The UK is considering scrapping the Independent Commission for Aid Impact—but it's crucial in scrutinizing aid & strengthening accountability. Rather than abolish it, @leecrawfurd.bsky.social and @ianmitchell1.bsky.social lay out 5 reforms to boost its value/impact: https://go.cgdev.org/4toR09E

Free school meals: The world’s biggest social programme voxdev.org/topic/free-s...

UK aid agency should pause reforms, says parliamentary committee www.devex.com/news/uk-aid-...

This quote from a Reform UK councillor sums it up beautifully. Cross-boundary moral outrages, exported online and sold (especially, but not exclusively) to generations that grew up before the internet, are such a central feature of radicalisation today. www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/ne...

Only 10 cases of Guinea worm disease were recorded *globally* last year. It may become the second human disease we eradicate, after smallpox.

📣 Call for Papers – 3rd Development Economics Workshop (DEW 2026) 📍 Durham University Business School, UK | 🗓 9–10 June 2026 🎤 Keynote: Prof. Oded Galor (founder of Unified Growth Theory and author of the Journey of Humanity) #DevelopmentEconomics #CallForPapers #AcademicConference

My guess is these numbers are inflated, but even so seems likely millions could die. (Inflated because these projections - are based on cross-country correlations, with small sample sizes & endogeneity concerns - don't account for policy response by aid recipient governments)

The UK government is thinking about dismantling the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. Why? Do they actually want their aid to help fewer people? @leecrawfurd.bsky.social & Andrew Mitchell make the case for saving the ICAI: www.cgdev.org/blog/dont-sc...

We know lead poisoning impacts children's cognition, schooling, and more. But what about other core development priorities? @leecrawfurd.bsky.social and @eeshani.bsky.social take a look at the underobserved interaction between lead and child nutrition: https://go.cgdev.org/45DyaRV

Don't scrap ICAI. Here's 5 steps to make it better instead (new @cgdev.org blog with @ianmitchell1.bsky.social) www.cgdev.org/blog/dont-sc...

From the Chartists to the suffragettes, and from the civil rights movement to the anti-apartheid struggle, every great protest movement has found strength in song. There is extraordinary power in music. More than one injustice has fallen before a hail of ballads.

NEW @cgdev.org BLOG with @eeshani.bsky.social - Is Lead Poisoning a Missing Link in the Fight Against Malnutrition? www.cgdev.org/blog/lead-po...

"half of the children interviewed under the age of 12 reported having experienced physical, emotional and sexual violence in school." new @cgdev.org research from @gsmarrelli.bsky.social in the Malawian media www.zodiakmalawi.com/national-new...

What share of LMIC lead poisoning is battery recycling? Maybe 33 percent. leadbatteries.substack.com/p/what-share...

We know the largest use of lead is in car batteries, & unsafe recycling of these batteries is harmful, but we don’t know how harmful. A new paper from @theomitchell1.bsky.social & @leecrawfurd.bsky.social shows that it could drive a third of all lead exposure in LMICs: https://go.cgdev.org/49Z9wMR

The deadline for the CGD lead conference is *THIS WEEK* - 31st Jan - send us your research and session proposals!

Have to admire the choice of think tanks to cite in this new UK parliament briefing on UK aid for education commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

The New World asked me to speak to some British trans women about what life has been like for them over the past few years - here's what they had to say, in their own words: www.thenewworld.co.uk/marie-le-con...

Labour is losing more voters to the Greens than to Reform

Main finding: Armed conflict between organized actors increased by 15% in high-aid countries during the first 3 months after the shutdown. Violence against civilians perpetrated by militias increased by up to 10% a bit later. No substantial changes in protests or riots. [4/7]

NEW PAPER! We know that lead exposure is bad, but where is it all coming from? We show that used lead-acid battery recycling is likely much more important than previously thought - perhaps 1/3 of exposure in LMICs. LINK: www.cgdev.org/publication/... w/ @theomitchell1.bsky.social & James Hu

Aid cuts in the UK signals a move from "grants to expertise"—meaning a shift to low-cost technical assistance. Through his work with African governments, @leecrawfurd.bsky.social shares examples of both good and bad models of technical assistance: https://go.cgdev.org/45atSBo

UK aid cuts will mean a shift “from grants to expertise” Here's my take on how to do that well 1. Don't limit to UK experts 2. Fund non-profits 3. Work closely with recipients. 4. Ideas & implementation support 5. Be realistic about evaluation www.cgdev.org/blog/how-do-...

