Developing Countries

commentary

Demystifying the Belt and Road Initiative

Under the Belt and Road Initiative, China works with more than 70 countries to design and implement large infrastructure projects. Why are countries of all stripes turning to China for funding when the world is awash with cash?

Rafiq Dossani

commentary

The European Commission Is Struggling to Demonstrate 'Value for Money'

Great work is happening as a result of EU spending and programmes, particularly around democracy, rule of law and human rights. To make sure the trend continues, it is important for the populace to understand the value for money of this work.

Ben Baruch @Ben_Baruch_, Tom Ling

commentary

How Uganda Could Benefit from a Center for Food Innovation

A training and innovation center that trains and certifies street food vendors to address issues related to food hygiene, safety, and quality would accelerate the growth of a new Ugandan cuisine that capitalizes on nutritious local ingredients in a sustainable manner.

Michele Abbott, Deborah A. Cohen

commentary

What Street Food Vendors in Uganda Need to Succeed

Street vendors in Kampala, Uganda, would benefit from infrastructure development, food safety standards, rules of hygiene, and greater focus on healthy products. The city's growing population also would benefit from increased access to nutritious and affordable foods.

Michele Abbott, Deborah A. Cohen

commentary

A New Ugandan Cuisine: Showcasing Superfood Qualities of Millet and Sorghum

The results of a series of cooking contests in Uganda to promote the use of drought-tolerant, nutritious traditional grains—millet and sorghum—signal that a new food trend may be on the horizon.

Michele Abbott, Deborah A. Cohen

commentary

Trends in Inequality and the World's Eight Richest Men

While Oxfam reports have done a good job of bringing attention to the problem of inequality, they may lead the public and policymakers to believe that global inequality has been rising instead of falling. Global inequality has actually been on the decline while inequality within the developed world is increasing.

Ernesto F. L. Amaral, Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice

essay

The Hot Spots of the World

Scarcity of food, energy, and water endangers the lives of millions. So RAND created a tool with the potential to help make aid initiatives more effective.

commentary

The Economic Rationale for Investing in Family Planning in Sub-Saharan Africa

Proven benefits to reduced fertility — or to delayed start to childbearing and greater spacing between births — include lower maternal mortality, fewer unsafe abortions, reduced risks from early childbearing, and women's ability to engage in more income-generating opportunities.

Peter Glick, Sebastian Linnemayr

commentary

After Decades of Conflict, Learning to Reap the Benefits of Taxes in Northern Uganda

A women's community organization is trying to get Ugandans to pay taxes while teaching them how to get the local government to spend tax money on improving public services. The post-conflict regions of northern Uganda need more health care, legal services, psychological support, and counseling.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

A Promising Approach for Expanding Health Insurance to Nigeria's Informal Sector

The Kwara Community Health Insurance program in Nigeria provides a remarkable proof of concept and template for addressing the challenge of providing risk protection for the poor in the developing world.

Adeyemi Okunogbe

commentary

Informality and Formality: Two Ends of the Employment Continuum

The staying power of informal employment in developing countries is a concern, because informal employees (e.g., day laborers) tend to receive lower wages, fewer benefits, and fewer legal protections. How can policymakers improve conditions for informal workers?

Shanthi Nataraj

commentary

A New Approach to Managing Aid Agencies

The current approach to managing aid agencies is confused due to two opposing forces: a results-based approach to management and an emphasis on the need to achieve systemic changes and transform underlying constraints.

Tom Ling

commentary

Africa Succeeds in Meeting Many Long-Term U.N. Development Goals

Over the past decade and half, Africa has made great strides toward meeting the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, eight objectives that included halving extreme poverty rates, providing universal primary education, and ending the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

Attacking Poverty Through Employability Interventions

The UN's goal to end poverty is a worthy undertaking but less clear to policymakers is what the most efficient options are to reduce poverty through employment or training. An analysis of efforts in South Asia finds that investments in interventions that combine business training with financing could yield positive results.

Joachim Krapels, Marco Hafner

commentary

Bridging the Global Age Gap

The Trans-Pacific Partnership offers hope for balancing the world's rapidly aging with its jobless youth. As long-term care for the elderly becomes a pressing need in many developed countries, services such as monitoring and reminding people to take their medications could be provided remotely from countries with an abundance of younger workers.

Krishna B. Kumar

commentary

In Latin America, Breaking the Cycle of Intimate-Partner Abuse One Handwritten Letter at a Time

Latin America has one of the highest rates of intimate-partner violence in the world, but a series of high-profile cases, including the murder of a journalist by her policeman husband, have propelled intimate-partner violence to the fore of Bolivia's public agenda.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

New Partnerships for Improving Global Health Research

Partnerships between public and private organizations have become a powerful mechanism for addressing longer-term and structural challenges faced by developing countries that have a high burden of poverty-related diseases.

