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Rachel M Gisselquist @rgisselquist.bsky.social · 27d

🎉 GSDRC Working Paper #2 is out! 🎉

After Kabul: Addressing concerns about corruption in donor publics by rechannelling aid

Fresh insights from our colleagues at the Development Engagement Lab. @soominoh.bsky.social @pmorini.bsky.social Jennifer Hudson, David Hudson @unibirmingham.bsky.social

GSDRC @gsdrc.org · Sep 4

📢 New
@GSDRC
Working Paper!
How can donors maintain public support for aid in sensitive contexts?
German survey shows support rises when aid is channelled via NGOs.
🔗 shorturl.at/qGUyz
#ForeignAid #PublicOpinion #Afghanistan #DevelopmentPolicy

Cover page of report; "After Kabul Addressing concerns about corruption in donor publics by rechannelling aid

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Rachel M Gisselquist @rgisselquist.bsky.social · 29d

Had the pleasure of attending this excellent symposium today—exciting work from UKRI Future Leaders Fellow @sandrapertek.bsky.social and team! IDD @unibirmingham

Sandra Pertek, PhD @sandrapertek.bsky.social · Apr 8

Call for papers! Submission deadline fast approaching! Join our Symposium in September - women in displacement and philanthropy in Muslim-majority/-minority settings. Join this event as global aid cuts deeply affect humanitarian efforts @unibirmingham @iddbirmingham @IndianaUniv

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UNU-WIDER @unu-wider.bsky.social · Aug 25

Is there a link between inequality & democracy?

Our new research using global data says the story is less clear than many theories suggest.
Read more 👉https://go.unu.edu/FlMw6

@rgisselquist.bsky.social

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Reposted by Rachel M Gisselquist

Development Studies Association @devcomms.bsky.social · Aug 13

📚 At the UNU-WIDER conference, @rgisselquist.bsky.social presented Fragile Aid, a new volume on development in conflict-affected states. The book is now fully available online: fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...

📢 All IDD, University of Birmingham news hee: www.devstud.org.uk/2025/07/16/i...

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UNU-WIDER @unu-wider.bsky.social · Aug 4

📢 New Policy Brief: How to make aid work in fragile states
Aid in fragile contexts needs more than technical fixes. The brief calls for long-term, flexible support rooted in local legitimacy.

📄: go.unu.edu/pTvBB

#FragileAid @apvjustino.bsky.social @rgisselquist.bsky.social @anvaccaro.bsky.social‬

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Knowledge for Development and Diplomacy (K4DD) @k4dd.ids.ac.uk · Jul 29

Only one set of major civil service reforms have been implemented in Pakistan – and these were over 50 years ago.

Despite decades of promises to fix Pakistan’s bureaucracy, efforts have consistently stalled.

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Knowledge for Development and Diplomacy (K4DD) @k4dd.ids.ac.uk · Jun 30

What is the role of donors in the delivery of services in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings?

Iffat Idris from @GSDRC.org explores here k4d.ids.ac.uk/resource/rol...

Role of Donors in the Delivery of Services in Protracted FCV Settings

This report reviews the ways that donors are addressing the challenging nature of service delivery in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable (FCV) settings.

k4d.ids.ac.uk

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Rachel M Gisselquist @rgisselquist.bsky.social · Jun 9

Enjoyed chairing this session on Welfare and Labour Effects, featuring 4 excellent papers by @timkohler.bsky.social ‪@leitemariante.bsky.social‬ ‪Shatakshi Gupta & @tsenguunjav.bsky.social

UNU-WIDER @unu-wider.bsky.social · Jun 9

Fascinating research presented by WIDER Visiting Scholar Timothy Köhler on South Africa's social relief grant.

The paper reveals cash transfers to the unemployed boosted
🔎job search
📦business attempts
💼employment

though long-term effects aren't universal

#WIDERDevConf2025

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Rachel M Gisselquist @rgisselquist.bsky.social · Jun 9

Pleased to be here at #WIDERDevConf2025!

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Knowledge for Development and Diplomacy (K4DD) @k4dd.ids.ac.uk · May 1

Do codes of conduct and ethical codes reduce polticisation and #corruption in the civil service? 🏦

This study by William Avis from @gsdrc.org evaluates the impact of #CivilService codes.

Read the full findings here 👇

k4d.ids.ac.uk/resource/civ...

Civil Service Codes and their Impact

This report reviews the value of Civil Service Codes in reducing corruption and improving independence and objectivity.

k4d.ids.ac.uk

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Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · Apr 29

Elon Musk's conflicts of interest: $2.37 billion in potential federal penalties, report says

On the day Trump took office, Elon Musk, Tesla and his other companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential penalties from federal agencies, according to a Democratic congressional report.

www.latimes.com

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UNU-WIDER @unu-wider.bsky.social · Apr 23

New #OpenAccess book out now!

How States Respond to Crisis reveals how state capacity, authority & legitimacy influenced outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic with 7 in-depth case studies from the Global South.

Read the full book 👉 go.unu.edu/DhF08

@rgisselquist.bsky.social @anvaccaro.bsky.social

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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · Apr 22

288 people have been rendered to El Salvador’s mega-prison. We only know 257 of their names—and not because the US or Salvadoran governments shared them.

It shouldn't be up to civil society to compile things like this table. Of course, none of this should be happening at all.

