The #PanamaPapers provide civil society organizations with new ammo to tackle tax evasion, the race for United Nations secretary general heats up, and World Health Day shines the spotlight on a growing “double burden.” This week in development news.
In the fight to recapture tax revenues from wealthy businesspeople and redirect them toward poverty alleviation and development, advocacy groups have a new ally: millions of leaked documents. The so-called Panama papers, leaked from Panama-based wealth management firm Mossack Fonseca, name names — including heads of state — in the web of offshore transactions that shield companies from their tax obligations. The leak adds fuel to developing countries’ demands that the future of development finance is as much about global economic fairness as it is about domestic resource mobilization.
The incidence of diabetes has increased fourfold since 1980, according to the World Health Organization. On Thursday — World Health Day — the WHO shined a light on the alarming health effects of changing diets and lifestyles around the world. The prevalence of diabetes is now higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries, and development organizations are grappling with how global health and food security expertise can combine to tackle this worsening global epidemic.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
