COVID-19 in Albania: agile response, arduous recovery

Loosely defined as the transfer of funding and decision-making powers to local actors, localization is certainly not a new concept – phrases such as ‘locally-led development’, ‘community-led development’ and ‘doing development differently’ have been pretty commonplace for years. But as an all-encompassing narrative, localization took centre stage a few years ago when US Agency for International Development administrator, Samantha Power, outlined it as the rhetoric at the centre of what her department does. it has gained further momentum through the movement to decolonise aid – itself a reaction to a number of external factors, not least the Black Lives Matter movement and the need for greater inclusivity around language used within the aid sector. But what is local? How can we ‘localize’ in a meaningful way and what’s our role as development consultants in all this? These are just some of the questions we tackle in this latest episode of our ‘International Development, Where Now?’ podcast. We’re not afraid to face up to some of the thorny issues in the sector in this soul-searching discussion that sees us delve into what it really means to go beyond the ‘fly in, fly out’ nature of development consultancy, whether there’s still a role for global communities and how we do away with knowledge hierarchies. We also cover some of the potential risks and barriers to localizing and try to offer some achievable, pragmatic solutions.

Can leaders choose a development path? Who decides and how? What conditions lead to a pro-development agenda and what’s the role of external agencies in all of this? We ask leading economist and former policy advisor to the UK Foreign Secretary, Stefan Dercon, these questions and more in our latest podcast: International Development, Where Now? Chatting about his revealing book, ‘Gambling on Development’, Dercon draws on his long and far-reaching experience as a senior civil servant within the UK’s Department for International Development, to explain why some countries - like China and Indonesia - seem to opt for a growth-based future while others, like Malawi, remain poor. Stefan Dercon is the Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford, former Chief Economist at the UK Department for International Development and former Development Policy Advisor at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. He chats to Stevan Lee, Chief Economist at Oxford Policy Management.

Thanks for listening to the first series of Policy in Pandemics. We're taking a short break while we line up the next episodes but will be back in a couple of weeks.

Despite an unexpected delay in covid-19 mortality rates, Africa is facing an 'unprecedented policy crisis'. We speak to Kate Dooley, the West Africa Regional Director for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Kate talks about her experience working on Ebola in 2014-15 in Sierra Leone and the differences of covid-19 to Ebola. We discuss what is happening on the ground in Africa, what might be behind the surprisingly low mortality rates, and the impact an economic shock of this size will have on Africa, especially as the rest of the world begins to re-open their economies. Host: Peter Harrington Editor: Emmie Fairbairn Producer: Katherine Valentine

Can covid-19 bring greater transformation and morality in economic policy making? We conclude our conversation with Matt Andrews examining the longer term impact covid-19 might have on the international development sector. Matt discusses the opportunity for ‘game-changing growth’and his hope that this crisis will accelerate a shift towards countries taking greater ownership over reform, and greater authorship of their own development pathway.

In the first of a two part conversation we discuss what makes good crisis management, good communication, and leadership in the public interest. We speak to Matt Andrews, head of the Building State Capability Programme at Harvard, and Edward S Mason professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. We explore what some countries have got right, empowering people at all levels of government to lead and take risks – moving from ‘control orientation’ to ‘coordination orientation’ – and the need for mechanisms to enable rapid learning to develop context specific responses. Host: Peter Harrington Editor: Emmie Fairbairn Producer: Katherine Valentine

We speak to the Emeritus Head of the Health Department for Western Cape, Beth Engelbrecht, about the COVID-19 response in South Africa. We discuss the challenges of a public health response the context of massive economic inequalities, large vulnerable populations, and the ever present social and economic legacies of Apartheid. Beth provides insights into the benefits of dispersed leadership, and the existing health and social infrastructure that has helped South Africa manage the enormous challenges above. Host: Peter Harrington Editor: Emmie Fairbairn Producer: Katherine Valentine Listen to 'No Pata Pata' in full here: https://youtu.be/8M9O4sPISc0

We discuss the smart lockdown and kick-starting the economy in Punjab with the Chairman of Punjab’s Planning and Development Board, Hamed Yakoob Sheikh. This podcast was recorded on 23 April. As of 12 May, there are 32,081 recorded cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan and 706 deaths. There are 1932 cases in the Punjab province, and 33 confirmed deaths. In the discussion we explore the challenge of tailoring protective measures to context; coordinating between federal and state levels of government; the tricky process of balancing public health with a gradual exit from lockdown and planning for economic recovery; and the need to work with the grain of cultural practices. Host: Peter Harrington Editor: Emmie Fairbairn Producer: Katherine Valentine *Due to constraints caused by the current lockdown, this episode was recorded with limited technology and as such we apologise for any inconsistencies in sound.

In our first episode of Policy in Pandemics, we talk to Etjen Xhafaj, who is the Deputy Foreign Minister of Albania, about the crisis so far in Albania and how they have responded, highlighting the successes of Albania's epidemic handling so far despite a number of challenges. The conversation was recorded in the second week of April, but Albania’s epidemiological statistics have not changed significantly. As of May 3 Albania had under 800 cases, 31 deaths and no new deaths recorded.

Welcome to Policy in Pandemics, a new podcast from Oxford Policy Management which will be looking at the current Covid-19 crisis from the perspective of governments, leaders and policy makes around the world. What you can expect from us in the coming weeks? We’re going to be talking to a whole range of different people – people in government who are grappling with the crisis response, people outside government who are affected by it, practitioners, academics, interesting thinkers and doers all over the world – all to give you a unique window into how different places are dealing with COVID-19. We want to grapple with the tough policy questions, and find the amazing stories that are defining this extraordinary time. So welcome to policy in pandemics. We hope you enjoy.