Virtual Library

This WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources is an Internet directory of over 2000 annotated links to high-quality English-language sources of information and analysis in many international and global studies topics. Sites are carefully selected for their long-term value, favoring those with cost-free, authoritative information and analysis online.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 


Principal Blogs, Portals, Directories, Networks, and Search Engines
Other Sources


Principal Blogs, Portals, Directories, Networks, and Search Engines about International Development


Insightful Blogs on International Development Issues-- World Bank Blogs, Center for Global Development, Global Development (The Guardian), Working in Development (The Guardian), Development Channel (Council on Foreign Relations), Democracy Lab (Foreign Policy), Ideas for Development (French Development Agency), Insights (Overseas Development Institute, UK), Development Horizons (International Food Policy Research Institute), Global Development: Views from the Center (Center for Global Development), Development and Cooperation (Engagement Global), Education plus Development (Brookings Institution), Global Development Institute (University of Manchester), Effective States and Inclusive Development


AidData-- "A development research and innovation lab at the College of William & Mary [USA]. Our interdisciplinary team of 40 faculty and staff helps international development organizations to more effectively track, target, coordinate, and evaluate their investments. We use precise data and rigorous methods to address the question of ‘who is doing what, where, for whom, and to what effect’." Huge global development project and resource tracking open data bank, with maps and many analytical publications.


Development Experience Clearinghouse-- From the U.S. Agency for International Development, which bills the site as "the largest online resource for USAID-funded technical and project materials... [with] nearly 200,000 items available for review or download." Also videos and much information on U.S. foreign aid itself.

European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes-- The "leading European network in the field of development research and training," an excellent source for analyses about international development. "The EADI Research Monitor is an online database which presents research papers, policy briefs, opinion pieces and research projects of EADI members."


Institute of Development Studies-- From the University of Sussex, England, one of the world's leading sources for research, teaching and information on international development, offering a broad and excellent range of information systems and services. The components of IDS include:
1.  Eldis, with the slogan "Sharing the best in global development research for policy and practice," is a superlative directory and gateway to electronic information resources on development issues, with reports, regional and country profiles, and a database of thousands of papers online at its site or linked.
2.  Governance and Social Development Resource Centre aims to help reduce poverty by informing policymaking and enhancing professional knowledge in relation to governance, conflict, and social development. Note especially the Publications page.


Open Knowledge Hub-- "Collaborative 'Open Data' platform for sharing digital content about development that aims to improve the supply and accessibility of content that supports evidence-informed policy making and practice by development actors. A key aspect of the hub’s design is to raise the profile of diverse perspectives on development, paying particular attention to research content from developing countries." Many free high quality publications are available through this site.


Poverty Search Facility-- From Eldis, a world-class UK directory and gateway to electronic information resources on development, to search thousands of high quality online publications concerning global, regional, and country poverty issues. Additional related topics to search are found under the "Topics" dropdown menu at the top of this page.


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Other Sources about International Development


Bank Information Center-- An "independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides information and strategic support to NGOs and social movements throughout the world on the projects, policies and practices of the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks." Much practical information, plus links.


Bertelsmann Transformation Index-- "Result of the collaboration of nearly 300 country and regional experts from leading universities and think tanks worldwide. The project analyzes and compares transformation processes towards democracy and inclusive market economy worldwide. The BTI aims to identify successful strategies for steering change.” Many global, regional, and country reports and relevant data.


The Broker-- From the UK, "an independent platform and online magazine on globalization and development, bringing together cutting-edge knowledge and expert opinions from researchers, policymakers and practitioners... [and acting] as an intermediary between knowledge networks, ‘brokering’ global development knowledge to inform practitioners and provide new and integrated perspectives on current global policy issues."


Center for Global Development-- Research institute "dedicated to reducing global poverty and inequality through policy-oriented research and active engagement on development issues with the policy community and the public." Site offers working papers, policy briefs, articles, opinion pieces, data sources, news and commentary, the Commitment to Development Index, and more.


Country Indicators for Foreign Policy--  High-quality project between Carleton University and the Canadian government to develop "a number of wide-ranging tools that encompass, among other things, the monitoring, forecasting, and evaluation of failed and fragile states, as well as the assessment of supporting policies intended to address the development, security, and economic challenges they represent." Site posts Governance and Democracy Handbook, data, and many insightful reports and methodologies relevant to governance and democracy processes, conflict risk assessment, and fragile and failed states.


Democracy Barometer-- "Project [which] has developed an instrument to assess the quality of democracy in 30 established democracies and to measure the fine differences that exist between them. It allows for benchmarking between established democracies and, as democracy is seen as an ongoing process, a critical observation of their democratic development over time." Includes datasets, country profiles, interactive comparison graphs, publications, and more.


Department for International Development-- "The part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty." Posts news, country profiles, case studies, research reports.

