Cooperatives are being used as an alternative to the usual corporate hierarchical business model. These are businesses created by people uniting voluntarily in a democratic manner, aiming to improve their economic and social needs.
Economists recognize the crucial role they play in improving Spain’s economic struggle. The largest worker cooperative in the world, Mondragon Corporation based in the Basque region of Spain, best exemplifies this claim. Once known as one of the poorest regions in Spain, the Basque region is now the richest, prospering due to a strong sense of self-determination, grassroots participation and non-governmental intervention.
In the 1940s, the young priest Don Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta made it a goal to reduce the poverty rate at the time. The repressive policies of Franco’s regime were leading to economic restraints causing more Spaniards to emigrate from the country. Arizmendiarrieta wanted to counteract this by creating humanistic cooperative businesses that looked out for workers’ needs. Arizmendiarrieta and others created a technical school. He then established a cooperative bank, the Caja Laboral, leading to the first industrial cooperative in 1956.
Today, Mondragon is one of the most successful Spanish firms with global sales of $15 billion, employing close to 75,000 individuals in a total of 260 cooperatives. The people of Basque no longer experience the poverty they once did, “In Mondragon, I saw no poverty, I saw no signs of extreme wealth, I saw people looking out for each other,” said Sociology Professor Barbara J. Peters. “It is a caring form of capitalism.”
The Mondragon cooperatives are based on 10 principles: democratic organization, open admission, subordinate and instrumental nature of capital, value and importance of labor, participation in management decisions, fair payment, social transformation, cooperation, education and the university.
Workers in Mondragon have full control over their firm. Once a year members of each cooperative meet in a general assembly and elect who they want in charge; this board of directors is chosen to lead the cooperative in making important decisions and deciding the company’s strategy.
Moreover, the cooperatives are not accountable to shareholder’s needs; outsiders cannot buy any control, which allows management to invest solely on their cooperative with the long-term interest of the community in mind. Instead, the workers of Mondragon receive a share of the annual profits or losses based on a formula that tries to reflect the relative productive contribution of each worker.
Using this formula, most of the profits are reinvested, in turn creating new cooperatives and jobs as well as spurring the long-continued growth of Mondragon. Funds are also put aside for social welfare, providing care for retirement, widowhood and disability. Additionally, top CEOs at Mondragon are not earning exceptionally more than starting employees, somewhere between three to nine times more, which is significantly lower than most corporations.
Due to Mondragon’s investment methods, they barely felt the loss of the 2008 recession, which deepened Spain’s economic struggle. Not a single employee was fired, remaining steady at around 84,000 worldwide, one-sixth of them Spaniards. Instead of firing workers, their employees’ average salaries dropped by around 5%, and those who were left without work found jobs at another co-op; all the co-ops back each other up, making sure they prioritize their profits, investing in the co-ops which are economically declining.
Since 1990, Mondragon has expanded its businesses to international markets. Today, they have 125 different businesses in different countries; however, these businesses are not all cooperatives. In 2006, Mondragon began working with Mexico, Brazil and Poland to educate trade unions on how to properly run a co-op.
The 2008 economic recession set the project back. Nevertheless, in 2009 Mondragon partnered with the United Steel Workers (USW) to lay the groundwork for the formation of Mondragon Union Cooperatives in the U.S.
– Marcelo Guadiana
Photo: Flickr
What is Food Aid Reform?
In February 2015, the Food for Peace Reform Act was reintroduced and pitched as something that could “free up as much as $440 million annually” by making the delivery of aid to foreign nations much more efficient. While this is impressive and exciting news, it prompted many to ask the question: “What is food aid reform?”
To answer this question, it’s important to first understand the way U.S. food aid functions. Following World War II, the U.S. launched a food aid program intended to combat world hunger by taking any surplus in U.S. grain and shipping it overseas.
This program had very good intentions, and it has made an incredible impact for many people living in areas rife with humanitarian or natural crises. However, many agree that it is now time for this program to be modernized.
One of the main problems with the current food aid program is that the current law requires the government to purchase its donated food from American producers and ship food aid out on American ships. This law prevents food aid programs from cutting out the middlemen and simply purchasing food from the regions that it would be delivered to.
