Helen Dempster

The “Triple Threat” Facing Think Tanks For over 100 years, think tanks have been instrumental in shaping policy around the world, developing ideas and synthesizing complex information for policymakers, political leaders, and journalists. H...

Last month, my colleague Catarina & I attended the
On Think Tanks school. We left with a clear takeaway—think tanks need to lean into our comparative advantages and become *much* more strategic about what we do, why, and how we communicate it.

www.cgdev.org/blog/triple-...

Skills on the Move: Linking Labour Mobility and Vocational Training Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is often touted as an important tool in low- and middle-income countries struggling with high levels of unemployment and large skills gaps. As a ...

Today, @cgdev.org and @irexintl.bsky.social launched our new research, linking TVET and labour mobility. The video recording is now live, and please get in touch to discuss more!

✍ Read the research: www.cgdev.org/tags/skills-...
📅 Catch up on the event: www.cgdev.org/event/skills...

Skills on the Move: Linking Labour Mobility and Vocational Training Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is often touted as an important tool in low- and middle-income countries struggling with high levels of unemployment and large skills gaps. As a ...

Linking TVET w/ labour mobility could improve quality & outcomes, while supporting employers & economic growth: the manifestation of “aid in the national interest.”

New @cgdev.org research w/ @irexintl.bsky.social outlines why donors should do this & how they can.

www.cgdev.org/tags/skills-...

In a new @cgdev.org note @helen-dempster.bsky.social and I, with colleagues at Talent Beyond Boundaries, set out the key design questions and options.

We also -excitingly- include a new interactive modelling calculator, allowing you to set visa design parameters to see how costs are spread.

Why the UK Should Establish Green-Skilled Mobility Partnerships with Bangladesh, India, and Kenya In a recent paper, we at CGD outlined the extent to which skilled immigrants already contribute to the UK’s green-skilled workforce. This note, written with colleagues from the International Organizat...

Hundreds of green-skilled Bangladeshis, Indians & Kenyans are already helping the UK meet its green transition goals. The UK should promote more green-skilled mobility, in exchange for investments in training & other priorities.

New @cgdev.org note w/ @iom.int.

www.cgdev.org/publication/...

How Much CO₂ Can One Clean Energy Worker Cut? Workforce gaps are a key bottleneck when it comes to reducing carbon emissions in almost every country. Even where capital, technology, and political will are available, shortages of skilled workers a...

A lack of green-skilled workers is already a bottleneck to decarbonisation, hindering implementation and investment. But how much difference would one more worker *really* make? Find out in new @cgdev.org research by @samhuckstep.bsky.social & Johann Harnoss.

www.cgdev.org/blog/how-muc...

We @cgdev.org are super excited to announce our new map, showcasing 26 projects that have successfully paired training & migration to support the green transition.

🗺️ Explore the map (cgdev.org/media/mappin...) & read the summary blog by Shona Warren.

www.cgdev.org/blog/global-...

Distributing Winning Lottery Tickets: Why Circular Migration Programmes Should Target the Climate Vulnerable Every year, high-income countries recruit hundreds of thousands of seasonal agricultural workers on temporary visas, handing out what can, in effect, be winning lottery tickets. A six-month stint on a...

If circular migration opportunities were targeted towards climate-vulnerable people, it would channel remittances back to support adaptation. This @cgdev.org blog illustrates this using the UK's recruitment of Kenyans under the Seasonal Worker Scheme.

www.cgdev.org/blog/distrib...

The EU is proposing to suspend trade benefits for partner countries that don't cooperate on returns. In this new @cgdev.org blog w/ Anita Käppeli & Shona Warren is that returns MUST go hand-in-hand w/ meaningful legal migration pathways & investment if they will work.

www.cgdev.org/blog/two-sid...

Always love playing around with the #CDI2025 data. This year, Germany scores a whopping 100% on the migration indicator, with Czechia, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Sweden rounding out the top 10. The UK all the way down in 22, and the US further behind...

www.cgdev.org/cdi#/

Data Against Fear: What the Numbers Say About Venezuelan Migrants and Crime in Ecuador To devise and design all immigration policy solely through the lens of crime—particularly as part of broader efforts to combat gangs—is misguided and likely to be ineffective. Instead, policy should f...

Really useful new paper by Dany Bahar @cgdev.org. Venezuelans comprise 2.5% of the population in Ecuador but only 1.3% of detentions. Most crimes are also non-violent and economically motivated, given many Venezuelans lack legal status.

www.cgdev.org/publication/...

The International Development Youth Forum (IDYF) has opened their call for participants! Seeking young people (<30) interested in heading to Tokyo in March to discuss migration and social cohesion.

Deadline is December 6: idyforum.org/idyf-2026-ap...

The Next Generation of Global Skill Partnerships: How the Model’s Evolved to Meet Current Challenges Building on previous pilots—including the Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC), Youth, Employment, and Skills in Kosovo(YES), and Pilot Project Addressing Labour Shortages Through Innovative La...

Excited to announce that we have now updated our @cgdev.org Global Skill Partnership website (cgdev.org/bettermigrat...) and summarised the changes in a new blog w/ Ahmed Iqbal.

www.cgdev.org/blog/next-ge...

Donors Must Shift How They Fund the UN UN80 has three workstreams: internal efficiency and effectiveness; mandate implementation; and structural changes. All have reform proposals which were discussed during UNGA; Member States will be fur...

The #UN80 reform process is taking a hard look at the mandates of different UN agencies. But the way donors fund them, reinforces those mandates. This has to change.

New @cgdev.org blog w/ Shona Warren & Rose Worden.

www.cgdev.org/blog/donors-...

Who Bears the Burden? Tracking the Global Impact of Recent US Foreign Policy Shifts Since January, the United States has adopted a range of foreign economic policies with negative impacts on the rest of the world, including higher tariffs on exports, taxes on remittances, and reducti...

