-deck for the first years of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration, and the Fellows with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help and learn. Comment »March 22, 2007Millennium Development Hole is Evaluation GapBy Ruth LevineAn editorial in today’s issue of Nature takes aim at the development establishment – and fires. “The political commitment to helping the developing world is failing to deliver on its promises,” according to Millennium Development Holes (subscription required). “The problem is made worse by the questionable evaluation of progress.” Excoriating development agencies for prettying-up defective data on aggregate health and other MDG-related indicators for “pseudo-scientific” estimates of progress since 1990, the commentary then goes for the jugular: Indeed, the lack of data makes it impossible not only to track progress, but also to assess the effectiveness of measures taken. Has the existence of the MDGs changed pre-existing trends? Are bednets helping to control malaria? Are improvements in Asia down to the MDGs or simply economic growth? Currently, it’s impossible to tell. Meanwhile, spurious claims of achievement are promoted. The way forward, Nature suggests, is in more, better and independent evaluations: Funding the scientific evaluation of interventions would pay dividends in enabling rigorous project management. But although billions of dollars are now flowing into aid and disease control, researchers complain that they struggle to get even tiny funds for evidence-based research to assess which interventions work. “If I want 10 tons of DDT it’s no problem; if I want $10,000 to see if the 10 tons made any difference, forget it,” says one malaria researcher. Interesting in its own right, this unfavorable assessment of the international community’s ability to measure progress and learn from experience carries an implicit warning. As the clock ticks toward the 2015 MDG deadline, such critiques can only grow louder and more potent. 2 Comments »March 1, 2007A New Impact Evaluation Institution to Promote Learning for DevelopmentBy Ruth Levine
5 Comments »January 10, 2007The Gates Foundation & Policy CoherenceBy Ruth LevineThe ongoing series of reports in the LA Times about whether the investment practices of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation conflict with its grantmaking goals rings some familiar bells: It is the private philanthropy version of the “policy coherence” debates that regularly make an appearance at the OECD/DAC, among development advocacy groups and – yes – in our own research and analysis here at the Center for Global Development. CGD’s Commitment to Development Index is, at its heart, a means to capture the indisputable fact that the impacts of wealthy countries (and, by extension, wealthy individuals) come not just from development aid and philanthropic good works, but also from their economic policies, with trade and investment being among the most important. In the public policy sphere, the incoherence – doing lots of good with the one hand, and not so much good with the other – is relatively easily explained by the effects of politics: Many constituencies wield influence and so when their interests do not align, politicians and political institutions often respond with a set of policies that can act at cross purposes. The push for greater public policy coherence is a noble one where progress can be made, but it will always be an uphill battle. In the private domain, however, where only a few individuals are responsible for decisionmaking, the potential for genuine coherence is far greater. Is it too much to expect that foundations, which exist to promote public well-being, would think as carefully about the impact of their investments as they do about their gifts? In response to the LA Times investigation, the Gates Foundation has issued a public statement on their investment strategy, and it is certainly not alone in separating its philanthropy from the management of its endowment; this is standard practice for many foundations. But as the biggest and richest of the lot, the Gates Foundation is a natural target for special scrutiny. What they decide to do, if anything, will likely have important implications for others. UPDATE: According to an interview with the Seattle Times, the Gates Foundation is planning to systematically review the social impact of its investments, with the LA Times weighing in on the broader significance of this decision. The Gates Foundation subsequently revised its original public statement (linked to above) to reflect these plans. Full disclosure: The Center for Global Development receives financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as other foundations, governments, corporations and individuals. Comment »January 10, 2007The Gates Foundation & Policy CoherenceBy Ruth LevineThe ongoing series of reports in the LA Times about whether the investment practices of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation conflict with its grantmaking goals rings some familiar bells: It is the private philanthropy version of the “policy coherence” debates that regularly make an appearance at the OECD/DAC, among development advocacy groups and – yes – in our own research and analysis here at the Center for Global Development. CGD’s Commitment to Development Index is, at its heart, a means to capture the indisputable fact that the impacts of wealthy countries (and, by extension, wealthy individuals) come not just from development aid and philanthropic good works, but