In the vast majority of cases, that means that the country receiving aid is given less food. Not only is this hitch in the food aid program bad for the people receiving aid, but it also adds an unnecessary extra cost to the program. A study done in 2009 by the Government Accountability Office discovered that it costs 34 percent less to buy food in Sub-Saharan Africa than to have it shipped there.
Additionally, an estimate given by the U.S. Agency for International Development states that purchasing food within the region could provide starving populations with food 11 to 14 weeks sooner than they would otherwise receive it.
So, what is food aid reform? Food aid reform is an initiative to fix some of the most pertinent problems regarding how U.S. foreign aid functions. By changing some of the laws that hinder food aid reform, this program can become timelier, more efficient and more beneficial to those who depend on it.
– Jordan Little
Photo: Flickr
Society’s Slow Progression Toward Prison Reform
The $212 billion criminal justice system in the U.S. has long been controversial, and prison reform has recently gained the attention of more mainstream media sources.
After expanding 700 percent since the 1970s, the prison population is now 2.4 million people, more than the 1.9 million seniors graduating with a bachelor’s degree in the 2016-17 school year.
According to the National Institute of Justice, about 76.6 percent of prisoners return to prison after five years of release. Because of a number of factors, from limited employment options to restricted social benefits, the formerly incarcerated are greatly disadvantaged after reentering society. As a result, many have entered poverty, while most have returned to prison.
Continued exposure of justice system flaws and advocacy for prison reform has given rise to many inspirational organizations and breakthrough successes. Among these organizations are the Bard Prison Initiative, Dave’s Killer Bread and Defy Ventures.
The Bard Prison Initiative sends professors from Bard College to teach courses to incarcerated individuals. Through this approach of educating people out of crime and poverty, Bard has reduced the recidivism rate of its participants to two percent. The organization’s major breakthrough into the national spotlight was when it sent students to debate and later win against Harvard students.
Dave’s Killer Bread is a baking company founded by Dave Dahl, a formerly incarcerated individual. After leaving prison, he founded the company, soon experiencing wild success thanks to his great product and generosity. Part of the business model is employing formerly incarcerated individuals. In 2012, the company generated $53 million in revenue and employed 300 people.
Defy Ventures seeks to revitalize the lives of formerly incarcerated individuals and tap into their potential business skills. The organization works with individuals lost in the criminal justice system and helps make their entrepreneurial ideas into reality, giving them the practical knowledge, emotional support and funding to do so.
Defy Ventures’ most notable start-up is ConBody, founded by Coss Marte. After losing 70 pounds and four years of his life in prison, Marte started the “prison-style boot camp” that employs many of the exercises that prisoners do without access to a proper gym. Today, ConBody brings in 300 to 400 clients a week, while Marte has employed a few other formerly incarcerated individuals to be trainers.
As well as making societal changes to keep people out of prison in the first place, more changes must be considered to keep those who were previously incarcerated out of poverty.
Some business leaders are beginning to realize the untapped potential of the 2.4 million individuals in prison, and that many who once succeeded in crime could better use their skills in entrepreneurship. Some business leaders are beginning to change their policies to allow those with criminal histories to be hired.
Legislation could be introduced to provide education and therapy within the prisons. Without proper support and treatment, people will inevitably return to prison, as seen with current rates of recidivism.
Progress has been made in the past few years, but millions are still left behind bars for the rest of their lives, not because of a single sentence, but because the prison system does not support their abilities to re-enter society.
– Henry Gao
Photo: Flickr
Top Diseases in Ethiopia to Know About
Ethiopia is known as a historically prolific country that is endowed with abundant natural and agricultural resources. Yet, a list released by the U.N. detailing the least developed countries in the world declares Ethiopia as one of the poorest countries in the world.
Life expectancy in Ethiopia is estimated at 57 years for males and 60 years for females. These statistics indicate rudimentary health care infrastructure, but also lack of access to sanitation facilities, clean water and nutritious food. The list below explores the top diseases in Ethiopia that are a consequence of its geographical location, living standards and level of development.
Neglected tropical diseases can be defined as a class of transmissible diseases that exist predominantly in tropical regions. These diseases are associated with delayed physical and mental development and blindness. Due to the incapacitating effects of these diseases, the true economic potential of underdeveloped countries is not realized.