Development Executive Group (Devex)-- Social enterprise providing free recruiting services and business information for the international development community, with a network of international development professionals, development news, career advice, business advice, and project notices from donor agencies.

Developmental Leadership Program-- Joint effort supported by the Australian government and "government, academic and civil society partners from around the world to explore the role of human agency in the processes of development [and] address the policy, strategic and operational implications of 'thinking and working politically'." Posts studies on the role of leadership in development in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific.


Effective States and Inclusive Development-- From the Global Development Institute (UK), a "global partnership investigating the kinds of politics that promote development... deepening the understanding of governance in the developing world in ways that impact on policy and practice so that people’s lives and livelihoods are improved." Posts many papers, books, and a blog.


Fragile States Index-- From the Fund for Peace, an annual ranking and global map of the countries of the world, according to the degrees of state effectiveness and weaknesses-- "a critical tool in highlighting not only the normal pressures that all states experience, but also in identifying when those pressures are pushing a state towards the brink of failure." Includes methodology, data, country and global analysis, trends, and past rankings.

Freedom House-- Many online studies ranking countries on measures of freedom (including press freedom), informative backgrounders, and other publications are offered by this nonprofit, nonpartisan U.S. organization dedicated to promoting democracy around the world. Note especially their extensive yearly online report Freedom in the World.

Gapminder-- "Non-profit venture for development and provision of free software that visualise human development... in collaboration with universities, UN organisations, public agencies and non-governmental organisations." Fine site features free software, videos, data, and interactive moving graphics to visualize facts, data, and trends in development measures.


Global Age Watch Index-- "Ranks countries by how well their aging populations are faring. It is based on four domains that are key enablers of older people's well-being: income, health, employment and education, and enabling environment." Also includes "report cards" by countries, topical reports, data, blogs, and the Index Insight Report.

Global Development Institute-- At the University of Manchester, UK, this "largest dedicated development research and teaching institute in Europe" posts numerous publications from a world-class staff of researchers, on many topics of development worldwide.

Global Gender Gap Report-- From the World Economic Forum, analyzes "the evolution of gender-based gaps among four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment) and tracks progress towards closing these gaps over time," worldwide.


Global Innovation Index-- From the World Intellectual Property Organization, INSEAD, and Cornell University, "a leading reference on innovation and a valuable bench-marking tool for decision-makers... provides an annual ranking of the innovation capabilities and performance of economies around the world."


Global Integrity-- "Generates, synthesizes, and disseminates credible, comprehensive and timely information on governance and corruption trends around the world... Our information is meant to serve simultaneously as a roadmap for engaged citizens, a reform checklist for policymakers, and a guide to the business climate for investors." Posts much insightful data and analysis. Note especially the Global Integrity Report.

Global Poverty Mapping Project-- "The Global Poverty Mapping Project seeks to enhance current understanding of the global distribution of poverty and the geographic and biophysical conditions of where the poor live."  From the Center for International Earth Science Information Network of Columbia University. Site posts data sets, maps/atlas of poverty, studies, project methods, and more.

Human Freedom Index-- “Presents the state of human freedom in the world based on a broad measure that encompasses personal, civil, and economic freedom. Human freedom... recognizes the dignity of individuals and is defined here as negative liberty or the absence of coercive constraint. [This] Index is a resource that can help to more objectively observe relationships between freedom and other social and economic phenomena... Co-published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute, and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.”


Indices of Social Development-- From the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, with World Bank support, "an innovative database, which will open new areas of research on social development, comparing various dimensions within countries, and their impact on other aspects of development." Aims to show "weaknesses and strengths across countries, as well as the links between social development and other development outcomes." Presents downloadable data and charts on six main indicators for many countries since 1990.

International Center for Research on Women-- "Works to make women in developing countries an integral part of alleviating global poverty... to ensure that global development programs and policies help improve the lives of women and girls around the world." Posts many reports, policy briefs, and position papers.

International Development Research Centre-- A "public corporation created by the Canadian government to help communities in the developing world find solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems through research." This site provides full-text publications, research databases, project information, funding opportunities, and links.

International Finance Corporation-- Part of the World Bank Group, IFC is "the largest multilateral source of loan and equity financing for private sector projects in the developing world," with special interest in sustainable private sector development. The site posts many papers and reports on global and regional aspects of sustainable private sector development.

International Food Policy Research Institute-- "Seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty... one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations." Posts policy briefs, research manuscripts, and the annual Global Nutrition Report. Note the Library and Knowledge Management section.


International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance-- "Intergovernmental organization that supports democracy worldwide... as a universal human aspiration and an enabler of sustainable development, through support to the building, strengthening and safeguarding of democratic political institutions and processes at all levels." Publications include the annual Global State of Democracy Report and other trackers of democracy worldwide.


