News and Events
Scholarship Opportunity for Non-U.S. University Graduates Interested in the Two Year Masters’ Degree in International Development Policy with a Peace & Conflict Concentration
2012/05/24 11:46:50
The Duke-UNC Rotary Center for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution and the Duke Center for International Development (DCID) encourage highly qualified mid-career professionals from outside the U.S. to apply for a Rotary World Peace Fellowship in 2013-14 in order to support their studies for a masters’ degree in international development policy with a concentration in peace and conflict resolution. Application deadline: July 1, 2012. To apply, go to http://www.rotarypeacecenternc.org/HowToApply.html [more]
Prof. Catherine Admay Wins Outstanding Teaching Award from DGHI
2012/05/17 10:52:41
A visiting professor of public policy and affiliate of the Duke Global Health Institute, Catherine Admay was overwhelmingly nominated by students for making a lasting impression on their education in global health. Her students refer to her as superwoman, a great teacher but an even greater person, creative, passionate, encouraging, the quintessential example of a professor who sees student learning and intellectual development as going hand-in-hand. They say she empowers students to effect change and equips them to do so. Her students call this “The Admay Effect.”
“The passion and energy of our students is nurtured and strengthened by our faculty,” said Michael Merson, founding director of DGHI. “I am proud to present my colleagues … with a special award to honor their hard work, dedication and commitment to our students.”
MIDP Fellows Present at Duke-UNC Conference on Latin American and the Caribbean
2012/03/03 16:49:08
On February 17th, six MIDP fellows presented the topic “Understanding Change in Contemporary Latin America” at the 2012 Duke-UNC Conference on Latin America and the Caribbean. Matias Arrau presented on “Different Dimensions of the Current Conflict over Education Policy in Chile,” Eduardo da Costa on “Recent Trends in Development Policy and Conflict in the Brazilian Amazon Region,” Johanna Kelly on “The Transformation of the Violence Profile in Colombia,” Rafaela Moura on “The Recent Rise of the Middle Class in Brazil,” Matias Zelikowicz on “Alternatives for Cuban Energy Supply to Reduce Dependency on Venezuelan Oil,” and Eduardo Marenco on “Innovative Journalism to Increase Awareness of Corruption in Nicaragua, Argentina, and Costa Rica.” The panel was organized and moderated by MIDP Professor Fernando Fernholz. Eduardo da Costa also coordinated the showing of the films Children of the Amazon and Trading Bows and Arrows, which depict stories of struggle and hope concerning the people and the environment of the Amazon.
Duke-UNC Rotary Center TV Debut
2012/02/28 13:19:34
Francis Lethem and Jim Peacock, co-directors of the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center, discuss its objectives and achievements during an interview with UNC-TV on February 6, 2012. To watch the interview, please click [more]
Finding the World's Missing Children
2012/02/23 08:52:45
MIDP Alumna organizing major international conference in Brasilia to address the global problem of at least 8 million missing children. For further information, please visit [more]
DCID faculty Tony Elson quoted in USA Today
2012/01/27 17:48:53
In a USA Today article Friday, December 9, 2011, on the potential role of economists in determining the European Union’s future, Sandra Block quotes DCID faculty member Tony Elson regarding examples of economists who were successfully called to lead their country during fiscal crises. Mr. Elson also observed that “To succeed as political leaders, economists must be able to negotiate with other lawmakers. [Though] compromise may not come easily to individuals who are trained to seek the optimal solution for every problem.” In fall 2011, Professor Elson taught a course on “The recent financial crisis and reform of the international financial architecture.” [more]
Panelists address NGO-military relations in post-conflict situations
2012/01/27 17:40:38
Collaboration between civilian organizations and the military is crucial in providing support to fragile and post-conflict areas, panelists said Thursday evening.
Representatives from military and developmental civilian groups discussed both the challenges and potential benefits of working together in relief operations. As the latest installment in the Sanford School of Public Policy’s Rethinking Development Policy Lecture series, the panel addressed key policy issues to a large audience.
The differing roles of military and nongovernmental organizations complicate collaboration efforts in post–conflict areas, said Chris Seiple, president of the Institute for Global Engagement, which promotes sustainable religious freedom around the world.