As a result of its proximity to the equator, Ethiopia bears the burden of neglected tropical diseases that include conditions such as trachoma and schistosomiasis. Trachoma is caused by a bacterial infection that primarily targets the eyes, causing irritation and in advanced stages, blindness. Schistosomiasis is a disease transmitted by parasites residing in freshwater snails. Its acute effects include itchiness of the skin or visible rashes.
A 2012 study published in Parasites and Vectors estimated that approximately 5 million individuals out of 94 million individuals in Ethiopia are afflicted by schistosomiasis. Ethiopia’s widespread prevalence of neglected tropical diseases has important implications as these conditions often cause disability and can, therefore, reduce the potential to work.
These diseases can be addressed by establishing local campaigns to distribute medicines, subsidies and donations by pharmaceutical companies and increasing awareness about the mechanisms of transmission.
Although malaria is a worldwide phenomenon, its effects are particularly felt in countries that are not equipped with appropriate health care and education services. An article published in the Malaria Journal stated that countries such as Ethiopia are particularly predisposed to malaria as a consequence of poor living conditions and remote sources of clean water.
It is estimated by the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health that each year, four to five million people in Ethiopia suffer from malaria, and even greater numbers are at risk. In order to address the vast numbers of malaria cases in Ethiopia, campaigns should be set up locally that provide clean water.
The local population should also be educated on ways to keep their households clean, and in particular, avoid stagnant water, which is a potent breeding ground for parasites and mosquitoes. A humanitarian organization called Nothing but Nets has initiated the anti-malaria revolution by distributing millions of mosquito nets to families all across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Statistics published by the World Health Organization postulate that 1.2 million people suffer from HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. In addition, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that HIV infection is the third most common cause of death in Ethiopia, contributing to 7% of total deaths in the country. AIDS is an important cause of concern due to its manifold mechanisms of transmission. Children may risk contracting the viral infection if their mothers had the virus at the time of childbirth.
AIDS prevention strategies should focus on raising awareness about the methods of transmission. Provisions should be made to subsidize preventive measures such as contraception and sterile needles.
To provide context to the devastating effects of this variant of diarrhea, Dr. Adamasu Kesetebirhan, Minister of Health in Ethiopia states that, “Diarrhea takes the lives of more than 38,500 Ethiopian children under five each year, rotavirus being responsible for close to two-thirds of the deaths.” The virus spreads rapidly among children and is especially pernicious because of its ease of transmission.
The rotavirus responsible for this type of diarrhea causes severe dehydration and fever. Currently, measures are being implemented throughout Ethiopia to distribute rotavirus vaccines in an attempt to reduce the prevalence of this condition.
Hepatitis, another viral infection, is especially common in Ethiopia. Its methods of transmission include consuming contaminated water, living in unclean environments and eating poorly cooked meat. A recent statistic concerning viral hepatitis suggests that approximately 10 million individuals in Ethiopia are affected by the disease. Considering that transmission is greatly contingent upon hygiene and safety, clean practices such as washing hands regularly and chemical purification of water should be encouraged.
The above list outlining the top diseases in Ethiopia emphasizes the need to transform healthcare infrastructure and services in the country. Financial and food aid may be required from foreign countries to support the country during its initial stages of trying to reduce the prevalence of top diseases in Ethiopia.
– Tanvi Ambulkar
Photo: Flickr
Mondragon Cooperatives: Improving Spain’s Economic Struggle
Cooperatives are being used as an alternative to the usual corporate hierarchical business model. These are businesses created by people uniting voluntarily in a democratic manner, aiming to improve their economic and social needs.
Economists recognize the crucial role they play in improving Spain’s economic struggle. The largest worker cooperative in the world, Mondragon Corporation based in the Basque region of Spain, best exemplifies this claim. Once known as one of the poorest regions in Spain, the Basque region is now the richest, prospering due to a strong sense of self-determination, grassroots participation and non-governmental intervention.
In the 1940s, the young priest Don Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta made it a goal to reduce the poverty rate at the time. The repressive policies of Franco’s regime were leading to economic restraints causing more Spaniards to emigrate from the country. Arizmendiarrieta wanted to counteract this by creating humanistic cooperative businesses that looked out for workers’ needs. Arizmendiarrieta and others created a technical school. He then established a cooperative bank, the Caja Laboral, leading to the first industrial cooperative in 1956.
