DevDispatch Recommends: January 2022 Publications
2022 is off to an eventful start judging by the depth of issues explored through the different development reports released this month alone. We identified six publications released this month covering human rights, productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa, global employment trends, corruption and global economics.
Enjoy our January selection!
Boosting Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa : Policies and Institutions to Promote Efficiency
By The World Bank Group and César Calderón
Productivity improvement is essential for sustained economic growth. The report documents productivity trends in Sub-Saharan Africa and examines the evolution of productivity in the region relative to other African countries and regions.
The publication assesses the implications of production decisions across agricultural farms and manufacturing firms and suggests that there is a productivity gap in Sub-Saharan Africa owing to the slow accumulation of physical and human capital relative to the region’s growing population and inadequate policies and institutions that foster allocative inefficiency of resources such as capital, land, and labor, which in turn compromises final output.
Some recommendations made to boost productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa include the adoption of digital technologies to reduce market frictions and identifying different channels of policy transmission to enhance productivity.
The 177 paged report is a great reference resource for economists and policy makers.
Human Rights Watch World Report 2022
By Human Rights Watch
The 32nd annual Human Rights Watch World Report offers a country by country assessment of human rights conditions in over 100 countries and territories worldwide in 2021.The state of global human rights trends is assessed along country specific contexts and categories including abuses by government, pre and post election violence, press freedom, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability rights, freedom of speech, corruption, women’s rights counterterrorism, climate policy and impacts, migrant and refugee rights.
The overview of the report is that in 2021, democracy was put to the test through several accounts of crackdowns on opposition voices in countries including China, Egypt, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh and military takeovers in Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, and Guinea, and undemocratic transfers of power in Tunisia and Chad. However, this threat against democracy is qualified by the fact that mostly, the demand for rights-respecting democracy continues to undermine autocratic systems.
This extensive 764 pager is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, citizens, and human right lawyers and activists.
Global Economic Prospects
By World Bank
Global economic recovery is under threat owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, record high debt levels, climate change increasing commodity price volatility, decreased policy and fiscal support. The Global Economic Prospects report provides an outlook of global economic growth and includes analytical pieces on the features and implications of global commodity price cycles, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global income inequality, and the experience with past coordinated debt restructurings.
The report predicts slow global economic recovery for 2022 and suggests that:
- Global growth is expected to decelerate markedly to 4.1 percent in 2022, reflecting continued COVID-19 flare-ups, diminished fiscal support, and lingering supply bottlenecks.
- Global growth is projected to soften further to 3.2 percent in 2023, as pent-up demand wanes and supportive macroeconomic policies continue to be unwound.
- Growth in most emerging market and developing economies (EMDE) regions in 2022-23 is projected to revert to the average rates during the decade prior to the pandemic.
- By 2023, annual output is expected to remain below the pre-pandemic trend in all EMDE regions, in contrast to advanced economies, where the gap is projected to close.
The report is a long read at 240 pages and serves as a good reference document for economists, finance ministries and policy makers.
The Global Risks Report
By World Economic Forum
Global economic recovery is currently a hot topic and rightfully so, economies are the backbone of society. The World Economic forum produced Global Risks Report asserts that generally, the global economic outlook remains weak. The global economy is expected to be 2.3% smaller by 2024 than it would have been in the absence of the pandemic. In addition, the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic risks deepening global divisions at a time when societies and the international community urgently need to collaborate to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and address compounding global risks.
The Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) which underpinned this report gathered new and broader insights from nearly 1,000 global experts, and provided the following recommendations:
- For the next five years, respondents signal societal and environmental risks as the most concerning
- A disorderly climate transition will exacerbate inequalities
- Growing digital dependency will intensify cyberthreats
- Barriers to mobility risk compounding global insecurity
The 117 paged report is recommended for economists, finance ministries and policy makers.
Transit Oriented Development in practice.
