The Center for Global Development is a think-tank located in Washington D.C., with prolific work in the areas of improving international aid, poverty reduction strategies and health - among others.
Continuing with year-end indexes, the CGD has just made public its Commitment to Development Index, ranking 22 high-income countries according to how consistent are their actions related to the pleas of support LDC around the world. Then, the evaluation does not relies merely on aid efforts, but takes a wider view including rates on trade, investment, migration, environment, security and technology.
Japan has usually been at the bottom of the chart, well behind western peers, although with the inclusion of South Korea to the group of countries this year, the situation changed. Criticism points principally at the small share of income that is used in ODA, as well as the high barriers to exports from developing countries. The authors coincide with DARA report on the issue of refugees and NGO weakness - the latter in terms of small amount of private charitable giving attributable to tax policy. Conversely, it is to be revised whether valuation of parameters such as security and environment overlook country's historical developments that may condemned it to low scores.
On the theoretical ground of security, let's observe that the parameter of security seems to make exclusive reference to violence issues - or freedom from fear. However, other researchers in the CGD sustain security connections with global poverty and disease, among others.