Today, Mondragon is one of the most successful Spanish firms with global sales of $15 billion, employing close to 75,000 individuals in a total of 260 cooperatives. The people of Basque no longer experience the poverty they once did, “In Mondragon, I saw no poverty, I saw no signs of extreme wealth, I saw people looking out for each other,” said Sociology Professor Barbara J. Peters. “It is a caring form of capitalism.”
The Mondragon cooperatives are based on 10 principles: democratic organization, open admission, subordinate and instrumental nature of capital, value and importance of labor, participation in management decisions, fair payment, social transformation, cooperation, education and the university.
Workers in Mondragon have full control over their firm. Once a year members of each cooperative meet in a general assembly and elect who they want in charge; this board of directors is chosen to lead the cooperative in making important decisions and deciding the company’s strategy.
Moreover, the cooperatives are not accountable to shareholder’s needs; outsiders cannot buy any control, which allows management to invest solely on their cooperative with the long-term interest of the community in mind. Instead, the workers of Mondragon receive a share of the annual profits or losses based on a formula that tries to reflect the relative productive contribution of each worker.
Using this formula, most of the profits are reinvested, in turn creating new cooperatives and jobs as well as spurring the long-continued growth of Mondragon. Funds are also put aside for social welfare, providing care for retirement, widowhood and disability. Additionally, top CEOs at Mondragon are not earning exceptionally more than starting employees, somewhere between three to nine times more, which is significantly lower than most corporations.
Due to Mondragon’s investment methods, they barely felt the loss of the 2008 recession, which deepened Spain’s economic struggle. Not a single employee was fired, remaining steady at around 84,000 worldwide, one-sixth of them Spaniards. Instead of firing workers, their employees’ average salaries dropped by around 5%, and those who were left without work found jobs at another co-op; all the co-ops back each other up, making sure they prioritize their profits, investing in the co-ops which are economically declining.
Since 1990, Mondragon has expanded its businesses to international markets. Today, they have 125 different businesses in different countries; however, these businesses are not all cooperatives. In 2006, Mondragon began working with Mexico, Brazil and Poland to educate trade unions on how to properly run a co-op.
The 2008 economic recession set the project back. Nevertheless, in 2009 Mondragon partnered with the United Steel Workers (USW) to lay the groundwork for the formation of Mondragon Union Cooperatives in the U.S.
– Marcelo Guadiana
Photo: Flickr
Family Planning Initiatives in Malawi Help to Stop Population Growth
Malawi is a small, landlocked country, in southeastern Africa, with a population that is expected to triple in the next 30 years. This reality, along with the fact that it remains one of the poorest countries in the world, has led Malawi’s political leaders and health care industry to dedicate time and money into implementing comprehensive access to family planning services (FP). Family planning is defined as a deliberate use of contraceptive methods by a couple in order to limit or space out the number of children that they have.
Through increased service delivery resources, political commitment, improved financial means and communication with receptive communities, Malawians now have more acceptable and affordable options regarding FP services than they did several years ago. The 2015-2016 Demographic and Health Survey reported that 59% of married women were using modern methods of contraception. This compares to only 28% in 2004.
Recognizing that the demand for FP was growing consistently, political commitment to stopping population growth began to reflect in core national policies in the mid-2000’s. The National Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy of 2009 provided a framework for the delivery of all-inclusive services and encouraged access to information and improved quality of care.
The government of Malawi also recognizes that improvements in sexual and reproductive health correlate directly to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Three areas, in particular, relate: the improvement of maternal health, promotion of women’s empowerment and reduction of child mortality.
In regards to finances, multiple international organizations have contributed heavily to the development of FP services. Financial resources have been put directly into two programs. The first with a goal of establishing and making accessible an Essential Health Package, which includes FP, available for free to all Malawians. The second is working to implement an Emergency Human Resources Program, which focuses on training and deploying certified health professionals.
With the help of these programs, the total health provider density in Malawi increased significantly from 2004 to 2009. Those advocating for FP in Malawi recognize that with most Malawian’s living in rural areas, it is important to bring services and information directly to the people. Awareness of this need is what has allowed for the success of FP in the country.
