The success of cash transfer programmes is usually measured by their impact on poverty and human capital. Yet evidence from Malawi and Zimbabwe suggests that these programmes often have large, and sometimes negative social consequences that are both important in themselves and can affect the material aspects of wellbeing, including livelihoods.
Despite accounting for only 0.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Vietnam's government is taking climate change extremely seriously. And for a good reason. The country is one of the most vulnerable to the effects to climate change. A new paper explores Vietnam’s evolving role and position in international climate change negotiations.
Kenya’s mobile money system, M-PESA, has been lauded by many as the future of financial inclusion but criticized by others for being little more than an expensive, “clunky” payment system. So who should we believe? And if M-PESA isn’t the way forward for e-money for the world’s 3 billion unbanked, what is? Graham Wright, programme director at Microsave, explores these and other questions.
Underfunded and mismanaged forests compromise development and environmental goals. Unfortunately, less than a quarter of public expenditure reviews (PERs) in developing countries focus on forestry to any degree, according to a recent review of PERs in this sector. The review recommends several ways to correct this oversight.
A new initiative in India will provide CSOs with real-time data so that they can help socially excluded groups in the country gain access to basic service such as healthcare, as well as livelihood options. Using a ‘value for money’ framework, the initiative will involve developing new tools and be supported by a web-based management information system for monitoring and evaluation.
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