Baris Karapinar awarded grant for research on MDGs by SDC

In light of the current economic slowdown, and the heightened debate on the global institutional structure needed to deal with climate change, it is apposite to revisit national development priorities and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through a bottom-up approach. Strategic choices should be revised realistically and limited resources should be allocated ‘optimally’. However, the questions of how a country should set its priorities among the broad range of development goals, what financial and institutional resources it should allocate for each goal, and how it should address potential trade-offs and conflicting resource requirements are contentious. It is important that such an exercise should follow a transparent and participatory process involving all relevant stakeholders. In this context, looking at the political economy of development at the country level, this research project will aim to shed more light on how different groups of stakeholders perceive the challenges of development and how they identify their policy priorities. The study will involve surveys in seven developing countries from around the world. It is envisioned that the results of the survey will inform domestic and international policy debates during and after the United Nations World Leaders’ Summit on the MDGs in September 2010.

Project Coordinator:
Dr Baris Karapinar
NCCR Trade Regulation, Development and Migration, World Trade Institute, University of Bern
Hallerstr. 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Tel. +41 31 631 36 89
Fax +41 31 631 36 30
baris.karapinar@wti.org

Partner institutions:

Funding (field research):
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

Georgia   Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University, Tbilisi
Prof. Valerian Melikidze, vmelikidze@hotmail.com

Malawi   University of Malawi, Zomba
Dr Ronald Dadi Mangani, rmangani@yahoo.com

Nepal   Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Prof. Arbinda Lal Bhomi
Email: arbinda_bhomi@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.tribhuvan-university.edu.np

São Tomé and Principe   Columbia University, New York
Mr Paulo Cunha
Email: pmc2105@columbia.edu
Website: http://www.earth.columbia.edu

Sierra Leone   Fourah Bay College, Freetown
Dr Osman Gbla
Email: osmangbla@yahoo.com
Website: http://fbcusl.net/

Guyana       University of Guyana, Georgetown
Website: http://www.uog.edu.gy/

Turkey  To be announced