Ending Global Poverty: Four Women's Noble Conspiracy

Ending poverty continues to be a major challenge for the global community. It is even more urgent and relevant today when the world is facing the covid-19 pandemic as it was two decades ago, when four women rose to prominent positions as ministers in charge of international development in their governments.Ending Global Poverty: Four Women's Noble Conspiracytells the story of Eveline Herfkens from the Netherlands, Hilde F. Johnson from Norway, Clare Short from the United Kingdom, and Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul from Germany who joined forces to challenge the establishment policies of international institutions. Named for the Norwegian Abbey where the formalized their collaboration in 1999, the so-called Utstein Four embarked on a 'conspiracy of implementation', using foreign aid as a tool to end global poverty, rather than pursue narrow political or commercial interests. They helped achieve primary education for women, used developing countries' debt relief to lift individuals out of poverty, and put development partners in charge of setting priorities and implementing programs of assistance. Their story of female empowerment and the importance of working together is a crucial lesson, andEnding Global Povertyfocuses on the implications of this for today's development challenges, including the struggle to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals which is becoming more difficult every day. The Utstein Four's collaboration lasted for only about half a dozen years but their influence continues to be felt. Much has been achieved but some lessons have been forgotten and large new challenges remain.Ending Global Poverty: Four Women'sNobel Conspiracyconsiders the lasting legacy of the Utstein group and the lessons that their experience of commitment, collaboration and leadership offers to a new generation of leaders as they work to eradicate global poverty and achieve sustainable development.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction: 'If You Want to Go Fast Go Alone; If You Want to Go Far, Go Together' 2: Aid and Development in the 1990s 3: Organizing Collaboration 4: Utstein 5: Aid Effectiveness: Multilateral 6: Aid Effectiveness: Bilateral 7: Improving the International Development Architecture 8: Poverty Has A Woman's Face 9: A Coherence Deficit 10: The Long Transition 11: The Legacy in Troubled Times 12: The Future

About the Author :
Constantine Michalopoulos has worked on and written about economic development and poverty eradication for more than half a century. In 1982-2001 he was a senior official at the World Bank where he served as Director for Economic Policy and Coordination and Senior Economic Advisor for Europe and Central Asia. Before that he was Chief Economist of the US Agency for International Development. In 1997-1999 he served as Special Advisor at the WTO. Following his retirement from the World Bank he was a development consultant to governments and international organizations such as the World Bank, the IMF, UNCTAD, the EU Commission, GTZ (the German technical assistance agency) and DfID. He also taught economics at several US universities, including American University and Johns Hopkins University. Most recently he was appointed Senior Policy Advisor at ELIAMEP a think tank in his native Athens. He is the author of Aid, Trade, and Development (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) amongst others.

Review :
It is not often that a historical work affects me at such a deep emotional level. Certainly, I was very moved by the stories of the women in Ending Global Poverty. The four, working collaboratively, achieved so much in such a brief time. It is a story that I had never heard, and itis one that deserves wide coverage. In this review I can only offer a glimpse of the contribution made to global politics by these amazing women. This book should be compulsory reading for any student of modern history, politics or international development. Ending Global Poverty is a tale of women's empowerment and leadership...Development economist Constantine Michalopoulos scored a winning homerun with this publication! What a fantastic story and a fantastic book. This is the behind-the-scenes story about how four women, ministers from four different countries, teamed up, defeated the cynics and changed the politics of aid to make a real difference. Their efforts led to debt relief for poor countries, expanded education for girls, a serious shift to a poverty focus in the World Bank and the IMF and in 2000 to the Millennium Development Goals -all delivered in partnership with recipient countries. In a world too often ruled by vested interests and horrible conspiracies, its uplifting and truly inspiring to read of an open political partnership with noble aims and such positive results. One is left amazed at the boldness of these four women and seriously doubting whether four male ministers would ever have the courage and commitment to do the same. Discover how four great women improved the lives of millions around the world, how they succeeded by persistence, by winning allies in politics and international institutions and most of all: by joining their four voices to a shared mission - ending poverty. Today, on an ever hotter and crowded planet, it is more urgent than ever to eradicate poverty without eradicating our natural livelihood. There is a lot of work to be finished to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 - like empowering women, combating corruption, shifting to sustainable technology or balancing trade policies. This book gives hope in hard times. Let it inspire young people to take action! This incredible book will immortalize the golden age of development co-operation and provide a living memory of what it could be again, considering where we are now. There is no better way of sustaining that memory than getting an insightful account of what it was from the champions of the approach and an exemplary case of how effective partnership in development can deliver strong results and hugely reduce transactions costs of development assistance. This is a must read for all development practitioners aspiring to be effective. The U4's unparalleled passion for development is brilliantly captured in this compelling volume. From improvements in aid effectiveness, marshalling of support for debt relief, to emphasis on true partnership between collaborating countries, the U4 sought to move developing countries beyond aid to sustainability. This will always be remembered as their enduring legacy On the eve of the new Millennium the landscape of international development was radically transformed. Many were involved: The G-8, the Jubilee Movement on debt relief and the campaigns against global pandemics. In this fight four women led from the front: Clare Short, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Hilde Johnson and Eveline Herfkens. This book tells their transformational story, which is of great relevance to today's continuing challenges to end poverty on a sustainable basis. Michalopoulos has written a brilliant book about four heroic female politicians who changed development policy at a critical point in history. He provides an astute analysis of development cooperation from the 1990s to the present [...] Everyone worried about the state of the world should read this book and learn from it.