International Development: Commit to action: Exploring the Clinton Global Initiative business model - by Aimee Rae Ocampo

Each year, the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in September leads to hundreds of commitments to action that involve socially innovative ways to solve the world’s development challenges.

How has CGI been so successful bringing new parties to the global development table and corralling billions in commitments from companies?

Clicking on the link below you will find snapshot of CGI’s operations and a few examples of commitments to action made during the 2012 annual meeting.

To learn more about CGI’s business model and development impact, read the latest Devex Impact feature “Now in its second decade, how will CGI evolve?”

Read more: Commit to action: Exploring the CGI business model - Slideshow | Devex

EU asks youth: How would you fight poverty? - 2013 European Development Day- by Elisabeth d'Auchamp

International development may not be the first thing on the mind of a 13-year-old. Talk of frameworks, donor priorities, annual reports and endless acronyms will, in most cases, be less attention-grabbing than, well, everything else in the life of a teenager.

But while the future of the globe might currently be handled by adults, youth has an equal if not a bigger stake in creating a sustainable world.

As such, aid groups are now ramping up efforts to engage young people in global development. Among them: the European Commission.

“How would you fight poverty?” the commission is asking young people in a video contest recently launched on Facebook. The competition is open to everyone aged 13-24 regardless of nationality, and the only condition is to create a video of no more than 120 seconds which answers the question, and upload it on YouTube by Nov. 1.

For the winners, the prize involves having their solution to global poverty presented to thought leaders and decision makers in Europe. They will be flown to Brussels to attend the 2013 European Development Days in November, where their short videos will be screened.

So what do you want changed to create a poverty-free world? Take out your smartphone, digital camera, tablet or any other video-taking device, and have your say — or invite a teenager or twenty-something near you to do so. Join Young Voices Against Poverty.

Read more: EU asks youth: How would you fight poverty? - 2013 European Development Days | Devex

International Development - 6 big development business themes in 2012

As 2012 comes to a close, Devex ( International Development Executives) looks back at 6 big development business themes of the year.

In a bid to bolster their positioning in the global aid architecture, emerging economies are ramping up their aid spending and programming. As a full-fledged member of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, South Korea’s bilateral programs and multilateral contributions continued to scale. Drawing on their own experiences addressing development challenges, Brazil and Russia are among the new breed of donors stepping up to the plate.

The once spirited talk of a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) multilateral development bank subsided quickly, but India and South Africa appear intent on pushing through with the expansion of bilateral aid agencies modeled after the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Read more: International Development - 6 big development business themes in 2012