Month: October 2021

Chart of the Week: The Debt-Climate Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Samantha Igo As the Group of Twenty (G20) meet in Rome from October 30-31, the triple crisis of climate, COVID-19 and ballooning sovereign debt demands bold intervention.  Countries are reeling from the economic and social costs following a summer of extreme weather events, with only 2.9 percent of people in low-income countries having received […]

Evaluating the BRICS Financing Mechanisms: Q&A with Paulo Nogueira Batista, Jr

By Samantha Igo Comprising an estimated total population of nearly 3.21 billion people, the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa constitute the world’s five major emerging economies and are a significant influence on international affairs. In 2012, the BRICS made the momentous decision to establish their own financing mechanisms, including a […]

The BRICS and the Financing Mechanisms They Created: Progress and Shortcomings

Comprising an estimated total population of nearly 3.21 billion people, the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa constitute the world’s five major emerging economies and are a significant influence on global affairs.   In 2012, the BRICS took the momentous decision to establish their own financing mechanisms, including a new monetary […]

Understanding Women’s Preferences for and Use of Family Planning in Urban Malawi

The area of family planning is unique in that the patient, rather than the provider, is seen as the key decision-maker in determining the best course of treatment. As such, family planning programs strive to afford women and couples the greatest degree of choice over contraceptive methods, and consequently invest significant resources into providing patients […]

Global China Fellows Program

Applications are now open for the 2026-2027 Global China Fellows Program. The Global China Fellows Program is a flagship program of the Global China Initiative (GCI) at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center). Since its inception in 2017, the Fellows Program has supported more than 40 pre- and post-doctoral Fellows from around […]

Summer in the Field: Tracking Government Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis

By Natalie Ellis As the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches, many people may be looking towards the future of returning to a “new normal.”  However, one data group, the CoronaNet Research Project, will continue to look back at the apex of the pandemic in an effort to paint a complete picture of the […]

UN Research Shows Climate Change is “a Code Red for Humanity”

By Flavia Roscini Climate change is a challenge that can only be overcome if it is addressed at the international level. Global leaders have attempted to collaboratively mitigate climate change since 1972, and these negotiations produced several important accords, including the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and […]

Summer in the Field: Bond, Eurobond: Tracking African Eurobonds Issued Between 2006-2021

By Pamela Icyeza In recent years, Eurobonds have seen a spike in activity in Africa. These international bonds, typically issues in euros or dollars, offer countries an alternative funding source from foreign aid and multilateral institutions.  With the exception of South Africa and the Seychelles, most Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries had not issued sovereign bonds […]