Please note this is a hybrid event - you have the option to attend in person or virtually. Registrations are required for all attendees. For in-person attendees, the event will run from 11:45 am - 2 pm and will include lunch. The live stream will begin at 12:55 pm (virtual attendees will be sent a link for the event via email). This program is co-hosted by DACOR and UAA.
Just retired after seven years as President and CEO of the Center for Global Development, Masood Ahmed, who has spent 35 years as a much admired development policy maker and practitioner at CGD, the IMF, the World Bank and at the UK's DFID, is now able to reflect on the long arc of development, a period of remarkable progress which raised living standards for billions of people. But he believes it has now "slipped from its global moment in the sun and needs to adapt". There remain places of "extraordinary destitution" which require "custom build solutions and multi-disciplinary thinking" rather than relying on standard development practice - this requires that we go "outside our comfort zone". Climate change, "the erosion of trust" between the global south and global north, the great power rivalry between the U.S. and China, and the rise of populism in some OECD countries, means that development is in a very different place today than it was during most of our careers. Please join DACOR and UAA at this program to learn how Masood understands these changes and how he suggests we think of development in the future.
Sir Masood Ahmed is the president emeritus of the Center for Global Development. He joined the Center in January 2017, capping a 35-year career driving economic development policy initiatives relating to debt, aid effectiveness, trade, and global economic prospects at major international institutions including the IMF, World Bank, and DFID.
He joined CGD from the IMF, where he served for eight years as Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department, earning praise from Managing Director Christine Lagarde as a “visionary leader.” In that role, he oversaw the Fund's operations in 32 countries, and managed relationships with key national and regional policy makers and stakeholders. In previous years, he also served as the IMF's director of External Relations, and deputy director of the Policy Development and Review Department.
From 2003-2006, Ahmed served as Director General, Policy and International at the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID). In that role, he was responsible for advising UK ministers on development issues and overseeing the UK's relationship with international development institutions such as the World Bank.
He worked at the World Bank from 1979-2000 in various managerial and economist positions, rising to become Vice President, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. In that role he led the HIPC (heavily indebted poor countries) debt relief initiative, which has brought relief from debt burdens to 36 of the world's poorest nations.
Born and raised in Pakistan, he moved to London in 1971 to study at the LSE where he obtained a BSc Honors as well as an MSc Econ with distinction.
As a leading expert on international development finance, he has served on a number of international committees and forums. Currently, he is Policy Advisor to the G20 High Level Independent Expert Group on Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks and co-chair of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Growth. Previously, he was a member of the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response and the High Level Advisory Group of on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth set up by the World Bank and IMF.
In January 2023, he received a knighthood (KCMG) from the UK government for his services to international development.
Location
Setting: Hybrid DACOR Bacon House OR Online 1801 F St, NW Washington, DC 20016 UNITED STATES
