Biniam Bedasso argues that free school meals improve enrollment, attendance, learning outcomes and help food-insecure countries. But Farzana Afridi thinks we need more evidence on long-term gains.

In 2021, Ghana announced a plan to issue sovereign bonds of up to $2 billion, with proceeds due partially to fund a free secondary school program. Just months later, Ghana’s rising debt burden means this is no longer feasible. Can developing countries tap the social bond market in order to fund publ...

As the war in Ukraine shakes the moral conscience of the world, the question is what the global community can do to help those suffering within the country and outside. One proposal, laid out in POLITICO on Tuesday, is to use the $650 billion worth of Russia’s Central Bank assets that have been froz...

Consider the situation. Faced with growing fiscal stress, the government of an energy-exporting country decides to cut generous subsidies, doubling the price of fuel overnight. Protestors are out on the streets, clashing violently with security forces called in to maintain law and order. They vent t...

The use of foreign aid to support poor countries with inadequate implementation capacity and weak regulatory institutions has at times, been described as “pouring money into a leaky bucket.” Given that there is seldom a quick fix for inadequate state capacity, aid programs can employ internal contro...

At the outset of the pandemic, CGD launched a website, g2p-network.org to facilitate a series of working groups exploring digital payments and COVID-19 and to highlight important findings in the vast and rapidly growing array of academic and policy work on G2P systems. Today, we’re launching a ...