International Institute for Environment and Development-- Aims "to promote sustainable patterns of world development through collaborative research, policy studies, networking and knowledge dissemination," especially on major global issues. Many reports, policy and issue papers, and newsletters available free in PDF format.

International Monetary Fund-- The IMF oversees a wide range of international economic and financial issues. At the eLibrary, you can "find in-depth, independent analysis on the financial crisis, development, macroeconomics, poverty reduction, trade, globalization, and much more."  Numerous publications on economic and financial issues, including country information and World Economic Outlook Reports, are available and searchable online. The Data Mapper presents World Economic Outlook data in map, graphic, and bubble chart form, such as GDP, inflation, and current account balance, from 1980 to the present, plus five-year projections. There is a video archive. Also see the quarterly journal Finance and Development.

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth-- "Supported by the Poverty Practice, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP and the Government of Brazil... to facilitate South-South learning in development solutions by fostering policy dialogue; carrying out policy-oriented research; as well as conducting training and evaluation." Posts working papers, policy research briefs, issues of Poverty In Focus magazine, one pagers and country studies.

Legatum Prosperity Index-- National and global rankings and analysis "using a holistic definition of prosperity to include both material wealth and quality of life. Rather than replicating other measurements that rank countries by their actual levels of wealth, life satisfaction, or development, the Prosperity Index produces rankings based on the foundations of prosperity. These are the factors that help drive economic growth and produce happy citizens in a given country." Also check the various other programs and publications that this Institute has about development.


National Endowment for Democracy-- Private, nonprofit U.S. organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. 
In addition to other NED publications on-site, the Journal of Democracy posts some articles online.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-- The international organization of the industrialized, market-economy countries, to exchange information and harmonize policy to maximize economic growth within member countries and assist non-member countries to develop more rapidly. OECD data and statistics search facilities are available online. Development Finance Data is presented in "a range of easy to view formats from high level overviews to country and sector specific data." The Publishing section is a good place to start searching for publications, as are the iLibrary and the Working Papers Series. OECD resources focusing on a particular country (OECD member or not) can be found in the Countries section. The very useful yearly OECD Factbook is "an essential tool providing a global overview of world economic, social and environmental trends." The Regional Well-Being: A Closer Measure of Life site "allows you to measure well-being in your region and compare it with 362 other OECD regions based on nine topics central to the quality of our lives."


Our World in Data-- From the the Global Change Data Lab, insightful "online publication that shows how living conditions around the world are changing. It communicates this empirical knowledge through interactive data visualizations (charts and maps) and by presenting the research findings on global development that explain what drives the changes that we see and what the consequences of these changes are."

Overseas Development Institute-- "Britain's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Our mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries." Posts many reports, discussion papers, briefings, toolkits, topical resource libraries, and so on.

Oxfam's Policy, Practice, and Research-- Thousands of free Oxfam publications on development: "training manuals, research reports and policy briefs – based on our 70 years in the field, as well as programme overviews, staff profiles and our practitioner blog."


Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative-- From Oxford University, posts many studies resultant from its programs "to build and advance a more systematic methodological and economic framework for reducing multidimensional poverty, grounded in people’s experiences and values," through "broadening poverty measurement, improving data on poverty, building capacity, and impacting policy." Note especially the thorough Global Multidimensional Poverty Index.

SciDev.Net-- Science and Development Network, "a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing reliable and authoritative information about science and technology for the developing world... we give policymakers, researchers, the media and civil society information and a platform to explore how science and technology can reduce poverty, improve health and raise standards of living around the world."


Social Progress Imperative-- An attempt "to advance global human wellbeing, by combining national social performance and capacity indicators with solutions-oriented outreach to sector leaders, and grassroots champions, who together can effect large-scale change." Numerous publications and videos, including the key Social Progress Index, which uses over 50 indicators to measure "the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens."

Social Watch-- "International network informed by national citizens' groups aiming at following up the fulfillment of the internationally agreed commitments on poverty eradication and equality. These national groups report, through the national Social Watch Report[s], on the progress - or regression- towards these commitments and goals." Posts the annual Social Watch Report, Global Interactive Map, Gender Equity Index, and many publications and occasional papers.

South Centre-- An intergovernmental organization of  developing countries based in Geneva, Switzerland, dedicated to providing policy analysis support for equitable development for the global South, and greater South-South co-operation in promotion of common interests. Policy papers, studies, and newsletter online.

Transparency International-- "The global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption... to create change towards a world free of corruption... by building momentum for the anti-corruption movement, raising awareness and diminishing apathy and tolerance of corruption, as well as devising and implementing practical actions to address it." TI's many excellent online corruption surveys, indices, working papers, and reports analyze and rank countries "in terms of the degree to which they are perceived to be the homes of... public officials who abuse their office for personal gain."