Gavin Cochrane

commentary

Family Planning Must Be Part of the Humanitarian Response in Africa's Conflict Zones

Worldwide, nearly 800 women die every day due to mostly preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. More than half of these deaths occur in fragile states torn by armed conflict and generalized violence.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

China's Foreign Aid Offensive

China has given an average of $174 billion per year in foreign assistance for the last six years. How will the scale of its foreign aid change in the future?

Charles Wolf, Jr.

q&a

Reaching the 80 Percent: Q&A with Krishna Kumar

Krishna Kumar discusses studying agriculture in China, low-income housing in India, and labor markets in Bangladesh, and how research can help the developing world.

commentary

What the Ebola Crisis Taught Us About Emergency Preparedness in Africa

The 2014 Ebola outbreak was the most severe of its kind. At the height of the crisis, 800 to 1,000 new cases were reported per week in Africa across the three most heavily affected countries. As of last week, there were only 12 confirmed cases. What must be done to prevent and mitigate future crises of this nature?

Adeyemi Okunogbe

commentary

What's at Stake in Nigeria's Elections

Next to ethnic and religious predilections, security is by far the biggest issue for Nigerians in Saturday's election. For more than 50 years, since Nigeria's independence from British rule, its military has played an important role in peacekeeping across the continent. Paradoxically, the country has struggled with an insurgency within its own borders.

Tobi A. Oluwatola

commentary

Mental Health Care in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

Depression is the leading cause of disability throughout the world and is especially prevalent among low-income African countries, where 75 percent of the people who suffer from mental illness do not have easy access to the mental health care they need.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

U.S.-India Relations: Will the Obama-Modi Personal Chemistry Suffice?

U.S. President Barack Obama's visit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India has generated generally positive reactions from analysts. These judgments will be reinforced if the leaders' current chemistry changes Indo-U.S. policy for the better.

Gulrez Shah Azhar

commentary

In South Africa, Bold Investments Turn Trash into Treasure

South Africa’s landfills are reportedly rapidly reaching capacity—as are those in many developing countries. Surveys show that only about 3 percent of urban South Africans sort and recycle their household waste frequently. Until recycling becomes more widespread, the nation will have to keep building landfills.

Julia Pollak

commentary

Solutions for Youth Employment: New Coalition Takes on Pervasive, Persistent Global Problem

Youth unemployment is a pervasive and persistent worldwide scourge: 75 million youth are unemployed now and that rate is expected to rise. RAND joined the World Bank, Accenture, International Youth Foundation, and others to form Solutions for Youth Employment, a unique coalition that acts to increase youth opportunities for productive employment.

Haijing Crystal Huang, Nelly Josefina Mejia Gonzalez

commentary

The Health Needs of Syrian Women in and Around the Za'atari Refugee Camp

The Syrian conflict, now in its fourth year, has been the main contributor to the largest refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide—and the problem can be expected to get worse as the fighting continues.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

announcement

RAND Joins Coalition to Tackle Youth Unemployment

The RAND Corporation has joined the World Bank and other corporate and civil society leaders to establish Solutions for Youth Employment, a global coalition that acts to address the pervasive challenges of youth employment.

commentary

Community-Driven Development: How the Poor Can Take Charge to Improve Their Housing

Public housing projects have been controversial for decades in countries around the world. But an informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa, could serve as a guide for other countries experimenting with community-driven development, an alternative approach to public housing.

Julia Pollak

commentary

Probing the Barriers to Conducting Clinical Research in Sub-Saharan Africa

Developing clinical research in sub-Saharan Africa requires a more holistic approach that considers not only individuals and institutions concerned with clinical research but also the wider health and research systems in these countries.

Gavin Cochrane, Catriona Manville

commentary

Women's Menstrual Hygiene in India: The Health and Environmental Implications

According to India's 2011 census, 89 percent of the nation's rural population lives in households that lack toilets. This absence of proper sanitation presents public health challenges and affects Indian women disproportionately.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

Could Alternatives Ease the Misery of South Africa's Housing Crisis?

The government's plan to replace cardboard shacks with cement houses may not be the only route to easing South Africa's housing woes. Increasingly, academic researchers, non-governmental organizations, and private companies are demonstrating pragmatic, low-cost, alternatives.

