This week on his blog, CFR Senior Fellow John Campbell discussed the humanitarian crisis in Mali and polio in Nigeria. Writing on Mali, he took stock of malnutrition and displacement, along with the international response: Read more »

A careful look at the data reveals that societies with greater gender equality achieve higher levels of social and economic rights fulfillment for all members.

Improving gender equity in itself may be a goal with clear, intrinsic value. However, a substantial body of research now suggests that gender equity and the achievement of other development goals, such as health, education, social and economic rights fulfillment, and even growth, are inseparable. Read more »

Emerging Voices features regular contributions from scholars and practitioners highlighting new research, thinking, and approaches to development challenges. This article is from Blair Glencorse, Founder and Executive Director of the Accountability Lab. He analyzes the challenges of integrity and accountability in Liberia’s colleges and universities, arguing that failures in higher education threaten the country’s progress toward peace and development. You can follow Glencorse on his blog and on Twitter at @blairglencorse. Read more »

Yesterday, I wrote on my blog, Democracy in Development, about the struggle to boost agricultural production and food security in Malawi. As I noted: Read more »

On his blog yesterday, CFR Senior Fellow John Campbell discussed a proposed new way to gauge the size of the middle class: measure the number of cars. He evaluates the measure in the context of South Africa, writing: Read more »

Question of the Week posts review important questions and controversies in global development by providing background information and links to a full spectrum of analysis and opinion. Today’s post tackles the debate over randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which have emerged as an important tool for measuring the success of development interventions.

Read more »

In an article in this month’s Africa in Fact, Joshua Greenstein and I proposed measures that could help direct Africa’s natural resource wealth into investments for development—instead of into the pockets of corrupt officials. We argue that African governments, donors, multilateral institutions, the extractive industry, banks, and civil society all have roles to play in boosting transparency and accountability, and we offer policy prescriptions on how the challenge can be addressed. As the article concludes: Read more »

Yesterday on my blog, I wrote about Africa’s unrealized agricultural potential and the efforts of KickStart, a non-profit that is working to boost yields through low-cost irrigation technology. As I write: Read more »

Emerging Voices features regular contributions from scholars and practitioners highlighting new research, thinking, and approaches to development challenges. This article is from Nadia Oshry, Adam Bradlow, Robin Miller, and Angela R. Hansen of Dalberg Global Development Advisors. Oshry, Bradlow, and Miller are based in Dalberg’s Johannesburg office; Hansen is the director of the Johannesburg office and leads the firm’s Agriculture and Food Security practice. In the article, they evaluate the potential of information and communications technology to boost agricultural production and the incomes of small-scale farmers in Africa. Read more »

Writing last week in the New York Times International Weekly, CFR Senior Fellow Yanzhong Huang analyzed the World Health Organization’s position in the changing field of global health. Even as the WHO struggles to tackle both longstanding and novel health threats, Huang wrote, it is attracting few resources from the world’s rising powers: Read more »