Center for Global Development

06/01/2026

Many developing countries are facing high debt and debt service burdens, but there is no single debt problem—and no one-size-fits-all solution.

In a new CGD blog, Mary Svenstrup, Masood Ahmed, and Charley Ward explore how debt reform proposals can be better aligned with countries' circumstances and today's political and financial realities.

Many developing countries face mounting debt burdens driven by repeated shocks, large fiscal deficits, and tighter financing conditions, but policy responses remain fragmented because countries face different combinations of liquidity and solvency challenges amid growing geopolitical and financial c...

06/01/2026

Governments across developing economies are facing growing fiscal pressures—from rising debt and health spending needs to the economic spillovers of conflict and climate change.

Masood Ahmed and Sanjeev Gupta argue that taxes on to***co, alcohol, and sugary drinks could help address both revenue and public health challenges at the same time.

Their new CGD blog explores the revenue potential of health taxes, how the IMF has incorporated them into policy advice and lending programs, and the policy recommendations the authors outline for expanding their use.

With fiscal pressures mounting and health burdens rising, the IMF is well positioned to elevate health taxes from underused instruments to a central pillar of domestic revenue mobilization, delivering both stronger public finances and better health outcomes.

06/01/2026

The World Health Assembly has adopted landmark amendments to the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.

The changes encourage greater cooperation and co-investment between countries, expand the Code to include care workers, and clarify its application during pandemics and other emergencies.

What do these changes mean in practice? And how can they be implemented and enforced?

At the 79th World Health Assembly, Member States adopted landmark amendments to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel. But what were these changes, and how can they be operationalised in practice?

05/29/2026

As governments face mounting fiscal pressure, higher taxes on to***co, alcohol, and sugary drinks could offer a rare win-win: stronger public finances and better health outcomes.

Ahead of World No To***co Day 🚭, new analysis examines why health taxes remain one of the most underused policy tools available.

Developing economies face mounting fiscal pressure from slowing global growth, crippling debt service, and steep cuts to international aid budgets. Higher taxes on to***co, alcohol, and sugary drinks may be part of the solution. Often implemented to improve public health, these taxes have significan...

05/28/2026

The developing world’s jobs crisis did not begin with AI. 💼

Developing countries are projected to fall roughly 800 million jobs short over the next decade, with millions of young people entering labor markets that struggle to absorb growing workforces.

Álvaro S. González, Markus Goldstein, and Helen Dempster examine why the challenge is structural and why reforms focused on portable benefits, skills, and service-sector productivity matter.

Developing countries need to create roughly 800 million more jobs over the next decade than they are on track to produce. That gap is already there before a single algorithm has replaced a single worker. Of the 1.2 billion young people who will reach working age over that decade, only about 420 mill...

05/27/2026

⌛ The countdown is on! One week from today, CGD’s Second Annual Research Conference on Global Lead Exposure begins in London, co-hosted with the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future .

The conference will bring together researchers, policymakers, implementers, and funders from across disciplines to explore the latest evidence on global lead exposure and the most effective paths toward a lead-free future.

Ahead of the conference, explore the panels ⤵️
https://www.cgdev.org/event/second-annual-research-conference-global-lead-exposure

05/26/2026

More than one billion people are affected by poverty-related and neglected diseases, yet funding for research and development remains far below need.

Sarrin Chethik and Leah R. Rosenzweig explore how a philanthropy-funded prize for repurposing existing drugs could help uncover affordable, overlooked treatments for diseases that current markets fail to address.

More than one billion people are affected by poverty-related and neglected diseases. Yet funding for research and development remains far below need. One solution is to create the missing incentive. A prize could reward innovators that discover and prove an existing drug can treat a PRND.

05/25/2026

Conflict will leave lasting fiscal pressures across the Middle East, with governments facing rising reconstruction costs, weaker growth, and mounting demands on public finances.

In a new blog, Sanjeev Gupta explores why tax reform could play a critical role in supporting recovery, strengthening resilience, and reducing dependence on hydrocarbon revenues across the region.

The conflict in the Middle East will weigh heavily on public finances across the region for years to come. Destruction of public and private assets will ripple through economies in multiple ways: private consumption will likely weaken, while trade, tourism, and business confidence could suffer signi...

05/25/2026

Over the past 25 years, many countries have transitioned from low- to middle-income status. But what has that meant for health systems—and where should limited global health funding go next?

In new analysis, Adrian Gheorghe explores how health system capacity, financing, and outcomes have evolved across low- and lower-middle-income countries since 2000.

https://www.cgdev.org/publication/25-years-later-income-transition-and-health-system-progress-low-resource-settings

05/22/2026

What shapes whether migrants can fully participate in the economies and societies of their host countries?

In new research on the Venezuelan diaspora across Latin America, Dany Bahar, Jesús Marcano, Carlos Moya, and Roberto Patiño examine how legal status relates to labor market integration, financial inclusion, and migrants’ future plans.

Drawing on survey data from nearly 3,000 Venezuelan migrants across nine countries, the paper offers new insights into one of the world’s largest displacement crises.

https://www.cgdev.org/publication/papers-paychecks-and-plans-analyzing-venezuelan-diaspora-latin-america