CID Voices 2025 Roundup: The Year’s Most Influential Posts on Global Development and Policy

Each year, the Harvard Center for International Development’s (CID) Voices blog spotlights the ideas, insights, and innovations shaping the global development agenda. In 2025, our contributors—ranging from leading scholars to policymakers and practitioners on the front lines—tackled some of the most urgent questions of our time: How do we build more inclusive economies? What does resilience look like in an era of conflict, climate shocks, and rapid technological change? And how can evidence-driven policy improve lives at scale?

This year’s Top 10 Voices Posts of 2025 capture the breadth and ambition of CID’s work. From groundbreaking research on trade, education, and globalization, to personal reflections on forging a career in international development, to on-the-ground perspectives from Ukraine to the South Pacific, these pieces illuminate both the challenges we face and the opportunities ahead.

Together, they offer a window into the ideas that are moving the field forward—and the people driving that progress. Dive in to explore the key themes and standout insights that defined the year.

#1 Why Investing in Women Benefits Us All by Priyanka Varma 

The World Economic Forum’s global gender gap score, which measures gender parity around the world, stands at 68 percent. At the current pace of improvement, it will take 268 years to close this gap. For context, 268 years ago, the United States did not even exist. This means that in our lifetimes, our daughters’ lifetimes, and even our granddaughters’ lifetimes, we will not see a gender equal world.

But what do we mean by investing in women, and how does it benefit us all? Read more.

#2 Ukraine’s Digital Transformation: Innovation for Resilience by Gulsanna Mamediieva

Ukraine has emerged as a global leader in digital innovation, leveraging technology to sustain governance functions and provide critical public services despite the crisis. Today, Ukraine ranks fifth globally in digital public service development, according to the Online Services Index, a component of the United Nations E-Government Development Index, which evaluates 193 countries. This marks a dramatic rise from 102^nd place in 2018, reflecting an ascent of 97 positions in just six years. Read more.

#3 Wheels in Motion: Charting a Career in International Development by Fatema Z. Sumar

CID Executive Director Fatema Z. Sumar shares her advice for building a career in international development, a field that offers vast opportunities to create meaningful change. With recent shifts in US foreign aid funding and uncertainty surrounding the future of USAID, it may feel more challenging than ever to navigate the industry and chart a meaningful career in international development. Read more.

#4 The Impact of Globalization on Disease Spread: CID Faculty Research Insights by Raul Duarte

How does globalization influence the spread of infectious diseases, and what insights can we draw from historical pandemics to inform future health policies? CID Faculty Affiliate Pol Antràs and co-authors Stephen J. Redding and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg developed a theoretical and empirical framework to analyze the relationship between globalization and pandemics, showing how international trade and business travel facilitate the spread of infectious diseases. Read more.

#5 Understanding the Global Economic Impact of Recent U.S. Trade Policies: Insights from CID Faculty Affiliates by CID Staff

Faculty affiliates at CID examine trade policy from multiple perspectives, offering research and analysis that provide valuable insights into the complexities of the global economy and the broader implications of policy shifts. Read more.

#6 Understanding Implicit Bias and Its Impact on Education Outcomes: CID Faculty Research Insights by Diego Santa Maria

How do people change their behavior after being made aware of bias? This question is central to efforts aimed at reducing discrimination in education, workplaces, and other settings. A recent paper entitled Revealing Stereotypes: Evidence from Immigrants in Schools by CID faculty affiliates Michela Carlana and Eliana La Ferrara, along with co-authors Alberto Alesina and Paolo Pinotti, investigates how revealing implicit stereotypes to teachers impacts their grading of immigrant and native students in Italian middle schools. Read more.

#7 Meet Our 2025-2026 PhD Job Market Candidates: Pioneering Research in Global Development, Governance, and Social Inclusion by CID Staff

This year's cohort of PhD candidates on the academic job market bring cutting-edge insights to the field of international development research. Their work explores how social networks, governance systems, and evidence-based policies can drive more inclusive and resilient societies across the globe. Read more.

#8 Three South Pacific Island Nations Navigating Diplomatic Ties Amid Growing Chinese Influence by Brian Moscioni

Despite their small populations, remote locations, and low trade volumes, understanding why Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands are relevant in the larger geopolitical equation comes down to a few key factors. Read more.

#9 Why Investing in Women Entrepreneurs is Key to Social Impact: an Interview with International Finance Corporation's Hela Cheikhrouhou by Hela Cheikhrouhou

Female enterprises are more likely to create social impact through the businesses they create and operate. Whether they generate jobs through their business for other women, invest their income in the education of their children or support others in their community, investing in women has a broader social impact as it benefits families, communities and, ultimately, societies. Read more.

#10 Rethinking Education Governance: Insights from Chile's Reform Journey through a Systems Thinking Lens by Bharti Sharma

Systems thinking is a fresh perspective that views education as an interconnected web of learners, parents, teachers, government bodies, politicians, and communities. Each action triggers a reaction across this web, making it vital to consider (and measure outcomes for) every link and interaction. By applying systems thinking, we can identify these crucial connections and understand the ripple effects of our governance structures. Read more.