Launch of 1st annual Committment to Development Index

The Center for Global Development (CGD) and Foreign Policy Magazine (FP) launched the Commitment to Development Index. The Index rates rich countries' contributions to global development through measures of their aid, trade, migration, investment, peacekeeping, and environmental policies. The 21 OECD countries are then ranked in terms of how supportive these policies are to economic development in poor countries. The Index is designed to spark debate and additional research on how rich country policies affect the poor, to serve as a tool for influencing how these policies are designed, and to highlight the importance of policies other than aid - and their often unintended implications for development.

The April 29 event included a review of the results and country rankings of the Index. In addition, a roundtable discussion entitled Commitment to Development: Policy Coherence in Action, brought together current and former policy makers and advocates from both OECD and developing countries to discuss how various policies interact to affect the prospects for development of poor countries, and how to improve coordination between policy areas so as to be more effective and efficient in supporting global development.