NADEL Newsletter July 2020

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Dear NADEL friends and alumni,

A very unusual semester has come to an end. And we note: Things were possible that many were reluctant to imagine, try out, or to embrace before. Online teaching is just one example and it will change the way we teach in the future. To this end we have moved the course on Natural Resource Management (together with the Natural Resource Governance Institute NRGI) from a full in-class course to a blended learning model that combines online teaching with classroom presence. The new situation also unlocked new creativity: because we had to postpone the 50th NADEL anniversary event to 1st October 2021 (please save the date), we launched a podcast to connect with NADEL alumni and to learn how they got engaged in global inclusive development after they finished their degree at NADEL.

This kind of spirit is not only to be felt at NADEL, of course. We hope that some of this "let's make it happen" attitude will survive the lockdown and virus andl lead to a more agile, cooperative and experimental society.

That said: as we open up after the lockdown in Europe, the pandemic is still on the rise globally, particularly in low-and middle income countries. And the impact hits poor households the hardest, as our fast response survey in South Africa and Ghana shows. They need international support the most.

Stay healthy, stay engaged

For the NADEL team,
Fritz Brugger and Isabel Günther

Contents

•	NADEL podcast
•	Managing COVID-19
•	New course with NRGI
•	Artisanal gold mining
•	Financing the SDGs
•	New team member

1.90 pro Tag: Tune in to our new NADEL-Podcast

In our new podcast series (in German), we discuss current topics in international cooperation with NADEL alumni from the past 50 years. Our guest for the current episode is Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, NADEL '93 and ambassador of Switzerland in Lebanon. This Middle Eastern country is on the brink of collapse. Monika Schmutz Kirgöz discusses Lebanon's complex socioeconomic and geopolitical challenges, but sees hope in the country’s strong civil society and freedom of speech. She also discusses Switzerland's whole-of-government approach, the backlash on gender equality and Canada's feminist foreign policy. You can subscribe to the podcast through any of the usual platforms, or listen in here:

NADEL Podcast

Managing COVID-19 in poor urban neighborhoods

Together with the University of Ghana and the University of Pretoria, Kathrin Durizzo, Antoinette van der Merwe and Isabel Günther conducted phone surveys with 1500 households in Accra and Johannesburg to analyze how the urban poor are experiencing and managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Their data suggests that the first shutdown of public life in April 2020 had devastating effects on the economic and mental well-being of the urban poor, but did not always lead to the intended social distancing. A big challenge is public transportation and shared toilets. The urban poor seem to be more likely to engage in social distancing if they are well-informed (via TV), and they think that governmental measures are appropriate.

New blended course in partnership with the Natural Resource Governance Institute NRGI

"Natural Resource Governance and Development: Policies & Practice": The international course, offered in partnership with the NRGI, equips mid-career professionals with the knowledge and analytical tools to examine the political economy in resource-rich states and to explore how it impacts domestic policy debates and practice. The online phase will run from October 2020 to January 2021 (part-time). The in-class phase will take place from 15-20 February 2021 at ETH Zurich. Apply by 31 July 2020.

Learn more

Photo: Ollivier Girard for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

Artisanal gold mining as important source of income in rural Burkina Faso

Policies to eradicate "dirty gold" from the supply chain must not put livelihoods at risk. Three out of four small-scale miners in rural Burkina Faso regularly send remittances to their families, as the latest research of Fritz Brugger (NADEL) and Jessica Zanetti (University of Zurich) reveals. Remittances are used for everyday needs and are invested sustainably to improve livelihoods of families. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining fosters the formation of a rural upper class based on artisanal mining.

Read the full article

Financing sustainable development: The Role of the Multilateral Development Banks

How do multilateral development banks (MDBs) work? Are they an effective instrument for financing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? In their policy paper, Chris Humphrey and Fritz Brugger present background information about MDBs as a contribution to the discussion of whether a capital increase for the World Bank and the African Development Bank makes sense from a development perspective. Read the briefing paper:

in English

in German

Welcome to the team, Tamara Yin!

With the start of the lockdown, we welcomed to NADEL our new colleague Tamara Yin, who has done an impressive job in getting up to speed and integrating in the team remotely. She follows on Martina Huber, who has started her training as a primary school teacher. Tamara works in the secretariat and is mainly responsible for organizing events and supporting our MAS students. Before joining NADEL, she lived for two and a half years with her family in Beijing, where she experienced local life while taking care of her family, doing language study and engaging in voluntary work. Before leaving Switzerland she was working as a project manager at Credit Suisse. Tamara holds a master's degree in Cultural Anthropology, Chinese Studies and Political Studies from the University of Zurich.

Contact Tamara Yin

NADEL in the Social Media

Contact

NADEL - Center for Development and Cooperation
Clausiusstrasse 37
8092 Zurich
Switzerland

+41 44 632 42 40

info@nadel.ethz.ch