“There are differences in the overall goals of the military and NGOs,” Seiple said. “For example, while the military brings security and instant reconstruction, NGOs raise situational awareness and provide measures for effectiveness.”
Read [more]
Children of the Amazon – a Discussion with MIDP and Rotary Peace Fellow Eduardo da Costa
2011/11/19 10:59:11
Bringing the concerns of local peoples in the Amazon forest to students at Duke has been a passion for MIDP⁄Rotary fellow Eduardo da Costa. Eduardo, who is from the Brazilian Amazon state of Para, has focused his studies and research on inclusive and sustainable development in this largest tropical rainforest in the world. On Sunday November 13, 2011, after a film showing of the Denise Zmekhol film “Children of the Amazon” sponsored by The Working Group for Environment in Latin America and the North Carolina Latin American Film Festival, Eduardo led an active discussion on sustainable development and some strategies that can empower local people to participate in, and benefit from, development programs while protecting the Amazon forest. This is urgent as pointed out in the film: in a 15 year span ending 2008, 150 million acres of Amazon forest were destroyed and much more is threatened.
Eduardo pointed out the big challenges and opportunity for students in environment and in public policy: to address the realities of change and to come up with creative solutions that can foster development which enhances the lives and livelihoods of the Amazon Indian people, and protects the forest. Eduardo da Costa is a second year Rotary World Peace and MIDP Fellow who intends to devote his career to public policy and possible local political leadership in Brazil.
Provost Peter Lange speaks at graduation lunch of second USAID cost-benefit analysis program
2011/08/16 15:15:22
Provost Peter Lange congratulated the twenty-five senior USAID officials from around the world who completed on July 29, 2011 a four-week intensive workshop on Applied Cost-benefit and Cost-effectiveness Analysis at the Duke Center for International Development (DCID). He underlined the importance attached by Duke University to such a program that extends the university’s global reach while putting knowledge at the service of society both in the US and developing countries.
This is the second year that DCID offers this program, which uses an integrated analytic framework based on the pioneering work of Professor Arnold Harberger to ensure judicious selection of investment projects in developing countries. The framework consists of three main components: financial analysis, economic analysis and distributive (stakeholder) analysis, complemented by sensitivity analysis, and risk analysis and management. At the end of their program, participants grouped in 8 country teams demonstrated their mastery of the methodology by publicly presenting its application to a project selected from their country’s portfolio.
After the "Rose Revolution"
2012/01/27 17:37:56
Rewriting a nation’s entire tax code might seem like a pipedream to most policymakers, but that’s what alumnus Aleksi Aleksishvili MIDP ’04 was able to do for his home country of Georgia. As part of the administration brought into power by the “Rose Revolution,” Aleksishvili was able to institute sweeping tax and economic reforms in his work as Minister of Economy (2004-2005) and Minister of Finance (2005-2007).
In 2003, an attempt by the incumbent Georgian government to manipulate national elections sparked an uprising, where protestors took to the streets, carrying roses. The Rose Revolution forced the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose administration had become increasing corrupt. In January 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili of the United National Movement party was elected president.
“There was a window of opportunity for policy changes with a new generation in political power that was more open to the rule of law and a democratic society,” said Aleksisvili. [more]
MIDP Fellow’s Master’s project contributes to important policy in India
2011/09/24 10:26:41
For his graduation in May 2009, Rajesh Bansal focused his Master’s project “Targeting government expenditure through e-governance in India: a feasibility study” on the costs and benefits of introducing a biometric smart card based National Identification System. Two major benefits were expected: the system would improve the targeting of government welfare schemes and potentially achieve major efficiency gains.
After returning to India, Rajesh was assigned by his government to work on the project he had advocated. This article from the NY Times describes progress so far.
DCID advising Egypt on taxation and governance
2011/08/16 15:48:20
While on an assignment to advise the Government of Egypt on its tax policies, DCID Professor Roy Kelly spoke on April 7, 2011 at the American University in Cairo on some of the governance and tax policy challenges that post-revolutionary Egypt might need to consider. For a full summary of his address, please click "more". [more]
World Bank Research Working Paper by MIDP Alum Hiroshi Saeki
2011/08/16 15:16:09
This week, the World Bank published a new Research Working Paper (WPS 5640) co-authored by MIDP alumnus Hiroshi Saeki on the employability of newly graduated engineers in India. Please click "more" below for a summary of the paper and access to its full text. Hiroshi, who graduated in May 2004, is with the Human Development Unit (Education) of the World Bank’s South Asia Region. [more]
DCID Alumna (and Rotary Peace Fellow) Helps with Haiti Reconstruction
2011/04/27 18:26:49
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| Louisa Dow and Bernard D. Togba Jr., meet at the Habitat for Humanity office in Haiti. Photo by Alyce Henson/Rotary Images. |
Louisa Dow is the Habitat for Humanity partnership coordinator for Haiti disaster response, responsible for the organization's relationships with the United Nations, USAID, and other agencies.