The US has adopted a range of foreign economic policies with negative impacts on the rest of the world.

CGD experts assess the combined impact of these changes, disproportionately hurting poorer nations, straining US alliances, and more:
https://bit.ly/3IOT5sU

This is a great little blog. The third point, on 'Immigration as an Industrial Strategy' ('not just using immigration to fill labor gaps, but using it strategically to catalyze new industries') is very relevant to current discussions around workforce for the green transition.

Labour Migration and the UK’s Industrial Strategy: The Need for Coherence If the UK is to meet its green transition goals, it will need to use immigration policy.

🚨New policy note! 🚨- by myself and @helen-dempster.bsky.social.

In short: The UK's (green) industrial policy needs migration for it to succeed. The UK government's recent migration policy flip-flopping harms investment certainty, and is the result of incoherency between policy areas.

We @cgdev.org are excited to be part of the #GreenHorizons platform, connecting 10k refugees & host community members with jobs critical to the green transition. Read more in my new blog w/ Johann Harnoss & David Manicom.

www.cgdev.org/blog/green-h...

Remittances and the Climate Finance Crisis A conversation about remittances and where they fit in the climate finance crisis.

Tomorrow! Join CGD's @samhuckstep.bsky.social for a @carnegieendowment.org event on the increasing importance of remittances to global climate resilience.

Register:
carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...

The remittance tax in the "Big, Beautiful Bill" is down to 1%, but countries of origin still stand to lose billions of dollars every year, especially because the tax now also applies to US citizens.

New @cgdev.org blog w/ @samhuckstep.bsky.social & Charley Ward 👇

www.cgdev.org/blog/even-1-...

Glad to see that the remittance tax included in Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" has been reduced to 1%. Kudos to everyone working on this issue! 👏

Read @CGDev's analysis of the impact of the tax: www.cgdev.org/blog/which-c...

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/ind...

« La taxe de Trump sur les transferts de fonds des migrants est encore pire que l’arrêt de l’aide américaine » Le 16 juin dernier, le Sénat américain a dévoilé sa version de la « belle et grande loi » budgétaire voulue par Donald Trump. Celle-ci inclut une taxe sur les transferts de fonds des migrants qui pour...

For many countries, the impact of Trump's 3.5% remittance tax will be even worse than US aid cuts. Really glad to have the opportunity to highlight this fact in a tribune for @la-croix.com, based on our @cgdev.org analysis (www.cgdev.org/blog/which-c...).

www.la-croix.com/a-vif/la-tax...

Accelerating Refugee Inclusion Amidst Devastating Aid Cuts The Trump Administration’s elimination of USAID, combined with announcements of further cuts, will have “immediate and devastating” impacts on refugees and the countries that host them. We need to fin...

Refugee funding is being slashed - how do we meet as much need as possible with less money?

New @cgdev.org blog by myself, @thomasginn.bsky.social & Cindy Huang proposes: (1) expand labor market access; (2) use aid to offset costs; and (3) avoid blocking progress.

www.cgdev.org/blog/acceler...

The UK, Germany and Canada have slashed foreign aid this year, deepening damage done by US cuts, analysis shows | CNN Western countries have slashed foreign aid budgets this year and reductions will steepen in 2026, with the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Canada cutting the most, according to a new analy...

And @cnn.com coverage by Lauren Kent.

edition.cnn.com/2025/06/12/e...

Using Labour Migration to Support Europe’s Green Transition During this event, experts from Fragomen, the Center for Global Development, government, and industry will address key questions aimed at resolving the constraints on Europe’s Green Transition and ide...

We've added some exciting speakers to the line-up for our @cgdev.org + Fragomen event on "Using Labour Migration to Support Europe's Green Transition". Come hear from RWE, @ec.europa.eu (DG EMPL) + @giz.de!

June 23 | 8.00-9.00am ET | 1.00-2.00pm BST

www.cgdev.org/event/using-...

Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics 2025: Development in the Age of Populism Bringing together some of the world’s leading economic thinkers, the conference will help identify the best way forward—with deep dives on key topics such as artificial intelligence, migration, nutrit...

The World Bank, @cgdev.org, and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy #ABCDE Conference is coming up!

The migration panel (feat. Dany Bahar, Çağlar Özden, Wendy Cunningham, and Caroline Theoharides) is on July 15 from 11.15-12.45 ET — mark your diaries...

www.cgdev.org/event/annual...

👏 @catiabatista.bsky.social; @danielhan.bsky.social; @dmckenzie.bsky.social; @johanneshaushofer.com; @econgaurav.bsky.social; @mushfiq-econ.bsky.social; @deanyang.bsky.social; & Caroline Theoharides for injecting some positivity & nuance into this debate.

Brain drain or brain gain? Effects of high-skilled international emigration on origin countries How does emigration of highly educated citizens of low-income countries to high-income countries affect the economies of the origin countries? The direct effect is “brain drain”—a decrease in the coun...

Great new @science.org article by the rockstars of development economics looks at the evidence on the impact of skilled emigration on origin countries. TL;DR, it can be positive, but we need a *lot* more work in this area!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

How does high-skilled emigration affect countries of origin? A new review highlights what we’ve learned and what we still don’t know

How does high-skilled emigration affect countries of origin? I summarize our recent Science paper, &draw out lessons from where we need nuance (not all high-skilled is the same, & most studies lump together), what we don't know (especially how to do better policy) blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...

Trump Targets Key Lifeline for Africa: Money Sent Home by Immigrants

Excited to see our @cgdev.org research featured in this excellent @nytimes.com article about the devastating effect of the US' remittance tax on Africa, especially coming after extensive aid cuts.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/w...