For any policy priority, a given level of resources will only have its maximum impact when there is information about the effectiveness of alternative uses for those resources. Yet in the case of aid spending there is remarkably little good evidence on the relative effectiveness of alternative ways to spend aid. Figuring out what is the most effective way to reduce poverty is not as simple as it might appear. Consider the following example: A new headmaster arrives at a school full of enthusiasm more...

Vaccines are among the world’s most effective health interventions. Three million lives are saved each year by a standard package of cheap, off-patent vaccines which reaches three-quarters of the world’s children. Coverage is considerably lower for newer vaccines. However, despite recent scientific advances which have increased the feasibility of developing malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS vaccines, global R&D on these vaccines is woefully inadequate. Funds for global public and non-profit ma more...

Global public goods have benefits which go beyond the person or country that paid for them. For example, if a country invests in R&D for new scientific discoveries in health or agriculture, the benefits will be available to everyone, not just the country that paid for it. This characteristic of public goods means that there will usually be too little investment in them. A wide range of global public goods - from health R&D to preventing climate change - suffer from lack of investment. Wealthy co more...

This task force’s vision is to encourage global aid policies that are more effective at improving the lives of the poor and address disillusionment about what aid can achieve. How does it work?
The task force aims to agree to a set of broad principles that can be used to refocus aid and make it more effective and to shift the current debate from whether aid works to how it can be made to work better through discussions with the Young Global Leader (YGL) community, using both online debate more...

The UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN General Assembly will convene a High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals at UN Headquarters in New York on 25 September 2008. At the halfway point towards 2015, while significant progress has been made, accelerated efforts are needed by all stakeholders to meet the goals. The High-level Event will be a forum for world leaders to review progress, identify gaps, and commit to concrete plans and resources. By asking world leaders to a more...

UCLG Vice President Gerald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal requests Observer status for Local Governments at the UN during the meeting of the Development Cooperation Forum. A UCLG delegation, including representatives of the City of Lyon and of the region of Catalonia accompanied by the Secretary General of UCLG participated in this meeting pleading for a greater role of local authorities in the definition of AID policies as well as in the review of the AID Effectiveness Agenda.

At the Forum of Local and Regional Authorities of the Mediterranean June 22-3, 2008 participants adopted a final declaration inviting States to fulfil their commitments and to step up the amount of public aid in the Mediterranean. Moreover, it urges States to work together with local and regional authorities to afford this partnership greater effectiveness in the regions as well as greater proximity vis-à-vis the population. The Committee of the Regions was also invited to confer to attain a fo more...