Dow manages the USAID Emergency Community Assistance and Planning (ECAP) program. Designed by Habitat for Humanity, ECAP is a nine-month, US$ 3 million emergency program that provides community-focused, on-the-ground technical support to government agencies that oversee Haiti's post-earthquake shelter and settlement initiatives.
“I feel so privileged to be in Haiti, helping families rebuild their lives by giving them the pathway to permanent housing,” says Dow.
Dow, who is from Australia, says her 2008-10 studies at Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, helped prepare her for the work. Her applied field experience with Habit for Humanity in Latin America and the Caribbean opened her eyes to the role of permanent housing in developing a peaceful and just society.
“Peace fellows work in diverse sectors,” she says. “Not all of us are about mediation or negotiation. Providing access to shelter, education, and health care services has a direct impact on people living in conflict nations.”
Dow says her fellowship, which focused on international development policy, gave her the time and space to think about how she could help people improve their quality of life.
“I don't think there is a program that could have given me a better education in development and peace than the peace fellow curriculum,” Dow says. “Being in an environment that nurtured all of us to find new and innovative areas to research was an experience like no other.” […]
Written for Reconnections by Ryan Hyland, Rotary International News, April 12, 2011. The full article is available here.
[more]Two new DCID Executive Seminars: Innovation in Public Management for the Guanzhou City Administration and Executive Program with the Kazakhstan Academy of Public Administration
2011/06/15 14:28:31
Executive Seminar on Innovation in Public Management for the Guanzhou City Administration
At the request of the Guanzhou, China, city administration, DCID organized a well-received one-week executive program on innovations in security policy and crime prevention in the United States. This intensive seminar, which took place on Duke's campus May 23-27, 2011, was attended by 15 Chinese officials. It focused on the design of appropriate performance evaluation measurements for public agencies; the use of statistical data for policy and strategic management; ways to encourage coordination between government agencies; and approaches to the privatization of security functions. The lead faculty for the seminar was Joel B. Rosch, Senior Research Scholar Research Associate, Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, and formerly Director of Research and Planning for the State Bureau of Investigation, the state police agency in North Carolina. His publications include articles on prevention policy, policing, crime prevention, dispute resolution, courts, corrections, crime trends, and the politics of crime and punishment.New Executive Program with the Kazakhstan Academy of Public Administration
As part of the strengthening of the relations between Kazakhstan and Duke University, the Academy asked DCID to organize a 1-week seminar to provide an intensive international exposure to their mid-career students under their 2-year Master’s degree program. They were particularly interested in lectures by Duke faculty in the areas of public policy, economics, and public management as these were the main subjects of the first year of their own curriculum. At the end of the week, participants made brief individual presentations on the new ideas they had gained regarding both substance and methodology. In complement with this program, DCID is hosting two faculty from the Kazakh Academy as visiting scholars, who are preparing programs in leadership development and the promotion of innovation in the public sector.MIDP Alumna’s Master’s Project Published Online
2011/04/27 16:58:48
Duke's Center on Globalization, Governance and Competetiveness (CGGC), where recent MIDP alumna Ghada Ahmed currently works as a Research Associate, has included her May 2010 Master's Project among its online research publications under the title "Employment and Human Resource Services in Egypt." The report looked into the question of what Egypt should do to develop and attract private sector staffing organizations to improve the country's employment services. You can view the report by clicking here.
[more]Rotary Fellows Present During Eighth Annual Spring Conference, "Imagining Peace"
2011/08/16 15:16:51
A joint program between Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill funded by Rotary International, the Rotary Center houses mid-career professionals working toward a master’s degree in the area of peace and conflict resolution with an emphasis on more sustainable economic, political, and human development. Graduating Rotary Peace Fellows presented their research on peace and development during the April 9, 2011, conference. You can view photos of the conference and bios of current fellows and alumni on the Duke-UNC Rotary Center website.
