Center for Global Development

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...

"Think tanks are now facing a 'triple threat'—a shifting funding landscape; AI; and rising polarization—all which intersect and reinforce each other."

Helen Dempster & Catarina Afonso dos Santos identify ways in which think tanks can adapt:
https://go.cgdev.org/3P0P1Zp

How is the UK Aid Watchdog Viewed within FCDO? This blog examines all published Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) business cases for aid projects to explore how prominently ICAI reviews have featured, and finds that ICAI reviews ar...

The UK's development minister is considering scrapping the aid watchdog ICAI—but Euan Ritchie finds it plays a meaningful role in aid decision-making.

He explores FCDO business cases, finding 1 in 7 reference ICAI reviews. Read on:
https://go.cgdev.org/40igAzR

What Now for UK Climate Finance? This blog examines what the numbers show—in the context of ICF performance, the shrinking aid budget, and the new $300 billion global target. It then sets out a practical six-point approach that fits ...

As the UK prepares to set a new international climate finance (ICF) commitment, reports that it could be cut to £9bn raise alarm.

@jonathanbeynon.bsky.social examines what the numbers show—and provides a six-point plan to protect UK climate credibility:
https://go.cgdev.org/3OYJX7N

Governing Tax Expenditures: Lessons from Four Advanced and Emerging Market Economies Tax expenditures are among the most significant yet least visible instruments of public policy. Through exemptions, deductions, reduced rates, and preferential regimes, governments pursue economic, so...

Tax expenditures are among the most significant yet least visible instruments of public policy, globally equaling 3.7% of GDP and 23% of tax revenue.

New analysis from CGD experts compares its governance in Brazil, France, India, and the UK:
https://go.cgdev.org/40OuCt8

What Are We Learning about the Impacts of—and Solutions to—School-Related Violence? School-related violence undermines students’ safety, learning, and other educational outcomes, as well as the overall well-being of both students and teachers. We convened researchers from a range of ...

CGD recently convened researchers to share perspectives on how to address the global challenge of school-related violence.

Here are some major takeaways—specifically on the scale of the problem, impacts on particularly vulnerable groups, and more:
https://go.cgdev.org/3OUeTGb

The World Bank Doesn’t Need to Generate More Knowledge. It Needs to Want It. At least since former World Bank President Jim Wolfensohn coined the phrase “knowledge bank,” there have been periodic efforts to strengthen evidence-based policymaking at the World Bank. They have fo...

If the World Bank is serious about being a “knowledge bank,” Shanta Devarajan and @eeshani.bsky.social argue, it must cultivate not just the ability to produce evidence but a hunger for using it:
https://go.cgdev.org/4u8auzD

Jim O’Niell, chair of the CGD and MSA NeoTest working group, discusses the benefits of advanced market commitments.

Learn more about how an AMC will help NeoTest curb neonatal sepsis, save newborn lives, and fight antimicrobial resistance:
https://go.cgdev.org/4ctFkwk

The TN Visa: A Practical Solution to US Labor Market Pressures That Already Exists Discussion of the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) usually centers on tariffs, rules of origin, and manufacturing content requirements. What’s underappreciated is what the agreement says about peopl...

"The TN visa remains remarkably underutilized relative to the scale of the labor market challenges the US now faces."

Dany Bahar explains how this no-annual-cap, no-lottery visa can help fill acute shortages in high-skill sectors:
https://go.cgdev.org/4l3Ke5g

Lead-Safe Off-Grid Electrification: Understanding the Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa This paper investigates the role of lead in off-grid electrification across sub-Saharan Africa, including trends in off-grid technologies; the health and safety risks associated with ULAB recycling wi...

Off-grid solar is expanding rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa—but what about the batteries powering it?

@rachelbonnifield.bsky.social and Caroline Mallory investigate the impact of lead-acid batteries on regional lead poisoning, and how leaders can mitigate risks:
https://go.cgdev.org/4r7T1EL

The Coming Humanitarian Data Drought Aid cuts have left hundreds of thousands without food aid and other vital humanitarian services. Although major impacts have been documented by researchers and the media, the damage to the humanitaria...

Aid cuts are eroding the world’s ability to detect and respond to food crises.

Advances in AI can help, but without sustained funding for primary data collection, responses will be less effective, explain Jean-Martin Bauer and @hanshengchia.bsky.social:
https://go.cgdev.org/4shNZGD

The London Convening: 30 Experts Align on How to Evaluate Generative AI Products in LMICs In April 2025, several of this blog’s authors —along with other colleagues—published “An AI Evaluation Framework for the Development Sector.” The piece provided a standardized approach to evaluating t...