A powerful example of impact on the ground in the area of Housing by our Brazil Cities team – and a story of how interventions in one city led to an approach that was scaled up and adopted as part of a Brazilian national law that set the standards for better quality social housing.
Three Challenges to Safe and Affordable Urban Housing
The blog raises three critical challenges: (i) importance of core services in informal settlements and slums, (ii) need to support housing rental markets, and (iii) making better use of underutilized land in city centers.
Can Housing Be Affordable Without Being Efficient?
The blog highlights the importance of giving due attention to building efficiency in affordable housing projects, both location efficiency and on-site energy and water efficiency. The key message: over their lifetimes, efficient homes are more affordable, healthier and provide better opportunities for residents than conventional buildings.
World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2022 By ILO
For quick reads, check out these blog posts
This edition of the World Employment and Social Outlook provides an overview on the 2022 global labour market, and argues that the COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing variants has dampened efforts towards gains in decent work made before the pandemic and a return to pre-pandemic performance remains uncertain for the coming years.
The 128 paged report projects that total hours worked globally in 2022 will remain almost 2 per cent below their pre-pandemic level and global unemployment is projected to stand at 207 million in 2022, surpassing its 2019 level by approximately 21 million. It also states that recovery patterns vary significantly across regions, countries and sectors, with employment growth trends in low- and middle-income countries remaining significantly below those observed in richer economies.
2023 projections suggest that a full recovery remains elusive.
This publication is a great pick for practitioners within the labour and employment policy space
Transit Oriented Development in practice.
A powerful example of impact on the ground in the area of Housing by our Brazil Cities team – and a story of how interventions in one city led to an approach that was scaled up and adopted as part of a Brazilian national law that set the standards for better quality social housing.
Three Challenges to Safe and Affordable Urban Housing
The blog raises three critical challenges: (i) importance of core services in informal settlements and slums, (ii) need to support housing rental markets, and (iii) making better use of underutilized land in city centers.
Can Housing Be Affordable Without Being Efficient?
The blog highlights the importance of giving due attention to building efficiency in affordable housing projects, both location efficiency and on-site energy and water efficiency. The key message: over their lifetimes, efficient homes are more affordable, healthier and provide better opportunities for residents than conventional buildings.
Malawi Economic Monitor, December 2020 : Doing More with Less - Improving Service Delivery in Energy and Water
By the World Bank
The pandemic has induced a sharp recession in many countries across the globe. Malawi’s economy has been heavily affected, with growth projected at 1.0 percent in 2020, down from earlier projections of 4.8 percent. With population growth around 3.0 percent, this represents a 2.0 percent contraction in per capita GDP. Political stability has returned following the June 2020 Presidential elections, which should support investment. However, global and domestic factors emanating from the pandemic are affecting Malawi’s economy, including: 1) disruption in global value chains and trade and logistics; 2) decrease in tourism; and 3) decrease in remittances. This has combined with social distancing policies and behavior to also reduce domestic demand. The Malawi Economic Monitor (MEM) provides an analysis of economic and structural development issues in Malawi. The publication intends to foster better-informed policy analysis and debate regarding the key challenges that Malawi faces in its endeavor to achieve high rates of inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2021
By Transparency International
The 2021 Corruption Perceptions index provides perceived levels of public sector corruption in 180 countries/territories around the world. The report reveals that corruption levels have stagnated worldwide in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It underscores that corruption is closely tied to human rights abuses and as rights and freedoms diminish, authoritarianism gains centre stage and contributes to higher levels of corruption.
Out of a score of 100 as very clean and 0 being highly corrupt, the average score amongst the countries surveyed was 43 out of 100. The report recommends that the powers that be, be held to account, institutional checks on power be restored and strengthened, the right to information on government spending be upheld and suggests combating transnational corruption.
The publication is a quick visual read at 22 pages, recommended for human rights activists and lobbyists.
Global SDG Accountability Report
By the Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network.
This report serves to ascertain the level of accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals at a subnational, national and international level. Information gathered from the SDG Accountability Survey serves as the basis of this report by collecting reflections and inputs from stakeholders around the world.
