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Blog post
Prospectus of city growth: Rethinking planning in Amman
City administrations worldwide found themselves grappling with urban development issues that became more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Greater Amman Municipality conducted a retrospective assessment effort to better understand its early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IGC hosted a webinar examining the city’s self-assessment experience, which...
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Blog post
Cash transfers as COVID-19 relief: Evidence from Ghana
Well-targeted mobile money transfer programmes can be an effective policy tool to smooth consumption during pandemics, especially among the neediest populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected economic activity and imperilled the livelihoods of people across the globe. Its effects on the poor in developing countries has been particularly severe, as these citizens are...
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Blog post
Does climate change cause conflict?
A growing body of evidence suggests there are strong links between climate and conflict in both developed and developing countries. The effects of climate change, such as changes in temperature and precipitation, can increase the likelihood and intensity of conflict and violence. An influential paper, published in 2015, synthesised 55 studies and found that changes in...
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Blog post
Building climate-responsive social protection
As climate-related natural disasters occur with increasing frequency, disproportionally impacting poorer countries, robust social protection systems will become ever more necessary. Despite a wealth of evidence on the economic benefits of social protection, spending and coverage in low-income countries are inadequate to combat the effects of climate change. However, recent...
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Blog post
Money or power? Choosing COVID-19 aid in Kenya
Participants in an experiment comparing demand for cash transfers and electricity subsidies in urban Kenya, overwhelmingly prefer cash given the proliferation of mobile money via platforms like M-PESA and preference for short-term liquidity. Conversely, in rural Kenya, slightly more respondents opted for electricity token transfers given that they face saving constraints...
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Blog post
Women and work: How much does measurement matter?
Female labour force participation in India has been on the decline – dropping from an already low 29% in 2004-05 to 17% in 2017-18. However, the extent of women’s economic participation depends on how it is measured, and who is doing the measuring. In this context, this article uses survey data from four north Indian urban clusters, to demonstrate the role of instrument...
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Blog post
Informing youth about job opportunities to make training programmes more effective
Launched in 2014 by the central government, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Garmeen Kaushalya Yojana seeks to provide skills-based training to rural, marginalised youth, and to place them in salaried jobs. Based on an experiment conducted in Bihar and Jharkhand, this article shows that providing detailed information about the programme and prospective jobs to the trainees, helps align...
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Blog post
The resilience of informal labour markets: Insights from Uganda
While the lockdown in Uganda resulted in a large but temporary shock to SME activity, mature labour relationships were highly resilient to the lockdown, and a large share of workers were able to temporarily engage in alternative income generating activities during the lockdown. On 30th of March 2020, the Government of Uganda implemented a hard lockdown for a 14-day...
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Blog post
Projecting emissions: Assessing strategies to protect the planet and the poor
While the poorest countries should prioritise climate resilience, fast growing economies must better complement growth with strategies to reduce emissions. Growth, poverty, and climate change are possibly the three most crucial considerations guiding development aid discussions. Thus, green growth strategies for lower-middle and low-income countries must be responsive to...
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Blog post
Climate change mitigation and adaptation is not enough to restore our Earth
Climate change solutions typically fall into one of two categories: mitigation and adaptation. While critics argue that such categorisation is too narrow, I draw upon findings from an IGC country-wide consultation to explore climate change policies and priorities across our partner countries. I argue that although mitigation and adaptation are important policy themes,...
Blog post
Prospectus of city growth: Rethinking planning in Amman
City administrations worldwide found themselves grappling with urban development issues that became more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Greater Amman Municipality conducted a retrospective assessment effort to better understand its early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IGC hosted a webinar examining the city’s self-assessment experience, which...