Press Center

The Online Newshour quotes CGD vice president for programs and operations and senior fellow Ruth Levine's warnings that cutting global health spending during the financial crisis would have dire consequences. From the article: "Ruth Levine, a health economist and vice president for programs and operations at the Center for Global Development, said the Global Fund shortfall is "cause for significant concern" and serves as a reminder that providing foreign aid is crucial in times of economic decline. "Foreign aid tends to be a pretty easy target. It doesn't have a very deep constituency, voters at home don't feel it when it's cut," Levine said. But the domestic budget gains are often more symbolic than practical, Levine said, as foreign aid makes up only a small percentage of most high-income countries' spending. For many developing nations that aid is crucial, and in some of the most aid-dependent countries in sub-Saharran Africa, more than half of the total public health spending comes from aid commitments, Levine said. In addition, many developing countries lack the social safety nets that protect people from an economic shock. "When national budgets are squeezed because of falling tax revenues and falling donor contributions the social services for the poor are some of the first to be jeopardized," Levine said." Read the article

PBS television show WorldFocus interviews CGD senior fellow Todd Moss on the future of Obama's Africa policy. Watch the show  

U.S. Ambassador John Simon to Join Center for Global Development WASHINGTON, D.C.(June 7, 2011)—John Simon, a leader in promoting private investment in low-income countries, will join the Center for Global Development as a visiting fellow starting February 2. Simon is the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the African Union and former executive vice president of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). At OPIC, Simon spearheaded efforts to promote private investment to the developing world, including by catalyzing the creation of new private equity funds focused on social impact investment in Africa. He previously served at the White House as special assistant to the president and senior director for relief, stabilization and development in the National Security Council (NSC) and at USAID as deputy assistant administrator overseeing the agency’s development information and evaluation units. CGD president Nancy Birdsall said that Simon will draw on his many years of public and private sector experience to explore the growing wave of socially-oriented investment and its impact on the developing world. “A new class of globally-minded investors seeks not only positive financial returns but also high social returns on their investments in rural development, healthcare, affordable housing, and renewable energy. We are pleased that John Simon will be drawing on his wealth of experience to help find ways to make the most of this promising new trend. John’s record of bringing creativity and energy to provide practical solutions to pressing global problems makes him a great fit for CGD,” she said. Simon’s work will be a part of CGD’s Emerging Africa Project headed by CGD senior fellow Todd Moss, who recently returned to the Center after serving in the State Department as the deputy assistant secretary for Africa. Simon praised the Center as “a leader in producing groundbreaking research on development issues.” “I am thrilled that they have offered me the opportunity to investigate the exciting new field of social impact investment and how it can become a tool in the fight against global poverty," he said. Until recently Simon was been based in Addis Ababa as the United States’ representative to the AU. Earlier in his career, he worked at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He earned his bachelor's degree at Princeton University and a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University.

Kojo Nnamdi interviews CGD senior fellow Todd Moss on state of democracy in developing countries. Listen to the interview