Overseas Development Institute - Theme: Governance

ODI Journals - Development Policy Review - Development Policy Review vol. 26, no. 4

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:00:00 PDT

<div>Amongst other themes, articles in the latest issue explore the complementarity of human rights and economics, and the new aid paradigm of economic growth, good governance and social development.</div>

Blog - Lessons from Latin America: Donors, democracy and development

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:51:00 PDT

Latin America is a laboratory of democratic governance and experimentation. As such, it is an important learning ground for other regions in the developing world. The challenge for donors is how to work with these weak democracies to harness their representative nature and their developmental potential. This means having to develop a deeper understanding of the political economy and context of the settings in which they are involved....(

Blog - Reform of the International System: the momentum is building

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:19:00 PDT

The Commonwealth mini-Summit in London is the latest sign that reform of the international system is moving rapidly up the agenda. The Summit discussed reform of the UN, the Bretton Woods Institutions and global environmental governance. On all these, there is enthusiasm among Heads of Government for faster and better coordinated change....(read more)

ODI event - Politics and Poverty: New Frontiers for Donor Agencies - Day Two

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:00:00 PDT

ODI event - The Darfur peace process: Where to now?

Wed, 28 May 2008 17:00:00 PDT

ODI Publications - Background Note - Where next for TICAD: Building lasting partnerships

Tue, 27 May 2008 17:00:00 PDT

<div>This background note emphasises the important role that TICAD plays in allowing greater African ownership in the development process and mobilising strategic partnerships with Africa from the international community. It then discusses how these core values could provide the driving force behind the policy positions that TICAD IV will develop along its key pillars of âBoosting Economic Growthâ, âEnsuring Human Securityâ and âAddressing Environmental Issues/Climate changeâ. The note ends with suggestions on how the TICAD process could evolve into a more robust mechanism for continuous partnership.</div>

ODI event - Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World - Book Launch and Discussion with Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart

Wed, 21 May 2008 17:00:00 PDT

Blog - The IMF Reform Package: Small progress towards increased representation for developing countries

Mon, 19 May 2008 07:01:00 PDT

In April, after several years of negotiation and discussion, the member states of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a governance reform package. The impetus for the reform was to ensure that the IMF maintains credibility and legitimacy with fast growing developing countries. It is, therefore, envisioned as a first step in a longer process of reform for the representation of developing countries in the IMF....(...

Blog - The importance – and absence – of good governance indicators

Fri, 16 May 2008 01:17:00 PDT

As governance indicators have proliferated in recent years, so has their use and the controversy that surrounds them. As more and more voices are pointing out, existing indicators – many of them developed and launched in the 1990s – have a number of flaws. This is particularly disquieting at a time when governance is at the very top of the development agenda. ...(read more)

HPG Publication - Working Paper - Case studies in the role of the affected state in humanitarian action: Peru

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:00:00 PDT

This study analyses the Peruvian stateâs response to the earthquake and assesses its relationship with domestic non-governmental actors and the international community. The aim is to constructively reflect on the response in order to generate learning and policy recommendations that can help improve future responses.

ODI event - Global Monitoring Report 2008: MDGs and the Environment - Agenda for Inclusive and Sustainable Development

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:00:00 PDT

Blog - The aid story in 2008. What’s next?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:39:00 PDT

2008 is turning into another of those milestone years for aid. A cluster of high level meetings are focusing international attention on the challenges around effective development assistance. This presents familiar challenges: how to scale-up, align and harmonise aid to support achievement of the MDGs by 2015. But what is crucially different is the global context in which this must now be achieved. ...(read more)

ODI in the media - Reuters Africa: Africa needs stronger parliaments to monitor aid

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:00:00 PDT

IPPG Briefing Paper - African Growth - Forgotten Issues

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:00:00 PDT

With economic growth rates at 7%, Africaâs economic outlook is looking rosy. Some argue high commodity prices are the cause, casting doubt about the sustainability of current growth rates. However, there is more to current African growth than high commodity prices. African countries are slowly undergoing structural change, with services an increasingly crucial component of growth (it is easy to forget that half of GDP growth in the past 10 years can be attributed to services directly); better service sectors also lead to growth indirectly by addressing growth constraints on agriculture and manufacturing, improve country-wide productivity and promote a diversified economy. Successful African growth strategies will increasingly rely on appropriate services strategies backed by contextspecific development of institutions and statebusiness relations.