Julia Pollak

commentary

Four Approaches to Improve Higher Education in India Through Policies

In India, university enrolment has grown from 10 to 23 million from 2000 to 2013, and so has interest in improving access and quality. A review of research on higher-education policies on affirmative action, financial aid, private education, and vocational education identifies gaps in research on improving access and quality.

Trey Miller, Megan Clifford

commentary

First Steps Toward Addressing DR Congo's Rape Crisis

An effort to address atrocities against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo has fallen short of advocates' hopes for justice. With its focus on criminal prosecution, the strategy failed to consider the weak infrastructure of the judicial system, left victims' needs unmet, and did little to address prevention.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

An Outbreak of Outbreaks

Lately, stories about outbreaks seem to be spreading faster than the diseases themselves. An outbreak of measles in Ohio is just part of an 18-year high of U.S. cases. Meanwhile, polio continues to circulate in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria, while spreading to other countries, like Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Syria.

Melinda Moore, Andrew M. Parker, et al.

commentary

Insurance and Incentives: A Dual Approach to Try to Improve Maternal Health in Nigeria

Less than 5% of Nigerians have insurance; two-thirds of all health care costs are paid out of pocket. When people must pay out of pocket for health care at the point of service, this restricts access, excludes the poorest and most vulnerable, and leads to delays in patients seeking help.

Adeyemi Okunogbe

commentary

In Africa: U.S. Promotes Security, China Does Business

Africans require both security and economic growth. Global powers like China and the United States do not need to choose between the two when focusing their foreign policy efforts.

Larry Hanauer, Lyle J. Morris

commentary

Climate Change, Uncertainty Cast Clouds on Malawi's Food Policies

Malawi has the highest per capita maize consumption in Africa, but it may need to consider alternatives, taking into greater consideration weather, climate change and water needs.

Tobi A. Oluwatola

commentary

In South Africa, Hard Choices on Housing

While much has changed in South Africa since the end of apartheid 20 years ago, many challenges remain, including the developing nation's dire need for housing.

Julia Pollak

commentary

Why the Dangerous New Turn for Piracy Matters

Off the western coast of Africa, just north of the equator, the Gulf of Guinea has endured piracy for decades. But recent spikes in new, more dangerous forms of piracy imply a troubling sense of invincibility in the minds of the perpetrators.

Anthony L. Russell

commentary

Maternal Deaths: Turning the Tide in a Nigerian State

Bold and innovative approaches are being developed in different parts of the African continent in the quest to reduce maternal mortality. A noteworthy example of this is the Abiye Safe Motherhood program in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Adeyemi Okunogbe

commentary

The Strategy Behind China's Aid Expansion

Between 2001 and 2011, China's pledged foreign aid was $671 billion. In all regions and countries, China's assistance focuses on the development of natural resources, principally energy-related (coal, oil, and gas). Both parties presumably benefit from China's aid but both are also exposed to added risks and hidden costs.

Charles Wolf, Jr.

blog

New RAND Study Examines Chinese Economic Assistance to Other Countries

With the world's second largest economy, China has the capacity to engage in substantial programs of economic assistance and government-sponsored investments in 93 emerging-market countries.

announcement

RAND Designs Web Registry for Developing-Country Impact Evaluations

Announcement about RAND's work designing a web registry for impact evaluations in developing countries

blog

For Pardee RAND Graduate School, a $3.6 Million Gift

Frederick S. Pardee, a former RAND researcher, contributed $3.6 million to support the Pardee RAND Graduate School and to create its Pardee Initiative for Global Human Progress. His generous gift will seed projects that help those in developing countries.

commentary

Book Review: 'Why Nations Fail' by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

'Why Nations Fail' is a sweeping attempt to explain the gut-wrenching poverty that leaves 1.29 billion people in the developing world struggling to live on less than $1.25 a day. You might expect it to be a bleak, numbing read. It's not. It's bracing, garrulous, wildly ambitious and ultimately hopeful, writes Warren Bass.

Warren Bass

commentary

Africa Needs Its Own Indicators of Scientific Innovation

Policies to stimulate African development require evidence that is difficult to obtain using existing indicators, writes Watu Wamae.

Watu Wamae

commentary

G-20 Growing Pains

The increasing importance of the G-20 summits, which include developing heavyweights such as Brazil, Russia, China and India, is testimony to the growing role emerging states now play in managing the international economy. But integrating these newcomers into the global community is unlikely to be straightforward or simple writes Lowell Schwartz.

Lowell H. Schwartz

commentary

Buy Security Through Aid

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Gregory F. Treverton, Robert Klitgaard

commentary

Want to Help Africa? Stop Farm Subsidies

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Carl Bildt