The First Tranche

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New research on media resilience in Europe & Eurasia offers context for recent protests in Georgia Protests erupted in Tbilisi after a bill was proposed in Georgia’s parliament to register news outlets and NGOs as “foreign agents,” mirroring a Russian law used to shutter media and civil society. AidData staff
2023-06-07

New research on media resilience in Europe & Eurasia offers context for recent protests in Georgia

Protests erupted in Tbilisi after a bill was proposed in Georgia’s parliament to register news outlets and NGOs as “foreign agents,” mirroring a Russian law used to shutter media and civil society.

A protest in Georgia on September 1, 2008, in the wake of the Russo-Georgian War in August 2008. Photo by Vladimer Shioshvili via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY-SA 2.0).
AidData maps media resilience in post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia in the face of malign foreign actors The project fills knowledge gaps with novel data covering 17 countries in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. AidData staff
2023-05-11

AidData maps media resilience in post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia in the face of malign foreign actors

The project fills knowledge gaps with novel data covering 17 countries in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Journalists wait during the European Summit on October 18-19, 2012 in Brussels. Photo by European Union 2012 - European Parliament via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Data innovation in conflict zones: Enabling insights without endangering lives On April 6, AidData and the W&M Whole of Government Center for Excellence will host a panel on evaluating development policy and interventions when on-the-ground data collection is difficult, dangerous, or infeasible. Madeleine Walker
2023-03-30

Data innovation in conflict zones: Enabling insights without endangering lives

On April 6, AidData and the W&M Whole of Government Center for Excellence will host a panel on evaluating development policy and interventions when on-the-ground data collection is difficult, dangerous, or infeasible.

Refugees visit a mine awareness exhibit at a refugee camp. Photo by Pedram Pirnia for CIDA/ACDI via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Belt and Road bailout lending reaches record levels, raising questions about the future of China’s flagship global infrastructure program A new study finds Beijing has dramatically expanded emergency rescue lending to countries in financial distress. Alex Wooley
2023-03-27

Belt and Road bailout lending reaches record levels, raising questions about the future of China’s flagship global infrastructure program

A new study finds Beijing has dramatically expanded emergency rescue lending to countries in financial distress.

Photo by Skitterphoto via Pixabay, licensed under the Pixabay License.
“一带一路”救助贷款达到创纪录水平,引发对中国旗舰全球基础设施计划前途的质疑 Alex Wooley
2023-03-27

“一带一路”救助贷款达到创纪录水平,引发对中国旗舰全球基础设施计划前途的质疑

Photo by Skitterphoto via Pixabay, licensed under the Pixabay License.
Afghanistan’s national program to clear landmines delivered broad-based impacts, study finds AidData’s first-of-its-kind evaluation of the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan finds landmine removal led to increased economic growth, trust in government, and productive land use and was associated with increased aid. Sarina Patterson
2023-03-24

Afghanistan’s national program to clear landmines delivered broad-based impacts, study finds

AidData’s first-of-its-kind evaluation of the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan finds landmine removal led to increased economic growth, trust in government, and productive land use and was associated with increased aid.

In the countryside west of Kabul, deminers use dogs to detect mines. Photo by Pedram Pirnia for CIDA/ACDI via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
AidData launches new series of analysis, data on Russia’s ongoing efforts to influence countries in Europe & Eurasia A three-year research project culminates in a trove of dozens of country reports, indexes, and hundreds of indicators quantifying Kremlin influence on civic space, the media, and energy security across 24 countries and occupied territories. Alex Wooley
2023-03-22

AidData launches new series of analysis, data on Russia’s ongoing efforts to influence countries in Europe & Eurasia

A three-year research project culminates in a trove of dozens of country reports, indexes, and hundreds of indicators quantifying Kremlin influence on civic space, the media, and energy security across 24 countries and occupied territories.

A woman and child peer out of the window of a bus as they leave Sievierodonetsk, in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Photo by manhai/Vadim Ghirda via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY 2.0).
Inside Russia’s long game to project influence and undermine Ukraine: Lead-up to the 2022 invasion Russia used language, religion, and ideology to cultivate sympathizers, vilify opponents, and generally foment unrest in tactics that are a template for influence operations in elsewhere in Russia’s periphery. Samantha Custer, Alex Wooley
2023-03-21

Inside Russia’s long game to project influence and undermine Ukraine: Lead-up to the 2022 invasion

Russia used language, religion, and ideology to cultivate sympathizers, vilify opponents, and generally foment unrest in tactics that are a template for influence operations in elsewhere in Russia’s periphery.

L-R: Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) primate Metropolitan Onufriy, Russian Orthodox Church primate Patriarch Kirill, prominent financier of UOC MP, Ukrainian oligarch and lawmaker Vadym Novynskyi during a UOC MP visit to Moscow to greet Kirill with the 10th anniversary of his election to primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 16 June 2019. Photo: Novynskyi's Facebook
AidData wins award from USAID’s Equitable AI Challenge for project on gender bias in AI-created poverty measures The award will fund an assessment of the impact of gender bias on AI-generated poverty estimates. Seth Goodman
2023-03-08

AidData wins award from USAID’s Equitable AI Challenge for project on gender bias in AI-created poverty measures

The award will fund an assessment of the impact of gender bias on AI-generated poverty estimates.

Photo by Katherine Nolan.
One year in, lessons from the war in Ukraine—and Ukrainians’ resilience Investments in a strong civil society are key to countering foreign influence in times of peace and war. Samantha Custer, Alex Wooley
2023-02-23

One year in, lessons from the war in Ukraine—and Ukrainians’ resilience

Investments in a strong civil society are key to countering foreign influence in times of peace and war.

In response to a January 2023 missile attack on a residential building in Dnipro, the UNDP in Ukraine partnered with a local NGO, the Crisis Psychological Assistance in Dnipro and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Over a two-week period, a team of 15 psychologists provided more than 200 crisis consultations for families of survivors and relatives of those who were killed. Photo by Alex Pitel for UNDP Ukraine via Flickr, licensed under (CC BY-ND 2.0).
U.S. must reinvest in strategic communications to match China and Russia, new research volume finds Produced for the inaugural Gates Forum and publicly launched at a follow-on event today, the research proposes bipartisan solutions for foreign policy challenges facing the U.S. Sarina Patterson
2023-02-23

U.S. must reinvest in strategic communications to match China and Russia, new research volume finds

Produced for the inaugural Gates Forum and publicly launched at a follow-on event today, the research proposes bipartisan solutions for foreign policy challenges facing the U.S.

Debating the Aid System: Surfacing insights from the Global South for OECD reform The 60th anniversary of the OECD Development Cooperation report calls on donors to deliver on past commitments and adapt to the changing needs of Global South partners. Samantha Custer
2023-02-14

Debating the Aid System: Surfacing insights from the Global South for OECD reform

The 60th anniversary of the OECD Development Cooperation report calls on donors to deliver on past commitments and adapt to the changing needs of Global South partners.