As we celebrate our 10th year, we look back with pride and astonishment at the Center’s many achievements in a wide range of sectors and fields. Ten of these are recounted in the first part of this special 10th Anniversary report. We are also looking ahead, devising fresh ways to tackle tough issues in a world that is very different from the one in which the Center began.
Since its founding in 2001, CGD has earned a reputation as a “think-and-do” tank that undertakes rigorous research, then crafts and pushes practical policy proposals to make the world a fairer, safer place.
The Center’s work in its first decade includes real-world impacts such as the research, analysis, and policy engagement that led to the creation of a pilot $1.5 billion Advance Market Commitment (AMC) that accelerated development and delivery of a vaccine against a pneumonia-related virus that kills some 3 million children in the developing world every year. Health workers in a dozen countries began administering the life-saving vaccine this year, and AMC-like mechanisms are now being proposed for other global health needs and in areas such as clean energy and agricultural innovation.
CGD’s work was also instrumental in obtaining billions of dollars in debt relief for Nigeria and Liberia, and CGD research is currently contributing to a negotiated division of debt between northern Sudan and the newly independent south.
"The Center has had influence and impact beyond my most optimistic expectations,” says Edward Scott, CGD’s founding chair. “My core ambition was to create an organization that would be more than just a sandbox for economists, but one that would have direct and meaningful impact on the plight of the world's poor. I believe we have done that.” He adds that CGD president Nancy Birdsall “has assembled an extraordinary team that has both passion and intellect. I am exceedingly proud of what the Center has achieved."
CGD has organized several events this year as part of an ongoing celebration, including the first CGD alumni gathering and the 2011 Embassy Progressive Dinner. The June 8 event, which is sold out, will bring together individuals who are working on and influencing development policy, including ambassadors, members of the U.S. Congress, current and former heads of state, senior corporate executives, philanthropists, celebrities, academics and friends, to celebrate CGD’s work.