UNU-WIDER : UNU-WIDER

UN at 75: slow death or a new direction? | Annual Lecture 24

The 2020 WIDER Annual Lecture by Lord Mark Malloch-Brown will take place online on 26 October. As the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary this WIDER Annual Lecture discusses whether the UN can reinvent itself, or whether it will sink into irrelevance? More

Why all countries should contribute to ending global poverty

Trillions of dollars have already been spent on the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and no one knows what the final bill will be. Is it possible to respond to a much longer crisis – global poverty – with even a fraction of these resources? More

Juan Arredondo Getty Images Images of Empowerment

COVID-19 intensifies global need to support informal workers in their struggle

The world is facing an existential crisis that poses challenging questions: whether to put people and nature before owners of capital and technology; whether to protect the rights of the disadvantaged or the interests of the elite. Read more

COVID-19 and employment: Insights from the sub-Saharan African experience

While the full socio-economic consequences remain uncertain, the pandemic’s impact on the labour market has become an issue of global concern. Read more

Journal Special Issue: Understanding agricultural development and change

Using the case of Vietnam, this special issue brings together a set of high-quality academic studies to answer key research questions of importance to understanding agricultural development and change in developing country settings. Read more

How is COVID-19 changing development? A WIDER Webinar Series

Catch up on recordings from the WIDER Webinar Series to hear from renowned researchers on the impact of COVID-19 on development, and the implications for the Global South. More webinars to be announced soon!

Support COVID-19 research - take the survey today

UNU-WIDER has partnered up with a team of international researchers from across four institutes on an exciting and very timely research initiative to collect real time data on the coronavirus and its social and economic consequences.

Visit our YouTube channel

Want to catch up on our recent events? Find out what Nobel laureates Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz think about the SDGs? Click here to visit us on YouTube.

Research and policy briefs

Evidence-based policymaking is crucial. Use our publications search to browse nearly 200 briefs which highlight the findings and policy implications of our research.

770 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...

Journal Article

Aid Impact and Effectiveness: Introduction and Overview

Part of Journal Special Issue Aid Impact and Effectiveness

Donors Fragile states Climate change

Blog

The vital role of aid in development

by Rachel M. Gisselquist, Sam Jones
June 2019

The UNU-WIDER research programme on foreign aid ( ReCom ) began in 2010, in a period of strong aid scepticism. Dambisa Moyo’s well-known book, Dead Aid (2009), is just one example...

Aid effectiveness Aid policy Conflict management

Policy Brief

Aid for governance: How to support effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions for sustainable development? Economic assistance and foreign aid Education Planning

Journal Article

What Is the Aggregate Economic Rate of Return to Foreign Aid?

In recent years, academic studies have been converging towards the view that foreign aid promotes aggregate economic growth...

Economic assistance and foreign aid Economic development Simulation methods (Economics)

Blog

Will Norway’s model of Sovereign Wealth Fund work in Tanzania?: A reality check

by Alan R. Roe
May 2016

Several countries in Africa – including Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda - have recently discovered large oil and gas or other mineral resources...

Economic assistance and foreign aid Fiscal policy Mineral industries

by Finn Tarp
March 2016

International Women’s Day on 8th March 2016 is a time to celebrate. It is also a time for reflection...

Economic assistance and foreign aid Equality and inequality Women

Journal Article

Gender Inequality, Female Leadership and Aid Allocation: A Panel Analysis of Aid for Education

Part of Journal Special Issue Aid for Gender Equality and Development

Economic assistance and foreign aid Education Women

Journal Special Issue

Aid, Education Policy, and Development

The studies of this Special Issue aim to address the general question of how aid can better support the collective actions that seek to improve education systems in developing countries...

Economic assistance and foreign aid Economic policy Sustainable development