A culture of acceptance when it comes to the use of modern contraceptives has been indoctrinated in Malawi at a community level. The government of Malawi has made a concentrated effort to emphasize the benefits of FP. Not only does access to FP services increase a woman’s health and economic opportunities, it also goes hand in hand with preventing unplanned births and unsafe abortions, both of which are a common occurrence throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
The efforts of Malawi’s Government have allowed for substantial strides in family planning. In the past several decades, their commitment has helped tremendously to normalize the use of modern contraceptives and for equitable access to sexual and reproductive health services across the country.
– Peyton Jacobsen
Photo: Flickr
Five Things to Know About Poverty in Fiji
Fiji is a widely visited holiday destination. The country is well-known for being home to some of the happiest people on earth. However, for decades Fiji has been suffering from the issue of growing poverty and inequality. Here are five facts about poverty in Fiji.
Despite the apparent rate of poverty in Fiji, many politicians and diplomats in Fiji deny the problem and downplay its importance.
– Marcelo Guadiana
Photo: Flickr
The Curse of Oil and its Effects on Poverty in Equatorial Guinea
The discovery of crude oil in the Gulf of Guinea during the mid-1990s resulted in drastic increases in government revenue in Equatorial Guinea. Although the country is one of the wealthiest in Sub-Saharan Africa, two-thirds of citizens live on less than $1 per day, making the rate of poverty in Equatorial Guinea quite high.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is the longest to hold executive office in Africa since taking leadership after a military coup in 1979. Since then, Equatorial Guinea gained the status of the continent’s sixth-largest producer of oil. The country is home to Africa’s highest GDP per capita, while its 2014 rank on the U.N.’s Human Development Index landed at 144 out of 187 states.
Effects of government corruption extend far beyond the economic sector and continue to negatively impact education, child and infant mortality rates as well as access to sanitation. The Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) reports that only 41% of individuals in the most populated areas have access to clean drinking water. The CESR also notes that Equatorial Guinea has the third-highest number of deaths of children under 1 year of age in Sub-Saharan Africa. The rate of children in Equatorial Guinea to finish primary school is under 60%, while the rate of boys enrolled in secondary school is double that of girls, according to CESR findings.
Equatorial Guinea’s per capita income of $26,000 along with 76.8% of the country in poverty is exemplary of institutional inequalities that foster conditions for extreme poverty. High corruption, lack of natural resource revenue and support of regimes are vital contributors to poverty in Equatorial Guinea.
U.S. shift in energy policy during 2001 to focus on attaining oil from African countries without foresight for the future of local societies has been key in fostering the continuation of poverty.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, condemned former Vice President Cheney’s energy plans due to the lack of attention paid to the strategy’s impact on developing nations. The report specifies the potential of U.S. utilization of West African oil as the region was “expected to be one of the fastest-growing sources of oil and gas for the American market.” The Cheney Report’s main aim was to eliminate hurdles to increase the attainment of foreign oil by the U.S., should they regard legal, economic, political or logistical obstacles.
In a study conducted by Elise Aiken, one-third of the planet’s civil wars are happening in countries where oil production dominates. Aiken attributes this to three main factors: “economic instability caused by fluctuating oil prices, support of insurgencies through black market sales or extortion and encouragement of separatism because of wealth imbalance.” She also notes that oil-rich countries are not guaranteed to have outbreaks of conflict and those governments that “limit corruption and put their windfalls to good use rarely face unrest.” African communities are more likely to face strife when oil production is prominent due to scarce educational backgrounds, unstable economies and in areas with minimal law enforcement and high corruption.
A report by Global Witness attributes the “curse of oil” to a lack of transparency of governments to enclose the amount of revenue from oil production. The report also recommends that the catalytic shift in increasing transparency would come from the implementation of U.S. legislation to enact corporate requirements to enclose revenue reports.
Tutu Alicante, native to the island of Annobon in Equatorial Guinea, is the founder of the first human rights advocacy and capacity-building initiative focused solely on the country called EG Justice. Alicante became passionate about taking action when the military came to his village on orders to eliminate young men in opposition to the regime.
The insurgents were arrested, tortured and publicly executed before the military burned down Alicante’s family home. Five months later, he went to the U.S. with a mission to end the violence through his education. After earning a J.D. from the University of Tennessee and an LLM from Columbia University Law School he now works to increase the transparency of income from natural resources and is a legal adviser for human rights organizations worldwide.