DCID hosts a student-led initiative: "Innovation Expo: Innovative Ideas for the International Development Challenge," April 14, 2011
2011/04/15 15:35:49
This conference brought together a group of professionals to exchange views among themselves and with the DCID faculty and student audience on their organizations' perception on innovation, their reliance on innovation, the need for collaborative efforts in international development and their vision for global innovation in the future. Panelists were Gary Gereffi, Director, The Center of Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness at Duke University; Phil Psilos, Senior Economic Growth Specialist, RTI International; Rodney Maddox, Deputy Secretary of State, North Carolina; and Anthony Lewitt, Program Director, Rational Cloud Development, IBM Corporation, with MIDP Professor Jerry VanSant as moderator.
Panelists highlighted how problems can be solved by bringing together professionals from different disciplines, the potential benefits of sharing an innovation with others, how a minor research project undertaken for altruistic reasons can lead 
to a major new line of business, the importance of collaborating with the end-user to achieve success, and the exceptional potential of cell-phone technology to revolutionize service delivery (e.g. in agriculture or health) to rural areas of developing countries.
The conference was the brainchild of MIDP students Chris Ammon (US), Abeer Dagestani (Iraq) and Ignacio Torres (Chile) for their seminar on Innovative Policies led by MIDP Professor Rosemary Fernholz.
DCID team contributes to knowledge about the design of sustainable investments in dams
2011/08/16 15:18:28
"Doing a Dam Better", just published by the World Bank, focuses on the lessons learned from the preparation of the $ 1.45 billion Nam Theun 2 (NT2) hydroelectric power project in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The book analyzes how the project concept evolved from being a mere infrastructure project to becoming a genuine "holistic" multi-faceted development and poverty reduction project. The book’s chapter 6 "Some Cross-Cutting Lessons" was written by DCID on the basis of the in-depth process it designed at the World Bank’s request to learn from the NT2 experience.
The Duke team was led by the late Dennis Rondinelli and Gary Nelson (UNC), and included Jonathan Abels, Rosemary Fernholz, Francis Lethem and Natalia Mirovitskaya. The World Bank Team was led by Messrs J. Shivakumar and Ian Porter, who are the book’s editors. Download a PDF or text version of the book here. [more, alt.]
DCID Faculty share on IMF blog about recent program on PFM capacity building in Liberia
2011/03/14 11:04:14
DCID Faculty members Roy Kelly and Richard Hemming reported on the custom executive education program "Challenges and Opportunities for Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms in Liberia" conducted at Duke and Washington, DC, February 21 - March 4, 2011. [more]
DCID Faculty and students participate in UNC-Duke Consortium Conference
2011/02/15 15:35:48
The UNC-Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies held their 2011 conference February 10-12 at Duke University and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Six DCID faculty members and students participated in panels on Saturday afternoon.
The panel entitled Contemporary Struggles and Strategies to Reduce Inequalities in Latin America featured
Fernando Fernholz, Associate Professor of the Practice of Public Policy, Trends and Prospects: Measurable result in inequality reduction for the last two decades
Aldo Perfetto, Rotary Fellow; The case of the Venezuelan Cooperative Development Model
Ignacio Torres, MIDP Fellow; Accion Emprendedora Project in Chile
Eduardo da Costa, Rotary Fellow; Brazil's Bolsa Familia Cash Transfer Program
Rosemary Fernholz, Senior Research Scholar and Lecturing Fellow in Public Policy; Prospects for Disadvantaged Groups: Indigenous Peoples
The panel entitled Brazil Social Mobility and Welfare: Politics and the Amazon Then and Now included
Daniel Glazier, MIDP Fellow; Defending the Amazon: Lessons in Leadership and Policy Advocacy from the Life of Chico Mendes [more, alt.]
New Master's Degree Program Being Developed
2011/08/16 15:19:08
On Jan. 21, Duke University, Vietnam National University (VNU) and the GE Foundation signed an agreement to develop a Master’s Degree Program in Public Policy for Environmental Protection. Sanford, DCID, and the Nicholas School are providing faculty training for the new program. [more]