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Aid & development links: World Bank, machine learning, conservation evictions and more

Aid & development links: World Bank, machine learning, conservation evictions and more
Published 29 Aug 2016   Follow @jonathan_pryke

  • World Bank President Jim Kim has unsurprisingly been nominated for a second term, 10 months before his first term comes to an end, as the Bank is in the middle of major and controversial reforms he has enacted. 
  • Lant Pritchett has called out the Obama administration for not embracing an 'open, merit-based, and transparent' process for the position yet again. William Easterly reminds us of this gem he wrote when Kim was first nominated in 2012.
  • What do development NGOs in Australia use the internet for? The simple two-word answer: 'chasing donations' according to a new paper from Sachini Muller and Terence Wood.
  • A team of Stanford University researchers have used a new and unconventional measurement tool that draws on machine learning and (day and night) satellite imagery to predict economic wellbeing in poor countries. A summary of their research paper is available here, and the project website is here.

  • Justin Sandefur from the Centre for Global Development has written a commentary and critique of this new approach.
  • This visualisation tool charts the evolution of economic freedom over the past 30 years.
  • The Centre for Global Development also has a podcast with development wonk Duncan Green discussing ‘how does change happen’?
  • The Guardian details the plight of indigenous communities across the world that are being evicted from their homes in the name of conservation.
  • Finally, for all of you Twitter fiends, the BBC Media Action Insight Blog has a list of who to follow in the International Development space.


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