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Now that inequality has become one of the key SDG issues, all those who have advocated for its inclusion should take note of the drawbacks of this victory.

The Sahel has become an economic, social and political breeding ground for violence but donor spending does not seem to address the region’s main challenges.

The new EU migration trust fund’s use of development aid and its focus on ‘migration management’ securitizes both development and migration policy and will end up serving neither.

As one of the emerging BRICS economies, India’s high economic growth is related to its foreign activity, including in Africa. Yet, despite its high domestic poverty and being a recipient of development aid itself, India also provides aid to Bhutan…

Agriculture uses large amounts of water and energy to produce food. Sustainable food production requires greater attention to the interrelated nature of our global resource system. In support of food security and sustainable agriculture, the Food…

The launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) marks the introduction of sustainability as an overarching concept for international development by integrating economic, social and environmental concerns at the international policy level. Y…

Another Perspective is The Broker’s new blog. The title reflects The Broker’s ambition to look at globalization issues in different ways. Through this blog, we also keep our followers up to date on matters that concern us.

Another Perspective is The Broker’s new blog. The title reflects The Broker’s ambition to look at globalization issues in different ways. Through this blog, we also keep our followers up to date on matters that concern us. The first blogpost will…

Although 90% of businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa’s markets are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), they do not play a significant role in current GDP growth. However, SMEs can lead a much-needed economic diversification, explore new sectors and b…

In July 2014, the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development proposed a universal set of post-2015 goals and targets to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The draft consists of 17 ambitious goals for social, economic and enviro…

The recently launched Millennium Development Goals Report gives reason for optimism about achievement of the first goal: reduce extreme poverty by half. However, the figures do not display the little progress made for the poorest of the poor,…

The long wait is over. During the 13th and final session of the Open Working Group (OWG) on sustainable development goals (SDGs), held from 14 to 19 July, the 69 member countries agreed on a set of 17 SDGs and 169 associated targets. These should…

Income inequality features prominently in the debate on the design of the post-2015 development agenda. Yet, so far, states have confined themselves to window-dressing, failing to come up with far-reaching proposals to deal with the issue.

The African Studies Centre (ASC), the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS/EUR) and globalization think tank The Broker are excited to announce that they will be hosting the Secretariat fo…

Should we invest in understanding and managing threats and opportunities beforehand or simply respond to shocks resulting from unmanaged risks afterwards? To me, and luckily many others working in development, this is a rhetorical question. 

After far-reaching cutbacks and a major shift in the mandate in favour of the Netherlands’ economic interests, Dutch development aid seems to be on its last legs. The relief troops have lost their way and are unable to mount a forceful counter-att…

The predictions in  Seth Kaplan’s analysis  that business will continue as usual appears too negative and one-sided. The New Deal provides a useful framework to better negotiate relations between unequal partners. 

Non-state governance: “We need to go back to a more fundamental question: should we be there in the first place?”

Against the background of growing international attention for ownership of development processes at local level, the discussion about non-state governance in fragile settings is extremely timely. Despite general acknowledgement of the importance o…

If we want the new global development agenda to be manageable, it is perhaps better to design a small set of end goals similar to the original MDGs, instead of a new wish list.

If there is one thing that must be done, then that is to cancel the public debts of developing countries.

In the last week of September, world leaders gathered in New York for the general debate marking the opening of the 68th UN General Assembly (GA). This was an important moment for the post-2015 process, as several events were organized on the glob…

In spite of the ongoing euro crisis, which does not leave much space for an ambitious global agenda, the EU remains a major global development actor.

Global goals need global policies. Governments have more to win than lose if they join forces and agree upon a single post-2015 agenda.

Donors are estimated to receive a return from development aid of 50–80%. To understand the financial effects of aid on donor countries, we need a new economic model.

We have never before been in a situation where developments are occurring so fast and can be so disruptive.

Criticism of East Asia’s alleged self-interest-led development aid can also be applied to Western donors.

African countries need to bring their own social, economic, cultural and political priorities into the post-2015 debate.

This infographic outlines the process of defining the EU position on the post-2015 development agenda. The original version of this infographic with special focus on the involvement of the Netherlands, as published by OneWorld (NCDO), can be…

Farmers’ organizations spur specialization, increasing employment and income.

As a result of increasing complexity and absence of strong leadership it has become difficult for policy makers to ensure accountability in the aid chain. This has resulted in the popularization of Results Based Management (RBM). Instigated by the…

Norway’s recent international cooperation white paper, Sharing for Prosperity, seems stubbornly non-conformist. For it recommits Norway to some fundamental, if today unfashionable, purposes: for low-income lands, pursuit of growth-with-r…

In its post-2015 dossier, The Broker guides you through the many discussions about development after the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire in 2015. The aim of the post-2015 dossier is to provide an overview of the debate, t…

A large number of reports and papers have been published as part of the discussions on the post-2015 development framework. In this table we present an overview of the most significant publications, with links to the full texts. They were written…

The discussions about a new global development agenda to supersede the MDGs will reach a climax in the coming months. The Broker invites you to join in the conversation.

For a national policy maker it is possible to think about raising the income levels of the bottom 10% or 20% toward the middle of the distribution. The poorest can be brought nearer the poverty line through measures like cash transfers.

Public private partnerships (PPPs) have become important means to pursue complex development goals, such as sustainability and food security. Recent examples include the German Initiative for Agribusiness and Food Security (GIAF) and the…

Economics follows politics, not the other way around. Until we have a genuine political commitment to resolve global inequality, we will not get the economics we need. 

For purposes of setting post-2015 goals for development, inequalities should not only involve income and wealth, but also the power to decide on the uses to which resources are, or are not, put.