Strides made by activists like Alicante to secure human rights, while promoting natural resource revenue reform is vital to altering the infrastructure that fosters corruption and relieving extreme poverty in Equatorial Guinea.
– Amber Bailey
Photo: Flickr
What is the Digital GAP Act?
While the developed world sends emails to colleagues, updates friends on Facebook and conducts research using online databases, the 4.2 billion who lack access to the internet linger behind on economic, health and education development. The 60% of the population currently offline is predominantly low-income, rural, female, elderly and illiterate, according to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Seventy-five percent of the 4.2 billion are condensed into only 20 countries.
Rep. Ed Royce, R-CA, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, authored the Digital Global Access Policy Act, better known as the Digital GAP Act, to increase internet access in developing countries using a “build-once” policy. The Digital GAP Act would also require more transparency in the U.S. accomplished through projects to open more possibilities for private firms to invest in internet infrastructure to aid developing economies.
During a $100 million road construction project years ago, Liberian officials decided not to lay cables that would have added $1 million to the project’s cost. The lack of connectivity in Liberia and other developing countries has cost lives and economic growth. The build-once policy would help avoid the need to later add cables for internet connectivity for tens of millions of dollars.
However, history has shown a lack of internet connectivity has repercussions reaching far beyond development as the world suffers the impacts of crises longer and more deeply. In 2014, the outbreak of the Ebola virus infected more than 28,000 people in West Africa, killing more than 8,000. This was due in large part to the lack of reliable internet access that hindered coordination between community health centers.
Those treating Ebola patients did not send patient information to other health facilities at the click of a button, but instead physically transported the information. This was not only less efficient, but also exposed those outside of the quarantined red zones to the virus. Increased internet connectivity during the Ebola outbreak could have cut exposures, improved the tracking of the viruses’ spread and opened the possibility of international analysis anywhere with scanned and uploaded patient documents.
The world faces a similar struggle in containing the Zika virus. The current strategy involves notifying travelers where the virus is, but officials in many developing countries have no way of tracking the effect of the virus in their own communities. Containing the virus and notifying vulnerable populations could be as Recode writes, “as easy as the click of a mouse or a swipe of a mobile application.”
In addition to improving crisis response, the Digital GAP Act’s purpose is to aid developing countries in expanding economies, creating jobs, improving health and education, reducing poverty and gender inequality and promote good governance of a populace. The U.S. is to “promote first-time internet access to mobile or broadband internet for at least 1.5 billion people in developing countries by 2020 in both urban and rural areas,” the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote in an official press release.
The Digital GAP Act also stresses the importance of U.S. cybersecurity for the U.S. in its provisions. If passed, the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment’s title would change to include “Cyberspace.” The Department of State would be required to designate an Assistant Secretary for Technology, International Communications and Cyberspace to lead diplomatic cyberspace efforts, and the president would include information on internet access, cybersecurity policy and internet freedom in the next White House Cyberspace Strategy session.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would integrate efforts under the Digital GAP Act to increase internet access and the protection of private information. The Peace Corps Act would include an amendment that would allow the Peace Corps to develop volunteer positions for the purpose of increased internet connectivity. The president would share with Congress plans to promote U.S. partnerships to provide internet infrastructure for increased access in developing countries and direct the House in advocating for these efforts abroad.
The House of Representatives passed the Digital GAP Act and the Senate is expected to vote soon.
– Ashley Leon
Photo: Flickr
Masood Ahmed Named as the New CGD President
Representatives confirmed on Sept. 6, 2016, that Masood Ahmed would begin serving as the new Center for Global Development (CGD) president in early 2017. Current President Nancy Birdstall announced the end of her 15-year tenure with the organization last November. Now that the CGD has found an equally accomplished replacement, she is thrilled to welcome a leader of Ahmed’s caliber to the team.
The CGD works to change practice and policy in wealthy nations in a way that alleviates global poverty. Per the organization’s website, “We are a policy crucible where world-class scholars use independent, rigorous research to develop new knowledge and practical solutions.”
Because the organization has a proven track record of influencing developmental policy worldwide, finding a new CGD president with global reach was paramount. After conducting an intensive search, the selection committee chose Ahmed for his impressive record of service for the world’s poor.