also from their economic policies, with trade and investment being among the most important. In the public policy sphere, the incoherence – doing lots of good with the one hand, and not so much good with the other – is relatively easily explained by the effects of politics: Many constituencies wield influence and so when their interests do not align, politicians and political institutions often respond with a set of policies that can act at cross purposes. The push for greater public policy coherence is a noble one where progress can be made, but it will always be an uphill battle. In the private domain, however, where only a few individuals are responsible for decisionmaking, the potential for genuine coherence is far greater. Is it too much to expect that foundations, which exist to promote public well-being, would think as carefully about the impact of their investments as they do about their gifts? In response to the LA Times investigation, the Gates Foundation has issued a public statement on their investment strategy, and it is certainly not alone in separating its philanthropy from the management of its endowment; this is standard practice for many foundations. But as the biggest and richest of the lot, the Gates Foundation is a natural target for special scrutiny. What they decide to do, if anything, will likely have important implications for others. UPDATE: According to an interview with the Seattle Times, the Gates Foundation is planning to systematically review the social impact of its investments, with the LA Times weighing in on the broader significance of this decision. The Gates Foundation subsequently revised its original public statement (linked to above) to reflect these plans. Full disclosure: The Center for Global Development receives financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as other foundations, governments, corporations and individuals. 2 Comments »November 9, 2006Aid Industry Calls for Focus on Basics: How Will it be Different This Time Than in the 1970s?By Ruth LevineSome of the “new ideas” in the development business these days make me wonder whether we should all be wearing polyester leisure suits and platform shoes. It’s very 1970s. Take, for example, two new high-level statements about the importance of donors focusing like a laser on health, education, and water and sanitation, and putting global warming, poverty reduction, governance issues and other long-term challenges on the proverbial back burner. That’s what we’re hearing from “a group of UN ambassadors” organized by the Copenhagen Consensus and from Oxfam, in their new report In the Public Interest: Health, Education, and Water and Sanitation for All. 5 Comments » |
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On Monday, I will join USAID as Director of Evaluation, Policy Analysis & Learning. In this position, I’ll be supporting initiatives that are already underway to apply the best available evidence to decisions at many levels, and to generate new knowledge as an integral part of the agency’s work. This reflects a major priority throughout the administration, and particularly for USAID Administrator Raj Shah, and it is a tremendous opportunity to extend work that I’ve done with others at the Center for Global Development. I know from my many interactions with USAID staff over many years that the agency is filled with dedicated, talented, and experienced professionals, and I’m looking forward to being able to contribute to their work.
The Executive Order signed by President Obama this week creating the White House Council on Women and Girls signals that the Administration recognizes that special consideration is warranted to make sure government policies and programs don’t reinforce discrimination against women and girls — and in some instances should spur extra efforts to overcome gender-related economic and social barriers. But in the 
Relatively short-lived ups and downs like this are far less important than the long term trends: the growth of emerging economies, the impact of global warming, the changing age structure and disease patterns across the world. Like a hurricane, a financial crisis reminds us of how vulnerable we are, and how the most vulnerable are the least well protected. But just as a single hurricane doesn’t tell us much about the climate, this episode of financial crisis doesn’t tell us much about the longer term forces that, in the end, shape our collective destiny.
International Finance Facility for Immunization, UNITAID, Advance Market Commitments, Debt2Health, Product Red: Move over. When it comes to innovative mechanisms to mobilize new dollars for life-saving global health endeavors, Brad and Angelina have it all figured out. The $14m haul from People magazine for the first photos of their newborn babies, they tell us, will go to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation to improve the lives of children around the world. With the world waiting to see Vivienne and Knox being diape(red), those twins are redefining the double bottom line.
The unofficial dean of the global poverati, U2 lead singer Bono, and the advocacy organization he co-founded, 
“Countries know where they want to be, but they may not know the best way of getting there. We would like to see the development of a new institution which can help us generate and use impact evaluation findings and help build capacity within our country to develop evidence and answer some of our enduring questions.” –Margaret Kakande, Ugandan Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
