International Development

Out of Fragility: Evidence from Bangladesh, Part 1
- April 5, 2019
Almost 50 years ago, Bangladesh emerged as a new nation in 1971 out of a bloody war of independence with Pakistan that left three million dead and ten million refugees. It then found itself caught in a fragility trap with …
By Nipa Banerjee
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Out of Fragility: Evidence from Bangladesh, Part 2
- April 5, 2019
The Bangladesh government’s significant strides in delivering basic services to the population, thus reinforcing its legitimacy, discussed in part 1 of this blog, have been enhanced by an extraordinarily strong civil society — a unique community of non-profit, non-governmental …
By Nipa Banerjee
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Transforming the Global Refugee System
- April 2, 2019
In a recent CIPS blog — New Partnerships for Minister Monsef? — John Sinclair asks why supporting refugees is not a central goal of development co-operation when development issues have so much impact on refugees. Here, CIPS presents a short …
By CIPS
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A New Face in International Development
- March 29, 2019
Maryam Monsef is the new face mandated to set the tone of international co-operation as Minister of International Development. Her arrival on March 1^st is the result of the crisis of integrity in the government triggered by the flow …
By John Sinclair
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New Partnerships for Minister Monsef?
- March 29, 2019
Since March 1, 2019, Maryam Monsef has been the new Minister of International Development, adding to her responsibilities as Minister for Women and Gender Equality. A companion blog outlines the demanding new landscape in which she must operate. The aim …
By John Sinclair
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Budget 2019: Peanuts for International Development
- March 22, 2019
From the international development perspective, Budget 2019 is the most disappointing federal budget since the current Liberal government was elected. Foreign aid warrants a mere three paragraphs. The first repeats past commitments and the third describes how the government will …
By Stephen Brown
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Haiti: Beyond the Headlines
- March 5, 2019
For a few weeks after protests reignited in Haiti’s major cities on 7 February 2019, the media carried images of angry protesters and much speculation on what this meant for the embattled country. Familiar tropes dominated the narrative: “the people” …
By Stephen Baranyi
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A Nation in Transition: Afghan Perspectives on Society, Politics, and Economics, 2004 and 2018, Part 1
- January 23, 2019
The survey of the Afghan people, undertaken by the Asia Foundation every year since 2004, is an important barometer, tracking opinions on social, political, economic, and security conditions in their country. The survey findings provide a longitudinal picture of how …
By Nipa Banerjee
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A Nation in Transition: Afghan Perspectives on Society, Politics, and Economics, 2004 and 2018, Part 2
- January 23, 2019
In Part 1 of this blog, we looked at some results from the Asia Foundation’s annual survey of the Afghan people, comparing the results from 2004 and 2018 on such issues as national mood, fear for personal safety, and satisfaction …
By Nipa Banerjee
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What Challenges Face a New World Bank President?
- January 23, 2019
The World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were created in 1944, in the closing months of WWII. The Bretton Woods conference was the Allies’ vehicle for rebuilding a shattered Europe, relying on European and American leadership. This …
By John Sinclair
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Budget Bill Will Reduce Government Accountability for Canadian Foreign Aid
- November 28, 2018
By Stephen Brown and Hunter McGill

To help ensure that Canadian foreign aid is spent on supporting people in need in developing countries — rather than things like white elephants and Canadian commercial interests — Canada has legislation that mandates …
By Stephen Brown
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Canada’s Afghanistan Aid Urgently Needs Review — But That Doesn’t Mean We Should Go It Alone
- November 28, 2018
The recent interaction of John Sopko — the American Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction — with the Canadian media on billions of wasted aid dollars in Afghanistan has stirred Canadian public interest on the forgotten subject of Canada’s Afghanistan …
By Nipa Banerjee
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