ODI Publications - Opinion - Global social justice as a new focus for development policy?

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:00:00 PDT

<div>"Concern for social justice is an important driver of progressive development policy â in the UK and also internationally.  We have some work to do, however, in thinking through what global social justice might mean in practice."</div>

HPG Publication - Working Paper - El Salvador: A case study in the role of the affected state in humanitarian action

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:00:00 PDT

The following case study of state responses to disasters in El Salvador was undertaken in the context of a broader project on âThe Role of Affected States in Humanitarian Actionâ, overseen by the Overseas Development Institute. It sets out to examine the degree to which the Salvadoran state, in the aftermath of decades of conflict, assumed responsibilities for meeting humanitarian needs during three natural disasters that affected the country between 2001 and 2005, and how the stateâs response has evolved since 2005. The analysis encompasses the actions of international aid actors and donors during these disasters, and their past and current support for state mechanisms for prevention and preparedness. Research was carried out during a ten-day mission to El Salvador in November 2007.

ODI in the media - SSRC Blog: The Land Question: Sudanâs Peace Nemesis

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:00:00 PST

Blog - Can the international community deliver on the ‘Democratic Imperative’?

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:24:00 PST

The UK’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, delivered an excellent speech last Tuesday (12 February) on the importance of international efforts to support democracy in the developing world, or what he called ‘the democratic imperative’. The speech was particularly refreshing in its recognition that the road to democracy can be considerably bumpy and that democratic consolidation remains deeply problematic for many of the emerging democracies of the ‘Third Wave’. Initial expectations that these.....

Blog - The view from Davos - Part four: The Davos agenda – more to watch

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:23:00 PST

In the last of four blogs with reflections and predictions from Davos, I look at web 2.0, Africa, governance and institutions....(read more)...

ODI Project Papers - Report - Good governance, aid modalities and poverty reduction: From better theory to better practice

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:00:00 PST

Leaders of the world community have committed themselves to providing development assistance on a scale and in a form that enables developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. In 2008, the international community will come together twice, in Accra in September and Doha in November, to assess the progress made in implementing these commitments. This report synthesises the findings of a two-year research project commissioned by the Advisory Board for Irish Aid which speaks directly to the agenda of these high-level reviews.

ODI in the media - Reuters AlertNet/Global Voices - 'Davos: Peeking in and participating through videos'

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:00:00 PST

ODI Publications - Working Paper - Governance assessments for local stakeholders: What the World Governance Assessment offers

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:00:00 PST

<div>The World Governance Assessment (WGA) which started at the United Nations University in 1999 and has been operating as a project at the Overseas Development Institute in London since 2004, has through two rounds of data collection, developed and tested a methodology for doing governance assessments that combines input from local stakeholders with an analysis of a common set of governance indicators that has proved valid and capable of producing interesting and relevant insights for activists and observers alike. This report introduces the basic features of the WGA and highlights interesting findings of the second round that was conducted in 10 countries in the global South during 2006. It presents an overview of the methodology and the special Study Management System, a capacity-building component that is also an important part of what WGA offers. </div>

ODI Audiovisual - Video blog - The Davos Question: Supporting the voice of citizens

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:00:00 PST

<div>Fletcher Tembo, of the Overseas Development Institute, offers his answer to the Davos Question, discussing the importance of supporting the voice of citizens around the world.</div>

Video:

ODI Publications - Project Briefing - Why is Harmonisation and Alignment difficult for donors? Lessons from the water sector

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:00:00 PST

<div>â¢ The Harmonisation and Alignment (H&A) agenda offers important opportunities for the water sector. <br>â¢ The sectorâs progress towards H&A remains piecemeal â with substantial differences between countries and within the water supply, water resources management and sanitation sub-sectors. <br>â¢ Future efforts in H&A need to reach down to decentralised levels of government, in tandem with strengthening implementation capacity.</div>

ODI Journals - Development Policy Review - Development Policy Review vol. 26, no. 1

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:00:00 PST

<div>Articles from the latest issue include 'Global development goals: The folly of technocratic pretensions', 'The Cartagena Protocol: Implications for regional trade and technology development in Africa', plus a review symposium of Paul Collier's 'The Bottom Billion'.</div>