See admis.me/b/2un

Here is what we know about the people disappeared from the United States and were apparently rendered to incommunicado prison in El Salvador:
Country Known Names Unknown Names Total
Venezuela 245 7 252
El Salvador 12 24 36
Total 257 31 288

Venezuela, 252 people. 137 rendered under the Alien Enemies Act, the rest with final removal orders:

238 people rendered to El Salvador on March 15. Names leaked to CBS News on March 20.
7 people rendered to El Salvador on March 30. Names leaked to Fox News on March 31.
7 people rendered to El Salvador as part of a group of 10 on April 13. Names are unknown. We only know it was 7 people because El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, tweeted on April 20 that 252 Venezuelans are in Salvadoran custody, and 245 Venezuelans were already in El Salvador.

El Salvador, 31 people, all with final removal orders:

23 people rendered to El Salvador on March 15. From much reporting, we know the identities of two: Kilmar Abrego Garcia and prominent MS-13 leader César Humberto López Larios, alias “Greñas.” The other 21 remain unnamed.
10 people rendered to El Salvador on March 30. Names leaked to Fox News on March 31.
3 people rendered to El Salvador as part of a group of 10 on April 13. Names are unknown. We only know it was 3 people because El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, tweeted on April 20 that 252 Venezuelans are in Salvadoran custody. As 245 Venezuelans were already in El Salvador, that would mean that 7 of the 10 were Venezuelan, leaving 3 Salvadorans.

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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · Apr 14

I had been doubtful that we were going to have a "this is the crisis moment" with Trump, as opposed to "everything about this is a destructive catastrophe."

But the Abrego Garcia case is the crisis moment.

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Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka.bsky.social · Apr 14

Before press came in — but while live feed was running on Bukele’s feed — Trump said to him: “home-growns are next. … You’re gonna need to build about 5 more places.”

x.com/nayibbukele/...

x.com

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Tony Addison @tonysangle.bsky.social · Apr 14

Rare earths & other critical minerals are discussed in our new @unu-wider.bsky.social open access book. Download via www.wider.unu.edu/publication/...

UNU-WIDER : Book : Resources Matter

Almost everything that is essential to modern society—transport and power systems, buildings, machinery, and medical devices—depends upon metals, minerals, and stone as well as oil and natural gas whi...

www.wider.unu.edu

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Apr 14

The letter sent to Harvard shows why they and every other institution have no choice but to resist. It would amount to a government takeover of the university, giving the Trump regime control over hiring and admissions. www.harvard.edu/research-fun...

www.harvard.edu

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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · Apr 14

Translated primary sources for teaching the history of ethnicity in medieval China. A fabulous resource! #GlobalMiddleAges #MedievalSky www.academia.edu/community/ln...

Shao-yun Yang sharing his primary source translations on Ethnic Identity in Imperial China: An Online Sourcebook, on Academia.edu.

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · Apr 12

Unprecedented corruption happening right in front of us

Data Bear 🏳️‍🌈 @dataandpolitics.net · Apr 12

Someone bought 30,000 SPY call options at 1:01 pm, just 29 minutes before Trump announced pausing tariffs. Options cost $0.85 each ($2.5M total) and jumped to $25+ each ($70M+) after the announcement.

The timing, volume, and precision are virtually impossible by coincidence.

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · Feb 26

I gave a campus talk last night on Trump's first 100 days for the WUD Society & Politics group. A student asked me if I thought that, at some point, we might start to describe the US as a competitive authoritarian regime. I said that we were already there, it's just that most folks haven't noticed:

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Patrick Dunleavy @patrickdunleavy.bsky.social · Apr 12

American Social Security Administration is cutting staff and shifting all its communications to X, owned by Musk.
You could not make up the corruption now in US politics
www.wired.com/story/social...

The Social Security Administration Is Gutting Regional Staff and Shifting All Public Communications to X

The SSA’s shift to Elon Musk’s X comes as the agency plans to cut its regional office workforce by roughly 90 percent, WIRED has learned.

www.wired.com

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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · Apr 12

As of today all foreigners in America are required to carry proof of our status with us at all times. Print off your i-94s

uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?r...

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Apr 11

I’m not kidding; this is DOGE at work; multiple US citizens getting notices that they just leave the country because USCIS is revoking their humanitarian parole.

www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

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Tony Addison @tonysangle.bsky.social · Apr 11

AI's electricity demand is accelerating: by 2030 data centres will consume as much energy as Japan today, says new @IEA report.

Much of the energy will come from renewables & gas (though Trump is inevitably trying to promote coal).
www.iea.org/reports/ener...

Energy and AI – Analysis - IEA

Energy and AI - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

www.iea.org

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Rachel M Gisselquist @rgisselquist.bsky.social · Apr 11

♻️ What do we know about plastic reuse models in LMICs?

📚 See this new rapid evidence review by @gsdrc.org's William Avis:

Knowledge for Development and Diplomacy (K4DD) @k4dd.ids.ac.uk · Apr 1

Plastic reuse schemes hold the potential to hugely reduce plastic #pollution driven by single-use plastics.

But how can these models be scaled effectively in low- and middle-income countries?

William Avis explores here 🔗

k4d.ids.ac.uk/resource/sca...

#ZeroWaste #Sustainability

Scaling plastic reuse models in LMICs

This review explores the effectiveness of scaling plastic reuse models in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

k4d.ids.ac.uk

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