Category: Uncategorized

Green BRI and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – Enhancing Environmental Management System and Policy Studies for BRI Projects

Since its inception eight years ago, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has led to more than 200 cooperation documents with 140 countries and 31 international organizations. Behind the scenes, Chinese policymakers have been developing an environmental management framework to govern their outbound investment and finance to “green” the BRI and help countries achieve the […]

Why Bangladesh’s Burgeoning Pharmaceutical Sector is on a Collision Course with Global Trade and Investment Rules

By Rachel Thrasher In 2018, Bangladesh met the necessary criteria for graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status and is now slated to graduate by 2026. Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical industry has played a critical role in this possible graduation. Exploring this connection, a new working paper from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center demonstrates the […]

Policy Space for Building Production Capabilities in the Pharmaceuticals Sector in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Evidence from Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the few Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that has been able to gain a foothold in the global medicines market, which is characterized by significantly high entry barriers compared to other traded goods. Policies implemented by the Bangladesh government have strengthened its pharmaceutical sector, but to what extent would Bangladesh have been […]

Changing Knowledge and Attitudes Towards HIV Treatment-as-Prevention and “Undetectable = Untransmittable”: A Systematic Review

Treatment-as-prevention (TasP) refers to the strategy of treating HIV-positive individuals with antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent sexual transmission of the disease to others. A landmark 2011 study by the HIV Prevention Trials Network that monitored transmission amongst mixed HIV status couples (in which one partner was HIV-positive and one HIV-negative) provided conclusive evidence that ART […]

Gaps in Knowledge of HIV Treatment-as-Prevention Hinder Disease Control

By Emanne Khan Antiretroviral therapy (ART) not only extends the lives of people with HIV. It also prevents sexual transmission of the virus. However, knowledge of ART’s impact on transmission has been slow to gain mainstream understanding and traction.  In 2011, the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN)-052 study received results from a trial of 1,763 […]

How China, Japan and the US Have Been Financing Carbon Lock-in in Developing Countries

By Xu Chen International finance of low carbon technologies is a major driver for the global transition towards a net-zero emissions energy system. As more and more countries work towards national decarbonization targets and align domestic finance with their targets, it is imperative that cross-border finance is also aligned with the Paris Agreement. A new […]

Financing Carbon Lock-In in Developing Countries: Bilateral Financing for Power Generation Technologies from China, Japan and the United States

Decarbonizing the power sector will require a fundamental redirection of global finance from fossil fuel infrastructure towards low carbon technologies. Bilateral finance will play an important role in the global energy transition to non-fossil energy, but an understanding of its impact has so far been limited. In a new Science Direct article, Kevin P. Gallagher, […]

Southern-Led Development Finance: Solutions from the Global South

Southern-Led Development Finance, a new book edited by Diana Barrowclough, Kevin P. Gallagher and Richard Kozul-Wright, examines some of the innovative new South-South financial arrangements and institutions that have emerged in recent years, as countries from the Global South seek to transform their economies and shield themselves from global economic turbulence. Even before the COVID-19 […]

Devising Ways to Measure Unmet Need in Family Planning: A Thought Experiment

By Mahesh Karra Unlike many domains in health, the provision of high-quality family planning services is not only measured by the achievement of good reproductive health outcomes, but also considers the objective of helping women and couples maximize a complex and evolving set of preferences around future fertility and well-being.  For this reason, the demand […]