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Longing for electricity
Having uninterrupted access to electricity is taken for granted in many parts of the world. In Norway, we rely on…
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The future of globalisation
Addressing the challenges of climate disruption, international migration, pandemics, violent conflicts and poverty eradication require increased collaboration across national borders.…
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The value of civil society
The role and impact of civil society organisations (CSOs) in voicing public demands has dominated recent headlines in many parts…
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Measuring social progress
Development is not only about income. The Nobel laureate Professor Amartya Sen has argued that human beings constitute the ‘ends’…
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Fighting air pollution
The growing environmental risks posed by worsening air pollution has generated considerable media attention and resulting citizen anger in recent…
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Making medicines available and affordable
Access to, and the affordability of, medicines is now attracting increased global attention. There are several issues at stake –…
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Dispatch from India
Over the past 10 days, I have been traveling across India giving a set of public lectures on sustainable development.…
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Africa is (soon) polio-free
If you have not heard about it already, here is some good news. Africa will soon be officially declared to…
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Dispatch from India
Over the past 10 days, I have been traveling across India giving a set of public lectures on sustainable development.…
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Trust
In order to function well, societies rely on trust between citizens and the state as well as among citizens themselves.…
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Access to information
While the phenomenal growth and influence of the internet enables individuals and groups to easily access information on any topic,…
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The allure of social entrepreneurship
T here are numerous organisational models that have been adopted by individuals and businesses to address social problems. There are…
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American highway
This summer, I spent several weeks in the United States —travelling between New York, Washington DC and Princeton University. During…
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The urgency of hunger
A few days ago, I attended the launch of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019…
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Climate apartheid
The world has achieved numerous developmental successes in the past few decades. Poverty has been eradicated in some parts of…
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Powering Africa
Large parts of the African continent continue to face an acute shortage of energy. Hundreds of millions of people do…
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Norway’s ambitious plan for global food security
Food security features high on the international development agenda. Two global initiatives in the past decade have reiterated the policies…
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On board Kenya’s Madaraka Express
I recently had the pleasure of riding the Madaraka Express—a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project that connects Nairobi to the…
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Brokering development
When government agencies struggle to provide efficient and reliable services, an important group often steps in to provide some form…
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Post-election blues?
As I write this column in Oslo on Tuesday evening, millions of Malawians have participated in a much-anticipated election…
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