Inequalities within countries are largely ignored in the UN climate negotiations. This must change, but the global poor should be spared.

In the international post-2015 discussion, inequality remains a sensitive issue. However, it should be addressed as a political issue that requires strong political will to tackle it.

Setting achievable and sustainable sanitation goals and solutions must have top priority in formulating the post-2015 development agenda.

It is a big mistake to separate analyses of growth and income distribution. A rising tide is critical to lifting all boats. 

UNESCO can play a vital role in guaranteeing a focus on sustainability and interrelated water challenges in the formulation of the post-2015 development agenda. 

The economic crisis is being handled in a way that benefits a small and wealthy group of technocratic European politicians, investors and entrepreneurs. It therefore appears to serve as an instrument to cut down on democracy and to increase inequa…

Well-designed transformative social policy in developing countries is particularly needed since it increases individual and social capability to take advantage of initial conditions for catching-up and is one of the most effective measures to stre…

Tackling inequality in Uganda entails a comprehensive development framework that puts people’s participation in the economic growth process at the centre. People must be viewed as agents of economic growth and transformation and not passive recipi…

On 31 January, as a follow-up to the Inequality Dossier and the subsequent online inequality debate, the Broker organized its first The Broker Day. A room full of experts discussed the policy steps that the international community – and the Nether…

Investing in the domestic agricultural and food sector automatically means investing in domestic entrepreneurship, in the development of local SMEs and in strengthening national economic and innovative capacities.

With only two years to go, the debates on the successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are intensifying. Two candidates are running up to the end of the MDG term in 2015: the Post-2015 development agenda (derived from the MDGs) and the…

The specification of a new international income inequality goal will certainly be difficult. However, if rich-country fears of “the rise of the rest” can be replaced with a common commitment to a new economic and ecological convergence, global equ…

There is an inevitable trade-off between global growth and climate change. Unless there is a direct causal link from faster economic growth to the development of carbon-reducing technologies, and this is strong enough to reduce the carbon intensit…

There are two critical issues in this inequality debate: there is no global benchmark for inequality and no global goals in absolute terms; and the instruments for tackling inequality lie outside traditional aid intervention models.

The focus of the inequality debate seems to be more and more on economic growth without acknowledging that human development is a prerequisite for poverty reduction. Also, human development is a basic human right.

In the on-going discussion on inequality, “new” seems to be the magic word. Unfortunately we still have the old problem, being that 1,3 billion people have to live on less than a dollar a day.

Over the years the sharp division between developed and developing countries has faded. The economic rise of countries such as Brazil, India and China create a serious need to evaluate and redefine EU development policy. Budget support has seemed…

I recently chaired a forum that discussed whether a new paradigm has emerged in the field of development cooperation, and if so, what does it consist of? A great deal of time at these kinds of debates is spent exploring definitions and their usefu…

Focus is een centraal woord in het vocabulaire van staatssecretaris voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking Ben Knapen. En terecht: een relatief kleine speler op het wereldtoneel als Nederland is, moet het zich concentreren op een beperkt aantal geografisc…

De staatssecretaris wil vijf kennisplatforms oprichten. Wie moeten daar in zitten? Hoe worden de onderzoeksvragen bepaald? Zullen zuidelijke deelnemers sterk genoeg zijn tegenover Nederlandse institutionele of economische belangen? Het antwoord op…

The Busan Summit (29. November to 1. December), which was nearly shipwrecked by China’s interim refusal to sign the final declaration, had to resolve a basic dilemma.

We’ll start with a close-up of a woman on her knees. She seems to be scrubbing some tiles. We track back and see that in fact she’s scrubbing the tyre tracks off a forecourt.

There is currently too little understanding of how context matters for development effectiveness.

In the framework of the Bellagio Initiative, The Broker hosted a lively online debate on human wellbeing and inclusive economics in the 21st century. Our contributors agree that economic growth as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) generally…

Dit is de blog over het voorgenomen kennisbeleid van BuZa. Laat je mening horen!

The European Union has the opportunity to establish itself as a leader in the new, global development landscape. But to do so, its member states must agree on a distinct policy framework that addresses the need to provide global public goods.

The IOB (de Inspectie Ontwikkelingssamenwerking en Beleidsevaluatie) convened a meeting on the Evaluation of the Paris Declaration on September 5th 2011 at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague.

Claudio Shuftan argues that development professionals need to become more aware of where philanthropic stakeholders are coming from and why.

How can the development agenda be expanded to be more effective and is Busan the right place to do it?International aid as we know it has been evolving for sixty years now. Until recently, effective aid was seen as an effort to reduce poverty and…

The 4th High Level Forum on aid effectiveness takes place in Busan, Korea in November. What is the meeting about and how did we get here?

New development models and even economic theories are redundant, argues Wieck Wildeboer: "As a donor community, we may practice some modesty". 

The Broker, in cooperation with the OECD, invites you to contribute to this blog about the challenges of the coming HLF on aid effectivess at Busan. 

Presumably few Europeans would oppose one percent of their water bill going to international solidarity projects to help people who don’t yet have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. And as the Swedish proverb says, many little streams m…

Some weeks ago the European Commission published its initial views on the strategy towards the Rio+20 Summit. The communication has to fuel dialogues ahead of a final EU Rio+20 Strategy later this year. Although the communication, titled ‘Rio+20:…

The ACP Group needs to strengthen itself politically while the EU must be prepared to renew its partnership with ACP countries on equal terms.

Globalization has blurred the distinction between internal and external affairs. This is equally true for both developing countries and richer countries. Moreover, it could result in a profound reshuffling of administrative power relations within…