New in Global Policy from @rorytodd98.bsky.social @leecrawfurd.bsky.social @rachelbonnifield.bsky.social @cgdev.org onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Now out in @globalpolicy.bsky.social ! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

What happens when we pay our teachers more? Evidence from New Jersey public schools www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... "by five years after adoption, high school Math and ELA increase by about 0.15–0.20 and 0.12–0.17 standard deviations (SD), respectively with modest increases in Grade 4 Math"

A new paper by George Borjas—who served this past year in the Trump White House designing some of its anti-immigration policies—claims to display evidence of ideological bias among researchers who study immigration. doi.org/10.1126/scia... 🧵 Thread—>

Telling people about effective altruism makes them more likely to donate to international causes www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

World Bank projects with some kind of *innovation* component score 0.15 points (around 0.13 standard deviations) better on evaluations blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/in...

I was sceptical about Rwanda's laptops & internet for schools program after the failures of "One Laptop per Child" elsewhere, so pleasantly surprised to see these positive results from Muthoni Nganga, Aimable Nsabimana, & Christine Niyizamwiyitira www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Londoner found ill from lead in spices (coriander) bought on holiday in SE Asia. London's passive surveillance misses 99% of cases. In New York, pro-active surveillance finds hundreds of contaminated spices every year. Can only assume hundreds of cases in London not detected.

A decline in school Ofsted ratings costs the headteacher £ 2,200 per year in salary www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The EU should've stepped in. These are American crimes but also western failures

"AS THEY ATE"

If Erasmus is an avatar for getting closer to the EU in general then Labour is kicking at an open door which frankly is the only kind of door Starmer seems interested in.

Genuine question why are Starmer & Reeves SO unpopular?

Free the Best Buys! www.cgdev.org/blog/fcdos-b...

This summer, Brett Murphy, @peterdicampo.bsky.social and I went to South Sudan, where the U.S. had been supporting the response to a historic cholera outbreak in the world’s poorest country before pulling the plug. We found shuttered clinics and dead bodies. www.propublica.org/article/usai...

New estimates suggest harmful lead exposure among Bangladeshi children is lower than once thought. But over a third of children are still affected. @leecrawfurd.bsky.social & Caroline Mallory explore why the numbers may be improving & what lessons policymakers can draw: https://go.cgdev.org/3KHNCVH

Pre-school in Africa works. "on average, these programmes are successful in improving children's cognitive outcomes by 0.10 standard deviations (p-value < 0.01) [and] children's socioemotional development by 0.09 standard deviations (p-value < 0.01)." academic.oup.com/jae/advance-...

"Most Irish Foreign Aid Never Leaves the Country" www.thefitzwilliam.com/p/most-irish...

New Home Office impact assessment finds that cutting skilled and social care visas will cost the UK up to £10 billion with a central estimate of -£5.4 billion. It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops

Government has now - belatedly -published the impact assessment for the changes to skilled worker and care worker visas announced in May. Impact is estimated between -£2 billion and £-10 billion (central - £10 billion). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6937e6...

Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...

New data shows over 1 in 3 Bangladeshi children have harmful lead exposure—but it’s a marked improvement on previous estimates. @leecrawfurd.bsky.social & Caroline Mallory consider the reasons for improvement (and if it's real), lessons learned, and what's next: https://go.cgdev.org/3KHNCVH

Blog: New representative data shows over 1 in 3 Bangladeshi children have harmful lead exposure, that's high but still represents real progress www.cgdev.org/blog/cautiou...

"Massive returns" - "amongst the most economically efficient development investments globally" New WB report on lead (pb) www.worldbank.org/en/topic/env...

If it were steel works we would have a government bailout plan, yet losing thousands of jobs at unis is met with a shrug. & unlike steelworks universities were profitable when they had foreign students. You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports… HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!

"the U of Chicago identified 83 countries where an annual investment of only $50-100k could improve air quality. Air pollution poses “the world’s largest single environmental health risk,” contributing to 7 million premature deaths each year, according to the WHO" www.semafor.com/article/11/1...

1/ For six months, I've been traveling the world on Pulitzer Ctr & Fund For Investigative Journalism grants investigating Trump's effect on HIV & LGBTQ health. On World AIDS Day, @theintercept.com is publishing an overview essay of Afeef Nessouli & my findings. theintercept.com/2025/12/01/w...