Here are five facts about Masood Ahmed’s career that will position him for success as the new CGD president:
LSE is one of the world’s leading universities. Students and faculty alike regularly produce groundbreaking research in social sciences, economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, accounting and finance. The institution boasts a roster of top researchers and Nobel Prize winners. Ahmed excelled to such a degree that he took a position as lecturer at LSE after completing his postgraduate work.
In 1983, Ahmed began working with the World Bank, which provides low-interest loans to aid programs in developing nations. Over the course of his career with the organization, he carried out emergency response, water management, flood protection and hydropower projects in nations across the globe. He also led the HIPC Debt Initiative, which provided 36 developing nations with $76 billion in funding since its inception in 1996.
Most notable of all, perhaps, is Ahmed’s extensive work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The organization is a collaborative effort among 189 member countries. Like the World Bank, IMF focuses on poverty reduction by way of strategic funding and the creation of financial stability in developing nations.
Ahmed joined IMF in 2000 to serve as deputy director of the Strategy, Policy and Review Department. In that seat, which he held for three years, he oversaw the organization’s conditionality guidelines. In 2005, he played an instrumental role in redrafting those guidelines for the first time in 32 years. Such guidelines focus on internal evaluations of how funds are appropriated. These principles also set up safeguards that ensure all IMF funds are repaid once recipient nations reach financial stability.
Between 2003 and 2006, Ahmed served as director general for Policy and International Development of the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID). This branch of the British government is the driving force behind the United Kingdom’s global development efforts.
DFID directors are tasked with ensuring that the U.K. cooperates to the fullest extent with U.N. development goals, enhancing the efficacy of British foreign aid by increasing transparency and improving international development policy.
Ahmed’s current position, which he has held since November 2008, is IMF director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department. Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, said that Ahmed has been a “visionary leader” in overseeing operations in the region. He will vacate this post in 2017.
Over the course of a brilliant career, the new CGD president has helped create meaningful, sustainable change in the developing world by working with some of the most influential agencies on Earth. The upward mobility of his career is indicative of a mind people trust and a voice those working for the world’s poor want to hear.
“CGD occupies a prime position in the development, policy and research worlds; in my career these have also been my worlds,” Ahmed said. While serving as the new CGD president, Ahmed will flex strategic muscles built by a lifetime of outstanding global service.
– Madeline Distasio
Photo: Flickr
Malaria Box May Hold the Key to Defeating Malaria
In order to jump-start research on drug treatments, the Gates Foundation, the Medicines for Malaria Venture and GlaxoSmithKline put together a “Malaria Box” in 2012. The Malaria Box is a collection of 400 different compounds that are known to combat malaria in some way.
More specifically, 200 of the compounds are supposed to act like drugs and would directly be used in developing more effective oral drug treatment. The other 200 act more like biological probes that, if applied correctly in malaria research, could allow researchers to make important observations about the behavior of malaria.
Malaria is a widespread disease to which nearly half the world population is at risk. There were about 214 million cases in 2015, resulting in 438,000 deaths. Of this group, young children were particularly susceptible.
More effective drug treatments for malaria are imperative. Current treatments involve prescribing many drugs to be taken over a number of days. Sometimes patients are not able to receive the full treatment of drugs. Not only does this lead to continuing infection, but an incomplete treatment also contributes to the rise of multi-drug resistant malaria. The fact that malaria parasites continue to evolve poses an obstacle to developing drugs that will consistently work in the future.
The Malaria Box was given as part of a grant to 17 research projects in order to accelerate malaria research. After a few years, these research teams yielded positive results in the battle against malaria. Some researchers have tried to identify weak points to attack in the malaria parasite. For example, Dr. Jacquin Niles of MIT is trying to isolate genes particularly susceptible to attack by conducting tests on genetically modified parasites.
Dr. Jake Baum of the Imperial College of London is studying compounds that could block malaria transmission. He is researching whether molecular compounds that do not remain in the bloodstream for as long as other anti-malaria drugs can still effectively combat malaria.
After the success of the Malaria Box, other projects to distribute sets of compounds have been started. The ReFRAME library at the California Institute for Biomedical Research contains more than 10,000 compounds that are known to combat various diseases. Giving researchers access to these sets of compounds provides them with a strong and focused starting point from which to conduct their studies.
– Edmond Kim
Photo: Flickr