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71. Improving Performance in the Multilateral Humanitarian System: New Models of Donorship

Author:
Patrick Saez, Lewis Sida, Rachel Silverman, and Rose Worden
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The humanitarian system has undergone three series of reforms over the past couple of decades, with mixed results. Multilateral agencies play a central role in the system. Faced with the prospect of growing humanitarian needs as a result of conflict, climate change and pandemics, the elusive quest to improve their performance continues. Yet while donors agree on the benefits of a strong multilateral system to respond to humanitarian crises, they diverge when it comes to measuring performance and providing financial incentives. A political economy defined by co-dependence and information asymmetry complicates the picture. Donors should unbundle their funding of different multilateral functions and measure their performance accordingly. Commonly agreed core functions and capacities should be supported by a greater proportion of core rather than earmarked funding. Performance of these core functions should be measured using multi-donor assessments and functional reviews. Independent measurement of outcomes should be linked to pooled mechanisms that would channel a significantly greater proportion of funding earmarked to specific crises.
Topic:
Finance, Multilateral Relations, Multilateralism, and Donors
Political Geography:
Global Focus

72. A Path to Resiliency: Mitigating the Impacts of COVID-19 on Essential Medicines Supply Chains

Author:
Anthony McDonnell, Elizabeth Pisani, and Somya Singhvi
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
COVID-19 has put a spotlight on health product supply chains, highlighting the challenges in multiple steps in the global supply chain. This paper seeks to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the supply chain of a subset of essential medicines. It identifies the main categories of blockages in the global supply chain created by COVID-19, then uses data on trade flows, wholesalers, and pharma companies, and from surveys, to track the impact. There was significant short-term disruption to manufacturing caused by COVID-19. Surveys, pharmacy, and export data indicate that COVID-related disruptions impacted the supply of essential medicines, but this varied greatly by markets and product. The paper highlights that (1) data-driven approaches should be considered to make supply chains more robust, (2) solutions must account for the political and institutional landscape, (3) price surges benefit the wealthiest, and (4) local solutions are often needed to manage global shocks. More research is needed, particularly into how to obtain granular data to track supply shocks in real time? How do we increase surge capacity? Is it possible to improve procurement practices through pooled procurement, where applicable? And can pharmaceutical production be diversified, with products produced regionally to limit the risk of disruption?
Topic:
Pandemic, Resilience, COVID-19, and Medicine
Political Geography:
Global Focus

73. Ethical Recruitment of Health Workers: Using Bilateral Cooperation to Fulfill the World Health Organization’s Global Code of Practice

Author:
Michael Clemens and Helen Dempster
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
In a bid to better manage the increasing migration of health workers, in 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted its Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. The Code has been misinterpreted by many as banning all recruitment from the 57 countries it deemed to have a “critical shortage” of health workers. But that is neither what the WHO intended, nor what the Code says. Recruitment from these countries was always allowed, even encouraged, as long as it was conducted under a mutually beneficial government-to-government agreement. In this policy paper, we outline how the WHO defined a “critical shortage” of health workers, both for the original Code and for its newly published Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List. The paper then goes onto explore how countries of migrant destination and origin can (and should) design ethical and sustainable health worker migration partnerships that fulfil the requirements of the Code.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Health Care Policy, Ethics, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Global Focus

74. The Quality of Official Development Assistance

Author:
Ian Mitchell, Rachael Calleja, and Sam Hughes
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) measures and compares providers of official development assistance (ODA) on quantitative indicators that matter most to development effectiveness and quality. It aims to encourage improvements to the quality of ODA by highlighting and assessing providers’ performance. QuODA considers the agency-level measures and characteristics in areas that evidence suggest matters to development and where providers have made commitments. It is a dashboard of key indicators rather than a full assessment of how effective ODA has been, which depends on a wider set of actors and factors. This is the fifth edition of QuODA; it has been substantially revised since the last iteration. The indicators are based on the evidence of what matters to ODA impact and the principles agreed by 161 counties following a series of international meetings leading up to Busan in 2011 and taken forward by the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Humanitarian Intervention, and Development Assistance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

75. Unpacking Gender Gaps and Data Gaps in Public Sector Employment and Pay

Author:
Ugonma Nwankwo, Megan O'Donnell, and Charles Kenny
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
We look at available sources to ask (i) Where is data available on employment and wages allowing for comparisons between women and men, and the public and private sectors? (ii) How do women’s employment, compensation, and seniority compare with men’s in the public and private sectors? (iii) How do gender gaps vary by countries’ income level, education levels, and other factors? What are the policy implications of the data we analyze? (iv) Which countries’ efforts can be modeled by others, and how else can global gender gaps in employment and compensation be narrowed? We suggest the Open Government Partnership as a promising platform through which governments can commit to increased transparency around disaggregated employment and wage data, in turn improving policy decision-making aimed at closing gender gaps (or those rooted in other forms of inequality and discrimination).
Topic:
Labor Issues, Women, Inequality, Feminism, Data, and Gender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

76. Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis’s Indirect Health Impacts for Women and Girls

Author:
Carleigh Krubiner, Megan O'Donnell, Julia Kaufman, and Shelby Bourgault
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
As donor institutions and governments seek to provide relief and support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, CGD’s COVID-19 Gender and Development Initiative aims to ensure that their policy and investment decisions equitably benefit women and girls. We seek to support decision-makers in understanding the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; assess health, economic, and social policy response measures with a gender lens; and propose evidence-based solutions for an inclusive recovery. Recognizing that the dialogue to date has largely emphasized challenges facing women and girls in high-income settings, our analysis centers on women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. In this policy brief, we summarize the findings of a CGD working paper, Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis’s Indirect Health Impacts for Women and Girls. We examine how the pandemic is affecting women’s and girl’s health, including their sexual and reproductive health; some of the ways national governments and donor institutions have sought to maintain the provision of essential health services; and existing gaps, opportunities, and promising strategies donors and governments should pursue to address indirect harms to women’s and girl’s health during and beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Topic:
Health, Children, Women, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

77. Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment in the COVID-19 Context

Author:
Megan O'Donnell, Mayra Buvinic, Charles Kenny, Shelby Bourgault, and George Yang
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
As donor institutions and governments seek to provide relief and support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, CGD’s COVID-19 Gender and Development Initiative aims to ensure that their policy and investment decisions equitably benefit women and girls. We seek to support decision-makers in understanding the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; assess health, economic, and social policy response measures with a gender lens; and propose evidence-based solutions for an inclusive recovery. Recognizing that the dialogue to date has largely emphasized challenges facing women and girls in high-income settings, our analysis centers on women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. In this policy brief, we summarize the findings of a CGD working paper, Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment in the COVID-19 Context. We explore the impacts of the crisis on women’s economic opportunities and outcomes, document the extent to which governments and donors are taking action to respond to these impacts, and make recommendations for how decision-makers can elevate women’s economic empowerment as a priority in response and recovery efforts. Specifically, we examine the impact of the COVID-19 global recession on women’s work and employment in low- and middle-income countries, including entrepreneurship, wage and salaried work, work in subsistence and commercial agriculture, and unpaid housework and care work.
Topic:
Economics, Women, Inequality, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Gender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

78. The Gendered Dimensions of Social Protection in the COVID-19 Context

Author:
Megan O'Donnell, Mayra Buvinic, Shelby Bourgault, and Brian Webster
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
As donor institutions and governments seek to provide relief and support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, CGD’s COVID-19 Gender and Development Initiative aims to ensure that their policy and investment decisions equitably benefit women and girls. We seek to support decision-makers in understanding the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; assess health, economic, and social policy response measures with a gender lens; and propose evidence-based solutions for an inclusive recovery. Recognizing that the dialogue to date has largely emphasized challenges facing women and girls in high-income settings, our analysis centers on women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. In this policy brief, we summarize the findings of a CGD working paper, The Gendered Dimensions of Social Protection in the COVID-19 Context. We explore the role of social protection, with an emphasis on social assistance policies and programs, in addressing increasing poverty, food insecurity, unpaid care work, and gender-based violence—all exacerbated by the onset of the crisis and associated containment measures. We document these trends and how they disproportionately impact women and girls, as well as the extent to which governments and donors are integrating a gender lens into their social protection efforts and make recommendations to ensure that future efforts effectively reach and benefit women and girls.
Topic:
Women, Inequality, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Gender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

79. How Do Development Agencies Support Climate Action?

Author:
Rachael Calleja
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
This paper explores how development agencies are integrating climate action into development portfolios in response to calls to scale-up climate engagements in alignment with both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Using data compiled on all 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC), this paper maps and analyzes trends in both the scale and usage of official development assistance allocated to support climate activities and the tools and approaches used to integrate climate across development activities. This paper shows that while climate has become a key priority for development agencies, there remains scope for deepening integration by improving monitoring and reporting of climate and development results, integrating climate considerations across the life cycle of projects, and searching for complementarities across agencies.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

80. Gender Gaps in Education: The Long View

Author:
David Evans, Maryam Akmal, and Pamela Jakiela
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
Many countries remain far from achieving gender equality in the classroom. Using data from 126 countries between 1960 and 2010, we document four facts. First, women are more educated today than fifty years ago in every country in the world. Second, they remain less educated than men in the vast majority of countries. Third, in many countries with low levels of education for both men and women in 1960, gender gaps widened as more boys went to school, then narrowed as girls enrolled; thus, gender gaps got worse before they got better. Fourth, gender gaps rarely persist in countries where boys are attaining high levels of education. Most countries with large, current gender gaps have low levels of male educational attainment. Many also perform poorly on other measures of development such as life expectancy and GDP per capita. Improving girls’ education is an important goal in its own right, but closing gender gaps in education will not be sufficient to close critical gaps in adult life outcomes.
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Inequality, Feminism, and Equality
Political Geography:
Global Focus