About IEDP

About IEDP

The IEDP was established in 1999 by the IPSA at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. It is a student initiated, three-credit program that serves as a forum for students to discuss the challenges faced by developing economies. IEDP participants engage in a seven-week course in the winter semester, extensively studying the country of choice, and then take a one-week trip to the country over Spring Break. During the trip, IEDP students conduct extensive interviews and discussions with policymakers, members of civil society, foreign development agencies and university students. So far the IEDP has visited 11 countries, including Ethiopia, Cuba, Morocco, China, Costa Rica, Peru, Jordan, Senegal and the Philippines. The country of study for 2011 is Grenada, the first country from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the IEDP's history.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

SIDS: Small Island Developing State

List of Small Island Developing States
(UN Members)
1Antigua and Barbuda20Federated States of Micronesia
2Bahamas21Mauritius
3Bahrain22Nauru
4Barbados23Palau
5Belize24Papua New Guinea
6Cape Verde *25Samoa *
7Comoros *26São Tomé and Principe *
8Cuba27Singapore
9Dominica28St. Kitts and Nevis
10Dominican Republic29St. Lucia
11Fiji30St. Vincent and the Grenadines
12Grenada31Seychelles
13Guinea-Bissau *32Solomon Islands *
14Guyana33Suriname
15Haiti *34Timor-Lesté *
16Jamaica35Tonga
17Kiribati *36Trinidad and Tobago
18Maldives *37Tuvalu *
19Marshall Islands38Vanuatu *           


List of Small Island Developing States
(Non-UN Members/Associate Members of the Regional Commissions)
1American Samoa8Guam
2Anguilla9Montserrat
3Aruba10Netherlands Antilles
4British Virgin Islands11New Calendonia
5Commonwealth of Northern Marianas12Niue
6Cook Islands13Puerto Rico
7French Polynesia14U.S. Virgin Islands


What policy issues and environmental challenges Grenada faces as a small island state, the other 37 states and 14 islands are likely to face as well.

Grenada Introduction and Major Policy Issues


The country outline for Grenada aims to offer a general overview of Grenada's social and economic situation. It was prepared using inputs from the Caribbean Development Bank Annual Economic Report for the year 2003-2004, the CIA fact-book and World Bank Discussion Papers available online. The complete list of references is available in the sections named Bibliography and Sources on-line.

I. Social Analysis
Unemployment and poverty remain high even with recent increase of the minimum wage. At 5% of the population, Grenada has the highest incidence of extreme poverty in the Eastern Caribbean and unemployment is estimated to have risen to 12.2% in 2002.[1] In addition, 64% of the population does not have formal education certification and more than 25% of students leaving primary school have no access to secondary school education. While the government increased spending on education from 5.3% of GDP in 2000 to 6.3% in 2002, low teacher qualification remains endemic.[2] Urban migration, urban squatting and increased demand for a safety net for the poor has made a streamlined poverty reduction crucial for Grenada.

Grenada has a 1% prevalence rate of HIV. Providing cost-effective primary healthcare continues to be one of the main challenges for government. The MDG report accounts for an increase in the number of HIV/AIDS orphans in Grenada.

II. Economic Situation Analysis
a. Overview of the recent economic performance
Grenada relies on tourism as its main source of foreign exchange, especially since the construction of an international airport in 1985. The Grenadian economy experienced growth of 5.7% in 2003 following two years of decline since 9/11.[3] This growth reflects a 28.5% increase in the real value-added of the construction sector, which benefited from the tourism industry with the construction of a new cruise ship terminal and a major hotel construction. While the tourism industry expanded by 13.8% in 2003, the overall fiscal deficit widened to 19.4% of GDP.[4] Strong performances in construction and manufacturing, together with the development of an offshore financial industry, have also contributed to growth in national output. Grenada has been removed from the list as an uncooperative tax haven (OECD) 2002 as well as the list for deficiency in management of offshore sector activities (FATF) 2003.[5] Offshore financial services still contracted in 2003 with many banks closing or liquidating.

Tourism, construction, communications, transportation, and manufacturing have mitigated declines in agricultural production. Agricultural output declined by 2.4% in 2003.[6] Sector performance in agriculture has been uneven because approximately 90% of the total farms are small farms of less than 2 hectares.  Agriculture remains important to economic activity in Grenada with potential in modernization of farms.  In response to cocoa and banana production being down, the Cocoa Revitalization Programme has been implemented to facilitate the commercialization of cocoa production. The goal of the program is to revitalize over 1,000 acres of neglected or unproductive cocoa farms.  As part of Grenada's overall economic diversification plan, the banana industry has developed an organic banana project that will export to a promising market in the UK.

The large increase in the island's debt service payments has absorbed government resources at the expense of economic and social development. Grenada's debt payment obligations rose to $112.4 million in 2003 accounting for 34.7% of recurrent revenues.[7]

b. Development Cooperation
The Government received Balance of Payment support of $10.8 million from the IMF under its Emergency Assistance Programme. Grenada commenced implementation of two capital development projects began in 2003: a Bridges and Roads Investment Project and a World Bank-financed Emergency Recovery Project and Disaster Management Project.

In July 2002, The World Bank approved a loan and credit for US$6.04 million to Grenada HIV/AIDS programming.[8] The HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Project will provide financial assistance to the Government of Grenada to support the implementation of its new national HIV/AIDS strategy with a focus on improvements in the national health system and monitoring the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The project will be implemented over five years.

