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The document analyzes how trade facilitation efforts in East Africa affect women informal cross-border traders, who constitute up to 70% of such trade in Africa. Using the Busia One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) as a case study, it evaluates the effectiveness of 'hard' infrastructure (like border facilities) and 'soft' infrastructure (like Simplified Trade Regimes and capacity building). While the Busia OSBP has reduced customs processing times by 80% and improved relations between traders and officials, significant gaps remain, including inadequate sanitation on the Ugandan side, limited access to formal finance, and the persistence of predatory middlemen. The paper recommends gender-sensitive infrastructure, simplified cross-border banking, and the use of the African Continental Free Trade Area to create continent-wide framework STRs.

The document examines sub-national pooled financing mechanisms (SPFMs) as a tool for South African municipalities to access cost-effective private capital for infrastructure. While SPFMs have successfully mobilized billions in developed and emerging economies, they have not yet been implemented in Africa. In South Africa, the author identifies a mature bond market and appetite for municipal finance, but notes significant barriers including deteriorating municipal financial health, a lack of technical capacity, and limiting regulations from the National Treasury. The brief argues that the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) holds a near-monopoly on municipal lending and should lead de-risking efforts to catalyze a vibrant local government debt market.

The report analyzes the services sector's role in African development and the implications of the AfCFTA. It identifies Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria as the continent's largest services exporters. The study highlights a significant gap in comprehensive services trade data, particularly for Mode 3 (commercial presence), and recommends implementing the 2010 Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services. For South Africa, the report finds that services value added in gross exports is more than double the share of services exports, emphasizing the sector's role as an input for manufacturing. It argues for a developmental trade strategy that integrates services with industrial policy and warns against premature deindustrialization.

The Delhi Declaration on Local Green Enterprise asserts that micro, medium, and small enterprises (MSMEs) are essential for India's transition to a green economy, as they create 80% of new jobs and contribute 37% to the GDP. The declaration defines Local Green Enterprises (LGEs) as those demonstrating environmental consciousness in resource and waste management and inclusiveness in wages and revenue distribution. To scale these enterprises, the signatories call for affordable credit through blended finance, streamlined public procurement processes, and government-led triple bottom line impact assessments to incentivize the shift from 'brown' to green business practices.

The document defines patriarchy as a system of oppression that exploits women's bodies and labor to benefit men and the capitalist system. It advocates for a 'popular and anticapitalist feminism' to dismantle interconnected systems of oppression, including racism, classism, and neocolonialism. The guide emphasizes the role of ecofeminism in highlighting the parallel exploitation of nature and women within an extractivist model and provides a framework for implementing gender justice within organizations and communities.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) frames gender justice and the dismantling of patriarchy as essential components of systemic change. It defines patriarchy as a system that exploits women's bodies and work for the benefit of men, operating through a sexual division of labour that separates public (paid/decision-making) and private (unpaid/care) spaces. The text employs an intersectional analysis, explaining how patriarchy interlinks with capitalism, racism, neocolonialism, and heteronormativity to maintain power hierarchies. It specifically highlights ecofeminism to illustrate the parallel exploitation of women and nature within a capitalist extractivist model. The document concludes by advocating for alliances between feminist movements, Indigenous Peoples, and environmental justice activists to achieve a world of autonomy and equality.

The Green Economy Coalition (GEC) has established a 10-year action plan (2020–2030) to drive structural economic reform globally. The strategy identifies five systemic flaws in current economic models—including outdated metrics like GDP and short-termism in finance—and proposes five key interventions: reforming governance, financial systems, economic sectors, inequality, and the valuation of nature. To achieve these, GEC will pursue four pathways: telling new narratives, building critical mass through citizen dialogue, influencing policy via tools like the Green Economy Tracker, and transitioning to a decentralized 'network of networks' structure. The goal is to ensure that by 2030, inclusive green economy principles are central to decisions made by policymakers, business leaders, and citizens.

The report concludes that the Batang Toru hydroelectric project is an unnecessary endeavor that threatens the Tapanuli orangutan with extinction. It finds that North Sumatra already has a power surplus and that planned gas, geothermal, and other hydroelectric projects render Batang Toru's peak and baseload power redundant. Furthermore, the report argues that the project's claims regarding CO2 emission reductions and balance of payments relief are significantly inflated or incorrect, while highlighting the operational risks associated with the contractor, Sinohydro.

The paper analyzes the role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in Africa, focusing on their ability to manage resource revenues and combat the 'resource curse'. Through case studies of Angola, Botswana, Ghana, and Nigeria, it finds that while some funds have strong legal frameworks, their success is heavily dependent on the country's overarching fiscal culture and the presence of independent oversight. The author argues that SWFs cannot operate in isolation and must be integrated into broader public financial management reforms to prevent political misuse and ensure long-term sustainability.

The document examines the intersection of gender, corruption, and natural resource management (NRM), asserting that corruption disproportionately affects marginalized groups and that gender-informed strategies can enhance accountability. It provides evidence that women's participation in forestry and fisheries management in India and Nepal leads to better conservation results. The briefing highlights gendered differences in corruption, noting that while men often dominate high-level grand corruption, women are more vulnerable to sexual extortion and bribery for public services. It presents practical examples of gender mainstreaming, such as the Akashinga all-female anti-poaching units in Zimbabwe and the Hariyo Ban Program in Nepal, and provides a framework of core questions and principles for practitioners to integrate gender analysis into policy design.

