At the blog of the American Evaluation Association, AEA 365, evaluation consultant Sylva Ferretti has contributed a two-part reflection on working with AI in evaluation, particularly ChatGPT. Overall, she finds this AI tool to be useful, additive, and even progressive in her practice in the field of international development and humanitarian assistance. ChatGPT is, especially, able…(Read more)
Tag: development
In 2022, green lending exceeded debt financing for the fossil fuel industry
“For the first time, more money was raised in the debt markets for climate-friendly projects than for fossil-fuel companies,” writes Bloomberg’s Tim Quinson. Data compiled by Bloomberg show that, in 2022, “roughly $580 billion was arranged in 2022 for renewable energy and other environmentally responsible ventures, while the oil, gas and coal industries turned to…(Read more)
Melinda French Gates says Women’s Economic Progress has Stalled
In conjunction with the Gates Foundation’s September 2022 SDG Goalkeepers Report, Melinda French Gates says that women’s economic progress has stalled—and not only because of the pandemic. “Over the years”, she writes, “efforts (including our foundation’s) to close this gap have centered around “women’s economic empowerment,” a shorthand for providing women with jobs or cash.…(Read more)
She Disrupts: Mentoring Women Social Entrepreneurs in Vietnam
In 2021, Creatella Impact and Women’s Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship (WISE) implemented a women’s economic empowerment program in Vietnam that provided mentoring and coaching to accelerate the success of women-oriented social-business startups in Vietnam. The program was supported by Investing in Women (an initiative of the Australian Government), Global Affairs Canada and the GSRD…(Read more)
CAFIID releases 2021 State of Sector Report
On December 1, 2021, the Canada Forum on Impact Investment and Development (CAFIID) launched its 2021 State of the Sector Report. Among other findings, the report found that Canadian impact investment assets in developing and emerging economies total $3.5 billion, a significant increase over the past three years. The report also examined diversity in the sector,…(Read more)
Gender Lens Investing and Green Financing in Small Island Developing States
Kizzann Sammy, Senior Associate with Jackson and Associates and Principal of Kochi Consulting, was recently invited to present a paper to the UN Women Expert Group Meeting on the theme of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and…(Read more)
Decoloniality and the New Ethics of Climate and Nature
In a guest blog for the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Jess Auerbach, an anthropology professor at North-West University in South Africa, argues that a new approach for researching and acting on climate change is essential – one that is open to and draws on new sources and forms of non-Western knowledge. She challenges her…(Read more)
Two Pandemics: The True Costs of Covid in the Global South
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s long-read article in The Guardian examines the nature and costs of the pandemic in the Global South. Citing recent research, he notes that that “the direct health impact of Covid in these relatively youthful countries was less than in richer (and, invariably, older) countries, but that economic vulnerability was decidedly greater. Households…(Read more)
How Social Enterprises and Impact Investing Can Transform the Care Economy
Writing in The Next Billion, Carolina Robino and colleagues argue that social enterprises and impact investing can generate solutions to the crisis in care, a crucial area as the pandemic continues to undermine communities and economies. The authors also announce a new action research program of Canada’s International Development Research Centre and the Soros Economic…(Read more)
CDC Group Releases New Study on Investment and Poverty Reduction
The CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, has released a new report examining the relationship between investment and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Authored by Gregory Thwaites and Paddy Carter, and employing a series of statistical regressions, the study “shows that higher rates of private investment are associated with faster poverty…(Read more)