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1. Joint Humanitarian Operations

Author:
Jeremy Konyndyk
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The Government Reform and Reorganization Plan released earlier this year by the White House calls for substantial reform of US humanitarian institutions. The plan mandates that the State Department and USAID produce a “specific reorganization proposal” to “optimize” humanitarian assistance and “eliminate duplication of efforts and fragmentation of decision-making.” This policy note lays out guidance for how an ambitious but feasible optimization could be achieved. It is informed by two high-level private roundtables convened by the Center for Global Development to solicit expert input, as well as a desk review of documents, expert interviews, and the author’s own experiences serving in the humanitarian arms of both USAID and the State Department. While numerous experts contributed thoughts and feedback, the author takes sole responsibility for the views represented herein.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. U.S. Policy Responses to Zimbabwe’s Illusory Reforms

Author:
Todd Moss
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
After nearly thirty years of working on and in Zimbabwe, I was hopeful, after the long nightmare of misrule by Robert Mugabe, that the July 2018 election was an opportunity to put the country on a positive track. I had the good fortune of visiting Zimbabwe with a delegation of former US diplomats prior to the election to assess conditions. I came away from that trip deeply pessimistic about the prospects for a free, fair, and credible election, unconvinced that economic reforms were real, and skeptical of the intentions of Emmerson Mnangagwa and the ruling ZANU-PF. It all appeared little more than a poorly-disguised charade.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. It’s Like That and That’s the Way It Is? Evaluating Education Policy

Author:
Susannah Hares
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
It’s tricky to evaluate government education policies. They’re not implemented in NGO-like laboratory conditions, and political motivation and public sector capacity constraints play as much of a role in their success or failure as policy design. Using the examples of three rigorous studies of three different education policies, this note aims to shed some light from the perspective of someone on the policy side on how, why, and when to evaluate government-led reforms. A government education policy is not an abstract theory that can easily be replicated in a different place. In each new context, it is effectively a brand-new programme and needs to be evaluated as that. None of the three examples presented was “new” as a policy: school inspections, school vouchers, and charter schools have all been tried and evaluated elsewhere. But the evaluations of these policies—when implemented in new contexts—illuminated a new set of challenges and lessons and generated a different set of results.
Topic:
Education and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. A Tool to Implement the Global Compact for Migration: Ten Key Steps for Building Global Skill Partnerships

Author:
Michael Clemens and Kate Gough
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The world needs better ways to manage international migration for this century. Those better ways finally have a roadmap: the Global Compact for Migration. Now begins the journey. National governments must lead in order to implement that Compact, and they need tools. One promising tool is Global Skill Partnerships. This brief explains what Global Skill Partnerships are and how to build them, based on related experiences around the world.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. The Dilemma of the African Development Bank: Does Governance Matter for the Long-Run Financing of the MDBs?

Author:
Nancy Birdsall
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Does governance matter for the long-run financing of the multilateral development banks? The structure of governance of the legacy MDBs (the World Bank and the four major regional development banks founded in the twentieth century) ideally should minimize any tradeoff between the confidence of creditor shareholding countries, on which an MDB’s own financing depends, and the sense of ownership, legitimacy, and trust of borrowing countries, on which the MDB’s effectiveness in supporting development in those borrowing countries depends. Among the five legacy MDBs, the African Development Bank stands out as the one where the governance arrangements, including the distribution of shares and votes between borrowers and nonborrowers, most favors borrowers. Indicators of the AfDB’s relative financial strength (a measure of creditworthiness based on sovereign members’ vote shares, and a measure of the capacity of each bank’s members to engage in collective action or cooperation in raising financing) indicate that its current governance is likely to make it less competitive than its sister MDBs in sustaining creditor (or “donor”) confidence in its operations over the long run, and thus in raising substantial capital and concessional resources. The governance problem is most obvious in the case of the African Development Bank’s African Development Fund, which today has only about 15 percent of the resources the World Bank has for Africa. The creditors of the AfDB have sufficient control to ensure the Bank’s financial soundness (and AAA rating), but a collective action constraint in pushing for reforms in the Bank’s operations. The paper concludes with ideas for long-run reform of governance at the African Development Bank, modeled more closely on the governance of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. The Medium-Run and Scale-Up Effects of Performance-Based Financing

Author:
Diana Ngo and Sebastian Bauhoff
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Rwanda’s performance-based incentives were effective for some indicators, but unconditional financing also induced improvements. The incentive effects persisted in the mediumrun and as the program was scaled-up. Additionally, the analysis demonstrates how observational research methods and secondary data can generate new insights on existing evaluations
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. Revisiting What Works: Women, Economic Empowerment and Smart Design

Author:
Mayra Buvinic and Megan O’Donnell
Publication Date:
11-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Expanding women’s economic opportunities bene ts both women and society. Women’s choices widen and societies gain from the contribution that women’s income makes to economic growth and family wellbeing. These bene ts are increasingly well-understood, but much less is known regarding the most effective interventions to empower women economically. The call to nd out what works is long overdue. Gender gaps in economic performance are pervasive and persistent — women earn less than men across countries and occupations, and gender gaps are especially salient in poor countries. A wide range of policies and programs — from long-term investments in health and education to short-term training programs and ‘just-in-time’ information on markets — can potentially help close these gender gaps and bolster women’s economic advancement.
Topic:
Gender Issues, International Affairs, and International Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Shared Border, Shared Future: A Blueprint to Regulate US-Mexico Labor Mobility

Author:
Carlos Gutierrez, Ernesto Zedillo, and Michael Clemens
Publication Date:
09-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Mexico and the United States have lacked a bilateral agreement to regulate cross-border labor mobility since 1965. Since that time, unlawful migration from Mexico to the US has exploded. Almost half of the 11.7 million Mexican-born individuals living in the U.S. do not have legal authorization. This vast black market in labor has harmed both countries. These two neighboring countries, with an indisputably shared destiny, can come together to work out a better way. The time has come for a lasting, innovative, and cooperative solution. To address this challenge, the Center for Global Development assembled a group of leaders from both countries and with diverse political affiliations—from backgrounds in national security, labor unions, law, economics, business, and diplomacy—to recommend how to move forward. The result is a new blueprint for a bilateral agreement that is designed to end unlawful migration, promote the interests of U.S. and Mexican workers, and uphold the rule of law.
Topic:
International Political Economy, International Affairs, Labor Issues, and Border Control
Political Geography:
America and Mexico