The report finds a chronic underinvestment in energy access across high-impact countries, with actual finance for residential electricity in 2018 (USD 16.1 billion) reaching less than half of the required annual investment (USD 41 billion). It highlights a concerning trend of increasing fossil fuel finance, particularly in Bangladesh, while financing for grid-connected renewables declined for the first time since 2013. Clean cooking finance remains critically low at USD 131.5 million, far below the estimated USD 4.5 billion needed annually. The report emphasizes that investment is disproportionately concentrated in a few countries, leaving many Sub-Saharan African nations with minimal support. It advocates for policy reforms, the termination of fossil fuel financing, and a more rigorous methodological framework for tracking gender-focused energy finance.

The report details a three-day event focused on 'Local Green Enterprises' (LGEs)—MSMEs that prioritize nature, resource efficiency, and social justice. It examines global green economy trends, applies Gandhian philosophy to local development, and identifies sector-specific roadblocks in India. The document concludes with the 'Delhi Declaration,' which calls for the Government of India to improve public procurement, provide affordable credit, and recognize Triple Bottom Line (TBL) impacts for LGEs.

The 2020 Global Green Economy Barometer evaluates the shift toward sustainable and equitable economic systems. While it notes accelerating energy transitions, a rise in green bonds, and the emergence of wellbeing budgets in countries like New Zealand, it argues that the 'brown economy' still dominates. The report highlights that fossil fuel subsidies reached US$ 5.2 trillion in 2017 and that global energy intensity is declining at only 0.4% per year, far below the 4-10% needed for mid-century decarbonization. It calls for systemic reforms to move beyond GDP, value natural capital, and ensure a just transition for marginalized populations.

The report finds that donors must double their current annual contributions to food security, adding 14 billion USD per year, while low- and middle-income countries must provide an additional 19 billion USD annually through taxes. These combined investments of 33 billion USD per year would prevent 490 million people from hunger and double the incomes of 545 million smallholders. The analysis emphasizes that Africa has the highest need for these funds and recommends a balanced investment strategy across three categories: enabling inclusion, on-farm productivity, and post-harvest food systems.

The report finds that achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) targets by 2030 requires an additional 33 billion USD per year in public spending. This total is split between an additional 14 billion USD from international donors and 19 billion USD from low- and middle-income countries through increased taxation. These investments, focused heavily on Africa, would prevent 490 million people from suffering from hunger and double the incomes of 545 million small-scale producers while adhering to Paris Agreement climate commitments. The proposed funding is distributed across three intervention categories: empowering the excluded, on-farm productivity, and food movement.

The report finds that donors must provide an additional USD 14 billion per year, and low- and middle-income countries must provide USD 19 billion per year, to achieve SDG 2 targets by 2030 while respecting climate commitments. This investment would prevent 490 million people from experiencing hunger and double the incomes of 545 million small-scale producers. The authors emphasize that Africa has the greatest need for these resources and that a balanced portfolio of interventions—spanning social protection, on-farm productivity, and market access—is essential for success.

The Ceres2030 project identifies a funding gap of USD 33 billion per year to achieve SDG 2 targets, with USD 14 billion coming from donors and USD 19 billion from recipient countries. The report emphasizes that most existing agricultural research ignores the needs of smallholders, who represent over 80% of the world's farms. Key recommendations include investing in extension services, climate-resilient crops, social protection, and supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the value chain. The project utilizes a complex general equilibrium model and machine-learning-assisted evidence synthesis to identify a portfolio of 14 policy instruments across three categories: empowering the excluded, on-farm interventions, and food on the move.

The document argues that the African Union's PCRD framework is essential for youth-focused peacebuilding, but its success depends on prioritising socio-economic and political opportunities for young people. It highlights that the absence of inclusive youth policies increases the risk of returning to violence. While some states like Côte d'Ivoire have established dedicated youth ministries to foster policy development, others like Libya and the Central African Republic struggle with implementation due to fragile governance and recurring conflict. The brief recommends that the AU and member states prioritise early youth policy development, create dedicated youth ministries, and ensure all policies are accompanied by monitorable action plans.

The document examines the relationship between climate change and migration in Africa, challenging the narrative of mass international 'climate refugee' flows. It posits that migration is an active resilience strategy used by households to diversify income and spread risk, though the most vulnerable are often trapped by a lack of resources. The brief highlights the prevalence of internal migration, the risks of unplanned urbanisation, and the need for African policymakers to develop governance frameworks tailored to local realities rather than relying on international models.

The study evaluates the relationship between three drought indicators and communal conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa (1989-2014) using multilevel logistic regression. It finds that while all three measures are positively associated with conflict, the strength of the relationship increases as the measure moves from meteorological (SPEI) to agricultural (NDVI) and finally to socio-economic (EM-DAT) impacts. Specifically, socio-economic droughts approximately double the odds of experiencing violent conflict. However, the author notes that the NDVI effect may be driven by spatial correlation—where conflicts and vegetation loss occur in the same land types—rather than a direct temporal causal link. The study concludes that preventing meteorological droughts from escalating into socio-economic disasters could potentially reduce communal conflict risks.