Split into four sections the report looks at:
1. The foundations of the 2030 Agenda – which explains and contextualises the SDGs;
2. A snapshot of SDG accountability – which outlines the challenges being faced by stakeholders in implementing the SDGs especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
3. Building a Global Multistakeholder Movement for SDG Accountability – which focuses on case studies of different stakeholders and their role in accountability and how they can improve accountability
4. Recommendations to Advance Accountability for the SDGs & the 2030 Agenda – which summarises the findings of the report and provides recommendations for specific stakeholders.
This report is an asset for the media, parliamentarians and national human rights institutions. It’s 101 pages but is organised such that it can be read in sections relevant to the information you are looking for.
The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Education, Livelihoods & Food Security Status: Policy Implications For Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
By P. Tamasiga, A.T. Guta, H. Onyeaka, H. Nkoutchou and M.S. Kalane.
Sub-Saharan countries were particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 as they were already experiencing weak health care systems, low financing for testing and very few resources for response measures. This data-driven report outlines the key trends of the COVID-19 pandemic by region, highlighting case trajectories, lockdown and containment measures, economic impacts, education impacts and health impacts. South Africa still accounts for the highest number of cases and deaths followed by Ethiopia and Nigeria.
Along with containing COVID-19, Central Africa is still facing the additional challenges of pre-existing health concerns, especially malaria.
The policy implications are focussed on supply chains, trade and market access, food and agricultural production, misinformation and the media, health, education and strategic communication. Sub-Saharan Africa has already been deemed to be the most at risk for food insecurity and this is expected to increase 2.5 fold.
Global progress report on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, 2021
By WHO
This report looks into how effective the strategies planned for 2016-2021 have been in the fight against HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs. Progress has indeed been made despite the disruption of the global pandemic but in the same breath, there are still many targets that have not been reached. The number of new HIV infections has fallen by 23% to its lowest rate since 2010 with 1.7 million new infections in 2019 however this is far from the target of only 500 000 new infections.
Stigma and lack of resources to implement people-centred policies and services still remain the largest hindrance. COVID-19 severely affected the ability for people to get tested easily. This report analyses the success and shortfalls of each WHO region. The report recommends that the only way to try and get back on track is for governments to collaborate their efforts into universal health care systems beneficial for the most vulnerable.
This report is targeted at anyone who works with marginalised communities of people infected by HIV, hepatitis or any STIs and is also a good read for health care workers and policy makers. It is moderately long at 108 pages.
Mainstreaming gender in urban public transport
By Stockholm Environment Institute
Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent, yet walking still remains the most affordable mode of transport in urban areas. This is due to a lack of service provision. There is also a large gender inequality problem when it comes to transport both in operation and in use. This report seeks to shed light on the under researched matter of women’s participation in transport decision making and their use of public transport systems.
The report uses the case studies of Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala by interviewing all members of society from taxi drivers to policy makers in the ministries of transport and transport planners. The report identifies accessibility and safety of public transport systems, sexual assault and harassment, lack of integrated and gender sensitive urban planning and underrepresentation as larger barriers towards gene=der mainstreaming in transport.
This report is the perfect short read for city and transport planners at only 40 pages.
Terrorism in the Sahel Facts and Figures
By NATO Strategic Direction- South, ACSRT
The fight against terrorism in the Sahel is still a major issue that deserves attention as the number of terrorist attacks has increased by 18.5% in 2020. This report analyses current and past data to show a conclusive analysis on the rate of terrorism. The largest threats come from the following terrorist groups Boko Haram, ISGS, JNIM and ISWAP and the most affected countries are Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
This analysis is taken in the form of quantitative analysis with a lot of informative graphs and infographics as well as qualitatively by looking at the types of attacks. The report concludes that 2020 has been the most intense year in terms of terrorism in the Sahel.
This report is target to all members defence ministries and counter-terrorism organisations. It is a very brief read with only 37 pages.