Space is almost too glamorous for its own good. This is understandable; for most of human existence, the nighttime sky has been unreachable, mysterious, yet strangely helpful (especially to those navigating or measuring time by the stars). Like the first ships to cross an ocean, early satellites wer...

In this piece, I recap a few key messages on USAID’s call to action, honing in on the role of data and evidence in driving policy and decision-making. I argue that we need better data on the progress of maternal and child survival through improved health information systems as well as greater use of...

In April 2022, the IMF board approved the establishment of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) to provide financial support to countries addressing two key long-term structural challenges, climate change and pandemic preparedness. Almost a year late, the board has approved RST-supported pr...

We are often asked whether teacher professional development “works.” But it’s an impossible question to answer because we call so many different things teacher professional development. Some of these things—like coaching in South Africa and Peru, assessment-informed instruction in Liberia, or traini...

Technology facilitates the rapid flow of vast quantities of data across the world. These cross-border flows have the potential to unlock substantial benefits for development and poverty reduction. Yet, many policymakers worry about the issues this raises, such as data protection and security, nation...

This week’s edition of The Chronicles of Unpacking is entitled “How much of my lifetime income was spent on all of these books, and why are there never enough shelves?” We’ve been unboxing books over the last four days, and we’re almost finished, but ran out of shelf space some time ago—a few are st...

This week was the Centre for the Study of African Economies’ annual conference. Every year, scholars from around the world—including many based on the African continent—convene to present their research findings on a vast array of topics. This year’s conference included more than 200 presentations o...