800 million people went to bed hungry last night and 19,000 children will die today of easily preventable causes. Foreign aid alone isn’t the answer says David Hulme and the fixation with it means we miss more effective ways to promote development. Over the last few years, UK aid has acted as a lightning rod […]
What are digital dividends and are they just for the wealthy?
Digital technologies have seen rapid uptake, across most of our world. So are developing countries seeing the benefits? If not, why not? The World Bank recently published its World Development Report 2016 Digital Dividends. Richard Heeks considers whether this major report accurately reflects the digital revolution and its impact on global development. Some years back, when […]
The SDGs mark the end of development as poverty reduction
In the final part of our series on the Sustainable Development Goals which have just been agreed in New York, David Hulme analyses what it all means…. The UN has been setting goals to combat poverty for the last 50 or 60 years, but this gathered pace since 1990, following the end of the Cold […]
If we don’t get a strong climate deal, the Sustainable Development Goals are doomed
With the Sustainable Development Goals Conference starting in New York on Friday, David Hulme continues our series … The imminent announcement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is generating real debate amongst researchers, NGOs and academics about their level of ambition and the likelihood of success. Will they be business as usual for the […]
Universal access to sanitation requires a revolution in understanding
In the latest in our series on the negotiations in New York over Sustainable Development Goals, Diana Mitlin says that sanitation should be a priority. Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) makes a clear commitment to universal access to sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This wording may have […]
Business as usual on migration and climate change will not produce sustainable development
Professor Uma Kothari explores what may happen with development and migration as climate change begins to have an impact. The impacts of climate change are likely to be severe. Extreme weather events, heat stress, rising sea levels, infections and disease are just some potential results, which will hit poor and vulnerable populations in developing countries […]
Forget the aid obsession: development needs redistribution through fiscal policy
In the second of our series on the United Nations negotiations over Sustainable Development Goals, to be held in New York later this month, Armando Barrientos says new thinking is required. Perhaps the greatest failing of the Millennium Development Goals was their focus on aid as the main financing tool for development. This ‘cosmopolitan’ perspective has […]
Are the Sustainable Development Goals the world’s biggest promise…. or the world’s biggest lie?
In New York the finishing touches are being made to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are due to replace the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Here David Hulme explores what they might mean. With 17 goals, 167 targets and perhaps more than 1,000 indicators those finishing touches remain a large task. The idea behind […]
How radical are the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals?
In September this year the United Nations will formally adopt a set of targets for global development to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Carl Death examines the proposals to assess their potential. The post-2015 goals – which will be called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – are likely to define the global development landscape for […]
Development in 2015
As we enter 2015, Professor David Hulme looks ahead to the next twelve months in international development as the Millennium Development Goals come to an end and plans take shape for the next phase. This year, 2015, will be an important year for ideas and policies about international development. It marks the completion of the […]