So you want a career in Global Development? You asked your professor about what to do next, and their response was underwhelming? A lot of that going around. This is why Gretchen Villegas is the person to talk to. In this interview with GDP, Gretchen shares some powerful advice on how to get involved in global development. Sharing stories of her own career, Gretchen spells out why more students should be interested in a career in global development, and how to get there. Not only is career in global development rewarding, it is needed now more than ever before. Gretchen Villegas is a 25+ year ..read more

Today, nearly one billion people lack electricity, over three billion lack clean water, and 750 million lack basic literacy skills. Many of these challenges could be solved with existing solutions, and technology enables us to reach the last mile like never before. Yet, few solutions attain the necessary scale to match the size of these challenges. Scaling Up Development Impact  is written by Isabel Guererro, Siddhant Gokhale, and Jossie Fahsbender. In this interview with GDP, Isabel and Siddhant offer some important takeaways as to why scaling up development is "mission critica ..read more

In April 2020 rumour spread like wildfire that Kim Jong Un died.  Greg Scarlatoiu and Dr. Bob Huish didn't believe it.  They were right.  So how did the world get this story so wrong?  In this episode of GDP, Dr. Bob chats with Greg Scarlatoiu, the Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) in Washington, D.C., about the challenges of doing research in North Korea.  Greg Scarlatoiu has coordinated 28 HRNK publications addressing North Korea’s human rights situation and the operation of its regime. Mr. Scarlatoiu is vice president of the ..read more

The war between Israel and Hamas is unfolding into a humanitarian catastrophe. Water is the most precious resource for Gaza, and it is in short supply. Ground water supplies are sparse, and Israel controls inflow into Gaza. To punish Hamas, Israel temporarily turned off the taps which led to further humanitarian emergencies. Israel has mastered scarce water resource technology, including de-salinization. This technology could come to Gaza, but it is not. Why? Clive Lipchin joins us to share his expertise on how this technology could greatly help the people of Gaza, and he explains why it hasn ..read more

As smelly as they are, flatulent cattle really take their toll on the climate. Major producers of methane, cattle, and other industrialized animals in agriculture, produces detrimental levels of methane which warm the planet faster than carbon. Not only is there no end in sight to seeking alternatives to this industry, but the World Bank has approved Industrial Agriculture as being compliant to the Paris Climate Commitment. Kelly McNamara joins us this week to offer a stern warning as to why industrial agriculture for animals should be a thing of the past for a climate conscious future. Kelly ..read more

War is raging in The Gaza Strip. As Israel prepares for a ground invasion, Hamas holds dozens of prisoners, and now with knowledge that U.S. citizens are in the mix, it all spells disaster for Gaza. The Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people under a heavy blockade on movement and basic resources, are now facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in this conflict. The simple question is: "Why"? Why blockade water, energy, bread, and ice, when the worry is military rockets? Why restrict movement so strictly, when trade routes for weapons are clearly succeeding in getting weaponry into Gaza to ..read more

Almost 1/3 of the 8 billion people on this planet have never used the internet. Landlocked countries, conflict zones and remote islands have the highest rates of people who have never "logged on". This is a problem that goes beyond being a new face of inequality. As Anir Chowdhury says, the internet "is like oxygen"as those who have it, exist through it. But for those who do not have access or have low-literacy skills in technology the opportunities for exploitation, deception, and misinformation are enormous. Through "frugal innovation" Bangladesh's a2i programme plans to push back against th ..read more

Howard Zinn said, "People in all countries need the spirit of disobedience", and that "once they organize and protest and create movements—have a voice no government can suppress". High school students like Ian Mannathukkaren are doing exactly that. Concerned about the the world that they are going to inherit, and ready to talk to the highest offices in the land to demand a carbon-free economy, students are quickly becoming that force that no governments can suppress. So what do they want, and what will they do? Iman Mannathukkaren is a grade 12 student who is passionate about climate justice ..read more

The Sustainable Development Goals were at the top of the agenda for the United Nations General Assembly in New York this year. How many donor countries get a failing grade when it comes to meeting the target of contributing 0.7% of their Gross National Income? A lot. But 3 countries in Europe are standing out as leaders in surpassing the 0.7% commitment. And this comes at a time when countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are focusing more development dollars back on to their own shores and borders. In this episode of GDP, Ian Mitchell from London's Centre for Global Developme ..read more

Did the bedlam of Brexit impact the United Kingdom as a global partner and donor? Is Russia and China pushing the UK out of Africa? Are partner nations in Africa rejecting the "assistance" from former colonial powers? Looking at the changing dynamics in East Africa, Simon Rynn and Michael Jones take a deep dive into the subject with their recent policy paper Furthering Global Britain? Reviewing the Foreign Policy Effect of UK Engagement in East Africa - Occasional Paper. In this discussion we learn that British foreign policy is struggling to keep up with changes underway in East Africa, but t ..read more