Now officially recognized as Harvard’s central platform for international development research, the Harvard Center for International Development (CID) is reimagining how to build a world where all can thrive.
We are at a crossroads in international development.
New technologies and innovations offer opportunities – and challenges – to invest in communities to reach their full potential. New development aid paradigms centered on localized approaches can test well-established norms by redirecting power from wealthy countries to developing economies – or remain symbolic pledges. New resources from capital markets and development finance institutions can galvanize investments for sustainable development – if we can reimagine how to fund inclusive growth.
At the Harvard Center for International Development (CID), we believe this moment requires a fundamental change to the development aid architecture – moving away from a charity-based approach that results in a surviving world for some – to investing in communities as equal partners so we can build a thriving world for all.
Learn more about the groundwork we laid in academic year 2023-24 as part of our five-year strategy to build, convene, and deploy talent to meet the challenges of our time.
Empowered by our brilliant network of faculty affiliates, students, programs, and scholars across all Harvard schools; fueled by 7,424 cups of coffee brewed this year at our Kennedy School headquarters; and connected to local networks of researchers and practitioners in more than 115 countries, CID is where research meets practice in international development.
We are looking for new partners who share our vision. We hope you will join us.
Asim I. Khwaja, CID Faculty Director
Fatema Z. Sumar, CID Executive Director
CID Builds
We teach current and future generations of leaders to think critically about development in the classroom and through experiential learning, and we support emerging researchers at every stage of their career.
In 2023-24, we launched CID Student Seminars taught by leading practitioners on development diplomacy, strategy, gender equity, and growth in Africa; supported student research globally through J-term travel stipends, the Global Internship Program, and the Research Scholars Program; invested in PhD and Postdoc researchers through our with Yale Economic Growth Center and Visiting Researchers Program bringing early-career scholars to Cambridge; and piloted a field trip to the United Nations.
Eliana La Ferrara, CID Faculty Affiliate
Build by the Numbers
CID Convenes
We bring together doers and thinkers from academia, government, the private sector, civil society, and philanthropy to share knowledge, debate ideas, and drive new research.
In 2023-24, we held more than 125 events on campus including academic seminars for faculty, PhD students, and fellows and the Northeastern Universities Development Consortium (NEUDC) conference showcasing emerging development economists; engaged practitioners through our Speaker Series; and dove deep on gender equity culminating in our flagship Global Empowerment Meeting (GEM) and through our Road to GEM Speaker Series and . Our events featured leading researchers and policymakers including former Prime Ministers of New Zealand, Jordan, and Côte d’Ivoire; ministers and mayors across Africa, Asia, and Latin America; and leadership from international development institutions looking to share their experiences and gain new research insights.
Convene by the Numbers
CID Deploys
We catalyze new research collaborations and conduct rigorous studies to generate evidence and apply solutions to pressing development issues worldwide.
In 2023-24, we laid the foundation for new initiatives on global education and, while continuing to house programs including the and Social Protection Initiative. We opened the second round of the GEM Incubation Fund to seed research on gender equity in developing economies. And we created new online databases such as our CID Faculty Directory and Publications List to make it easier to find and access research and researchers across Harvard while investing in stronger operational support for our faculty to pursue sponsored research.
Deploy by the Numbers
2023-2024 in Pictures
How to Engage
Support the work of CID and help us build a thriving world for all.
- Learn from CID Faculty Affiliates by reading their research
- Hear from leading voices in international development by listening to the
- Subscribe to the CID newsletter to hear more about our research, events, and open positions
- Explore the work of CID's Research Programs and Initiatives
- Follow us on , , and on @HarvardCID