In 2025, CGD convened a new working group to develop shared standards for evaluating generative AI in global development.

Now, experts share key takeaways on theory of change, subgroup effects, what comes next, and more:
https://go.cgdev.org/4smVNqQ

A Coming Clash Over Critical Minerals? On February 4, the State Department convened a critical minerals ministerial meeting in Washington, DC that brought together representatives of 54 countries and the European Commission. This is the la...

The US push to reduce dependence on China for the mining and processing of critical minerals is facing challenges from resource nationalism, competing initiatives, and more.

Conor Savoy looks at the impact on relationships w/ mineral-rich countries:
https://go.cgdev.org/40467rK

One Tariff, Many Questions: Trade Policy Uncertainty Under Trump After the US Supreme Court struck down the administration’s IEEPA-based tariffs, President Trump announced 10 reciprocal tariffs worldwide, lowering effective rates for many countries but deepening po...

After SCOTUS struck down President Trump’s tariffs, the White House announced a new temporary 10% global tariff, injecting more uncertainty into a complex trade regime.

Experts explain how these shifts will affect countries & outline key questions ahead:
https://go.cgdev.org/4rz5wKy

Millions Lost Access to PEPFAR-Supported HIV Drugs During the US Foreign Assistance Pause The US State Department has collected data on the performance of PEPFAR in 2025, but is yet to officially release it. A Freedom of Information suit is ongoing. In the meantime, some data has become av...

Preliminary data show PEPFAR-supported HIV testing & treatment fell after the US aid pause, though coverage rebounded as host countries filled gaps. The disruptions still cost lives.

@charlesjkenny.bsky.social urges restoring full services & publishing impact data:
https://go.cgdev.org/47kOasH

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 ...

Donors spend billions on vocational training in LMICs, yet fewer than a third of programs improve jobs or earnings.

New research from CGD & IREX shows how linking training with labor mobility can address skills gaps and support the green transition:
https://go.cgdev.org/4b0M0Qa

Military Spending and IMF Surveillance: An Assessment, 2008-2023 Military spending received limited and uneven coverage in IMF surveillance. Of the 63 countries in which military spending was discussed in bilateral surveillance, fewer than 30 percent featured analy...

A new paper from Sanjeev Gupta examines how the IMF has addressed military spending in its multilateral and bilateral surveillance during 2008–2023.

He assesses the scope, depth, and evenhandedness of Fund advice on military expenditure:
https://go.cgdev.org/4rDOfzW

The US Just Changed Vaccine Guidance. Can AI Help Families Decide? Vaccines are among the most impactful global health innovations. They drive major declines in child mortality and prevent an estimated 3.5 to 5 million deaths every year. The golden age of vaccine dev...

As the CDC revises its approach to childhood immunizations, parents and clinicians face greater responsibility in navigating decisions.

@leahrosenzweig.bsky.social examines whether AI tools could help support these conversations:
https://go.cgdev.org/4aZWrFb

From Pilot to Pathway: Designing the UK’s Displaced Talent Visa In 2025, the United Kingdom announced that it would create a new capped visa to help refugees and displaced populations access economic opportunities in the UK. This is an excellent step forward, and ...

What should the UK's displaced talent visa look like?

@cgdev.org experts discuss the visa's design, asking: how can the visa reach meaningful scale while also providing adequate protection to vulnerable beneficiaries?
https://go.cgdev.org/3MqAeGD

BII’s Problem Isn’t Ambition, It’s Capital—and Here’s How to Fix It The challenge facing British International Investment (BII), the UK’s Development Finance Institution (DFI), is not a lack of ambition or political support, but a capital model that has yet to catch u...

The challenge facing BII, the UK’s development finance institution, is a capital model that has yet to catch up with what the government is asking it to do, writes Samantha Attridge.

She proposes three ideas for better leveraging BII’s balance sheet:
https://go.cgdev.org/3OsZxs5

Rolling Out the Trump Administration’s Global Health Agreements: What Can We Learn from Past Government-to-Government Assistance? Bilateral health agreements are a cornerstone of the Trump administration’s second-term approach to foreign assistance. But the push to cut out intermediaries extends well beyond global health. G2G me...

The US has signed 16 bilateral global health agreements with governments in sub-Saharan Africa, with more on the way.

Jocilyn Estes looks at what past govt-to-govt agreements show us about the practical challenges that could make or break the new deals:
https://go.cgdev.org/3MK3CHJ

Increasing the Stock of Green-Skilled Workers through Training and Mobility Projects There are critical worker shortages across the green skills spectrum—electricians, construction workers, heat pump installers—which are stalling project delivery, and slowing countries’ progress towar...

