Category: Building resilience

LDC graduation Cambodia development matters
Building resilience

LDC Graduation: Stories of smooth transition

 By Ratnakar Adhikari, Executive Director of the Enhanced Integrated Framework Executive Secretariat at the World Trade Organization 

Of the 46 least developed countries (LDCs), 16 are at different stages of graduation. And, though graduation offers many opportunities, it also presents its own unique challenges for countries in this category. As such, various international support measures (ISMs) have been put in place, or extended, to ensure smoother transitions and sustained developmental progress in the post-graduation phase.

Two key concerns for LDCs following graduation involve: preferential market access for export, and development assistance, such as concessional financing.

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Development Matters
Multilateral development banks
Building resilience

Getting the balance right between ideas and operations in Multilateral Development Banks

By Rabah Arezki, director of research at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), senior fellow at the Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development (FERDI) and Harvard Kennedy School, former Chief Economist and Vice President at the African Development Bank and former Chief Economist at the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa region.

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have been in the news a lot lately. Leaders have called upon them to step up and help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems such as climate change, the debt crisis and fragility. The discussion on increasing the lending volume committed by MDBs has been at the centre of the policy agenda. But to achieve impact, MDBs must get the balance right between ideas and operations. 

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Development Matters
Digital trade - least developed countries LDCs
Building resilience

After the pandemic storms, digital trade offers LDCs rays of sunshine

By Annette Ssemuwemba, Deputy Executive Director of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Executive Secretariat at the World Trade Organisation

The dark storm of the coronavirus pandemic came with a silver lining: new ways of providing services and doing business by leveraging e-commerce and other digital opportunities. Video conferencing apps enabled lessons or work to be accessed remotely; mobile apps delivered food, groceries, and medicines at the click of a button.

But silver linings don’t shine bright for all. Gaps in technology, infrastructure and skills, especially in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), highlighted the need to help entrepreneurs grasp the possibilities of digital transformation.

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Development Matters
À la jonction entre aide au développement et biens public mondiaux
Building resilience, Français

À la jonction entre aide au développement et biens publics mondiaux

Par Kerri Elgar, Analyste principale des politiques, Direction de la coopération pour le développement, OCDE

Dans quelle mesure les budgets d’aide au développement devraient-ils être utilisés pour lutter contre le changement climatique, mettre au point des vaccins pouvant sauver des vies ou apporter un soutien aux réfugiés vivant dans des économies avancées ?

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Development Matters
India Kolkata street. social exchange investment. Development matters
Building resilience

What is India’s Social Stock Exchange and how can it benefit the country?

By Dr R Balasubramaniam, Chairman, SEBI Social Stock Exchange Advisory Committee, India

UNDP estimates that India needs USD 1 trillion per year to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and has a funding gap of USD 560 billion per year. As the Government alone may not be able to mobilise resources on this scale, it may look to enlist the support of the private sector and High Net Worth Individuals (HNI).  

Social enterprises, development sector organizations, not-for-profits, NGOs and civil society organisations (CSOs) aim to bring about a positive change in society. However, their efforts to convert intent into impact are often constrained by a lack of capital, as well as by lack of sustained access to this capital. Could a social stock exchange (SSE) be the answer?

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Development Matters
À la jonction entre aide au développement et biens public mondiaux
Building resilience

Where global public goods meet development aid

By Kerri Elgar, Senior Policy Analyst, Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD

To what extent should development aid budgets contribute to the fight against climate change, to the development of life-saving vaccines, or to support for refugees living in advanced economies?

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Development Matters
Fiscal space for development concept
Building resilience

Are we trading away fiscal space for development?

By Devika Dutt, Lecturer in Development Economics at King’s College, London and Kevin P. Gallagher, Director of the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, and Professor of Global Development Policy at Boston University

Developing nations need to mobilise an additional USD 1 trillion per year to meet their shared 2023 development and climate goals, but the need to invest comes precisely at a time when developing countries lack the fiscal space to do so.

What has been driving debt distress and how can governments and international institutions adapt to help?

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Development Matters
media trust environment climate development matters
Building resilience, Green transition

The influence of media on trust in government and climate policies

By Dr. Stephen P. Groff, Governor, National Development Fund, Saudi Arabia, former Vice-President for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific at the Asian Development Bank, and former Deputy Director of the OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate

Last year saw historic floods devastate Pakistan, South Asia and West Africa; massive storms pummel the Philippines and southern United States; and droughts, heatwaves and wildfires rage across Europe, China and the western United States.  Despite the extreme weather events that continue to ravage many regions in the world, public support and trust in many OECD government climate-action plans remains disappointingly low.

What role does media coverage play in building or diminishing this trust, and how can we address this moving forward?

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Development Matters
Car mechanic in uniform checking car in automobile
Africa, Building resilience

It’s time to develop better automotive value chains in Africa

By Dave Coffey, Chief Executive Officer · AAAM[i] – African Association of Automotive Manufacturers

Where is the last frontier for significant automotive development and growth in the world? It’s Africa. The challenge then is, how can local skills and raw materials be better allocated to balance contributions to global supply chains and Africa’s own industries?

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Development Matters
Image of Angola, one of the courtiers defined as least developed
Building resilience

Can LDCs reach 7% annual GDP growth by 2031?

By Brendan Vickers, Head of Section, Salamat Ali, Trade Economist, and Neil Balchin, Economic Adviser: Trade Policy Analysis, The International Trade Policy Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat

If all 46 countries categorised as “Least Developed” by the UN achieve annual GDP growth of at least 7%, their combined GDP could almost double – between 2022 and 2031 – going from USD $1.1 trillion to more than USD $2.25 trillion.

—> This is the target set by the United Nations’ Doha Programme of Action (DPoA).

Yet, in the rapidly changing global economic landscape, with the threat of a worldwide recession and multiple and interrelated food, energy, and debt crises, achieving this ambitious growth target seems a herculean task.

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Development Matters