UN Women-- The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women's site describes the entity's work, and that of others, to promote women's empowerment and gender equality. Posts news and online publications on women's issues around the world, including the biennial Progress of the World's Women and the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)-- This U.N. agency "protects children and their rights by providing services and supplies and by helping shape policy agendas and budgets in the best interests of children." UNICEF compiles and publishes information on the situation of children, performance of countries in caring for children, protection of children's rights, and its programs for children. Many publications are online about development as it affects children, such as the annual The State of the World's Children.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development-- "UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues." Site posts major development studies in summary or full-text, basic documents, and newsletters. Check out the many UNCTAD program subsites.

United Nations Development Programme-- Promotes sustainable human development by assisting countries to build their capacity to design and carry out development programs. Online reports and statistics are available in great quantity. See the major annual Human Development Report, an excellent comprehensive guide to global human development, with links to regional and country HDI reports and to other analytical material.

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development-- UNRISD attempts to provide governments, development agencies, grassroots organizations, and scholars with a better understanding of how development policies and processes of economic, social, and environmental change affect different social groups. Online reports and forum.

U.N. Women Watch-- Women Watch is a gateway to U.N. information and data on women worldwide and a forum on global women's issues, to provide up to date information on the U.N.'s work on behalf of the women of the world, track the global agenda for improving the status of women, and constitute an electronic space for exchange of information and ideas on women's issues.

U.S. Agency for International Development-- Extensive development information, reports, data, and news from AID, the "lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential."


Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)-- "New approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. We provide a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond the simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between five high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian, and collects data to measure these principles." Multinational project based at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.


WomanStats Project-- The "largest cross-national compilation of data, statistics, and maps on the status of women worldwide... organized by country [with] over 350 variables for 176 countries."


World Bank Group sources:

             This ultra-rich megasite contains texts, statistics, and images of thousands of World Bank Reports on development. The valuable Open Knowledge Repository serves to "increase access to information at the World Bank and to make its research as widely available as possible." The News Page is a helpful stop. The eLibrary facilitates finding and accessing World Bank publications and knowledge. Good access points for economic research data and reports online are the Data, Research and Outlook, and Documents and Reports pages. Note the Data Catalog, "a listing of available World Bank datasets, including databases, pre-formatted tables, reports, and other resources," such as social, governance, financial, economic, and climate statistics, data, and reports. The Countries and Economies page presents time-series tables of key indicators by country. Also see the country data and analysis available in the Where We Work section.
            The Atlas of Global Development presents development data clearly with maps, graphs, and analysis.
The Geospatial Poverty Portal "offers the latest data on subnational poverty, inequality, and multidimensional poverty and small area estimation guidelines." The annual World Development Indicators is "compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates." The Indicators Databank has hundreds of indicators from the World Development Indicators data set, covering over 200 countries from 1960 to date. The Global Economic Prospects and related sections offer economic analysis and forecasts. Also see the Topics page for World Bank reports by topic. The World Bank YouTube channel posts videos on development topics.

            The World Development Report section allows access to the full series of these reports from the World Bank on major development issues (since 1978). Also consult World Development Indicators, "the World Bank's premier annual compilation of data about development." The Poverty section provides a very useful and large directory for World Bank reports and data on poverty around the world. The Gender site highlights projects, programs, publications, policy, news, and events concerning women's issues. The Gender Data Portal is "the World Bank Group’s comprehensive source for the latest sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics covering demography, education, health, access to economic opportunities, public life and decision-making, and agency." The Worldwide Governance Indicators project reports and analyzes aggregate and individual governance indicators on six dimensions of governance for 215 economies since 1996. The Human Capital Project is "a global effort to accelerate more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth," featuring a Human Capital Index and other reports.

            The World Bank Group's Archives Holdings website "is a state-of-the-art platform, which maximizes the public’s online access to a vast amount of original primary source material in the custody of the Archives."


World Happiness Report-- From the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, "landmark survey of the state of global happiness... describe[s] how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations. The reports review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness," with national rankings.


World Inequality Report 2022-- A comprehensive global assessment that "relies on a cutting-edge methodology to measure income and wealth inequality in a systematic and transparent manner. By developing this report, the World Inequality Lab seeks to fill a democratic gap and to equip various actors of society with the necessary facts to engage in informed public debates on inequality." Note the large amount of global and country data and analysis in the World Inequality Database.


World Resources Institute-- A policy research center striving to address how societies can meet basic human needs and promote economic growth without undermining natural resources and environmental integrity. This site posts a large number of full-text studies, maps, data, and other resources. Note the World Resources Report.


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This section of the WWW Virtual Library system was created, and is edited and maintained, by Dr. Wayne A.Selcher, Professor of International Studies Emeritus, Department of Political Science, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA 17022-2288  U.S.A., as a volunteer and non-profit public service. This website copyright 1997-present by Wayne A. Selcher. E-mail: wayneselcher@comcast.net