What makes green skills partnerships work?🌱🤝

NEW @cgdev.org research identifies how employer engagement, holistic skills mapping, and more expand the global stock of green-skilled workers:
https://go.cgdev.org/4s9KAKe

The US G20 Should Deliver on Energy Transparency As the United States assumes the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), it has outlined three priorities: unleashing economic prosperity by limiting regulatory burdens, unlocking affordable and secure e...

As the United States assumes the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), @charlesjkenny.bsky.social urges it to prioritize bringing transparency to the power purchase agreements (PPAs).

More:
https://go.cgdev.org/4aJEskr

US Aid Cuts Fueled Conflict in Africa The cuts in US foreign aid have probably caused hundreds of thousands of people to die. But real-time data on what is actually going on has been scarce. A new working paper is the first I've seen to s...

New data shows US aid cuts have led to a measurable rise in armed conflict.

@leecrawfurd.bsky.social breaks down new evidence on how aid cuts are affecting conflict dynamics, specifically in Africa:
https://go.cgdev.org/40nCem8

The Battle of the EU’s Next External Action Budget Last summer, the European Commission proposed merging three existing instruments for external spending—on development cooperation, humanitarian aid and pre-accession assistance—to create a single exte...

There's debate on what exactly the budget of the EU's proposed single external action instrument, Global Europe, should be for.

Mikaela Gavas and Laura Granito outline the major debates shaping how the EU plans to use these funds:
https://go.cgdev.org/3OUP7l5

UK Aid Cuts Now Deeper than the US After Congress Pushes Back The US Congress has just passed its Fiscal Year 2026 spending bill. The bill includes much of the international affairs budget and—while there’s no guarantee these funds will be fully spent by the adm...

Congress scaled back some of the Trump admin’s proposed cuts to US aid, while the UK government shows no signs of reversing planned reductions.

That means the UK’s aid cuts now outstrip those across the pond, @ianmitchell1.bsky.social & @samhugh3s.bsky.social calculate:
https://go.cgdev.org/4qPQj6H

CGD Podcast: Vaccines in a Changing Global Health Landscape with Seth Berkley CGD's Rachel Glennerster speaks with Seth Berkley, former CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, about lessons from COVID-19 and how they should shape future vaccine development and delivery.

Have you tuned into this CGDev podcast?

@rglenner.bsky.social speaks with Dr. Seth Berkley, former CEO of @gavi.org, about lessons from COVID-19 and how they should shape future vaccine development and delivery. Tune in ⬇️🎧
https://go.cgdev.org/49duJDJ

How Big Should a Pull Incentive Be? A New Pull Incentive Sizing Tool to Foster Innovation Pull mechanisms, like advance market commitments (AMCs) and prizes, that pay for results are having a moment. After the landmark pneumococcal AMC helped accelerate access to lifesaving vaccines, the m...

Pull incentives can unlock innovation, but poorly sized incentives risk missing the mark.

A new Pull Incentive Sizing Tool from @uchi-msa.bsky.social offers a practical framework for getting the scale right:
https://go.cgdev.org/4bjRl6L

The EU’s Global Role in 2026: Strategic Drift or Strategic Choice? For the EU’s global role, 2026 may mark a turning point: either a continued slide toward narrow, transactional partnerships or a deliberate effort to rebuild credibility as a long-term, reliable globa...

This year is a turning point for the EU’s role on the world stage.🇪🇺

From the next EU budget to member state politics, Anita Käppeli and Mikaela Gavas examine upcoming key moments and what’s at stake:
https://go.cgdev.org/45FPnKe

Green Horizons: Mobilizing Climate Capital to Support Safe Routes for Green-Skilled Displaced People In 2026, Green Horizons will focus on raising catalytic capital for green skills initiatives from green donors, such as climate philanthropists and workforce funders with a green focus, and investors....

The green transition faces major labor shortages.

Green Horizons—hosted by Talent Beyond Boundaries—is refining its mission to mobilize climate capital and expand green skills mobility for displaced talent ⬇️🌱
https://go.cgdev.org/3LeMHMQ

Effectiveness In Practice: What It Means and How It Is Implemented by Four Development Agencies We explore how development agencies understand their own effectiveness. Drawing on interviews with 48 individuals across Agence Française de Développement, the Korean International Cooperation Agency,...

How do development agencies know what’s working—and what isn’t?

Interviews w/ @afd-france.bsky.social, KOICA, Norad, & MFATNZ shape CGDev experts’ analysis of five core dimensions of effective agency practice:
https://go.cgdev.org/498Ypk3