The Caribbean Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development have co-financed the Grenada Rural Enterprise Project which aims to reduce rural poverty through rural development.[9]

The Grenada/OECS Education Development Project became effective on January 28, 2004. The project is financed through a US$11.3 million loan from the World Bank, a US$.8 million grant from DFI and a US$2.5 million counterpart from the Government of Grenada.  The project will aid the Ministry with the development of Curriculum Policy, the provision of and Education Management and Information System, and training of principals and teachers.

The EU also provides the following significant support to the Government of Grenada.  This support is as follows:
  • EU - A-allocation ' 3.5 million
    This allocation is destined to cover the long-term development activities identified in the context of the response strategy, namely in the tourism sector while 10% of the allocation is to be used to for studies, audits and technical support in the area of regional integration, disaster prevention and monitoring. An indicative allocation for a project in the Information Communication Technology is also foreseen outside the focal area of concentration.
  • B-allocation ' 3.9 million
    This allocation is to be used for unforeseen needs such as emergency assistance and support to mitigate adverse affects of instability in export earnings.
  • STABEX
    STABEX transfers to Grenada for loss of export earnings from bananas, cocoa, nutmeg and mace are being used to support a major reform of the banana industry in parallel with efforts to diversify both agriculture and the economy as a whole. In particular efforts are underway to strengthen the national economy, improve the balance of payments, enhance the quality of life of the population in rural areas and reduce the rate of rural-urban drift.
  • Special Facility of Assistance (SFA)
    Funds available to Grenada under this facility are being used to develop a more competitive agricultural sector, including the maintenance of the banana industry whilst also emphasising the need to diversify rural income generation and the provision of social recovery for displaced farmers and their families.
III. Key Challenges
a. Overview

The major policy issues for the Government at this juncture are:
  • Delivery of Education
  • Financial Management and Public Indebtedness
  • Poverty reduction
The Government's Budget Address titled 'Promoting Economic and Social Development through People's participation' details the government's focus on agricultural development, education and training, youth development and health care. Grenada will need to support private investment through expanded public investment spending in areas such as infrastructure, water/sanitation, as well as in education and health.  The IMF suggests that the government maintain efforts to create an enabling environment for the private sector, rather than simply provide concessions.[10]  Because Grenada's tourism product and infrastructure remain less developed than its competitors, it will need active private sector participation to sustain growth and reduce poverty.

According to the Caribbean Development Bank, Grenada faces a trade-off between balancing fiscal spending in order to enhance growth and the need to manage fiscal sustainability.

b. The Environment

The government of Grenada has established a National Environmental Action Plan and instituted a legislative and policy framework for the regulation of the management of environmental hazards. Grenada's current environmental issues include:[11]
  • Soil erosion; beach and coastline erosion
  • Waste management, supply, and pollution
  • Sedimentation of coastal and river waters
  • Forestry and land protection
  • Potential loss of habitat and associated bio-diversity

2011 IEDP First Class Meeting Agenda

Time: Nov. 3, Wednesday, 5:30pm-7pm
Location: Weill 1210, Frey Foundation Classroom

1.    Lin Jones: welcome, brief introduction of IEDP, and expectations (5 minutes)
2.   Professor Waltz: brief introduction of the course content and policy areas (10 minutes)
3.   Emily, Sara, Jennifer and Lin: briefly introduction of each committee, the timeline and responsibilities (10 minutes)
4.  Team Building workshop and Committee exercise (60 minutes)
5.   Submit passport copies, emergency contacts and sign contracts (5 minutes)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

2012 IEDP Country Selection


It is your opportunity to nominate a country of your interest for the International Economic Development Program (IEDP) 2012! 

Here's how the process will work, so please read carefully and nominate away:

IEDP Country Selection Process - Here's what you need to know (keep reading for NOMINATING INFO):

1. You have one month to select a country of your interest and find a faculty sponsor; the deadline for nomination is Nov. 21, 5 pm (Sunday). 
 
2. The Country Selection will take place in two stages:
First: On Nov. 22, a Survey Monkey will be distributed to all MPP/MPA students to vote upon their top 3 country nominations. (If there are only 3 country nominations, this step will be unnecessary).

Second: On November 29 (Monday), there will be an IEDP Country Selection meeting at which the top 3 nominators will give an 8-10 minute presentation for the countrythey have nominated.  The Ford School Master's students in attendance will then vote on the country finalist.

How to Nominate a Country for IEDP:
By November 21(Sunday) at 5:00pm, submit the following to
ipsaboard@umich.edu with subject line "IEDP Country nomination":

a. Name of the country
b. Ford School Professor who has expressed interest in advising the course AND has contacted Alan Deardorff of his/her interest*
c. Brief statement (max 500 words) for country platform -- see suggested criteria below

In your submissions, consider including information pertaining to the
following criteria:
-- The country must be considered a "developing" country
-- Educational value for participants
-- Not a country the IEDP has been to in the past and will go in 2011(that is, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Venezuela, Morocco, Cuba, Ethiopia, China, Peru, Jordan, Senegal, Philippines, and Granada)
-- Affordability of the trip (airfare, in-country expenses, visas)
-- Ease of travel within country
-- Safety
-- A Ford School professor must have expressed interest in being an adviser for the course and have contacted Deardorff

Questions? linjones@umich.edu 

Friday, October 1, 2010

University of Michigan Community in Grenada (2)

Michael D. Cohen is a faculty member in the School of Information and a long time affiliate  with Ford School of Public Policy. Michael is a sailor and has taken a dozen of sail trips to Grenada. He was so glad that Grenada was chosen for 2011 IEDP, and kindly offered to share his beautiful photos from Grenada with us.