Sri Lanka tends to conjure up a range of ideas by would-be tourists: its deeply intriguing history and relation to colonial powers, a 26-year civil-war with the Tamil Tigers, or, more simply, the paradisiac beaches, beautiful landscape, warmth of the people and the rich cuisine. I believe each of these things contribute differently to Sri Lanka becoming one of world’s top tourist destinations in the past few years.
High demand among foreigners to visit Sri Lanka surely presents wide opportunities for the country’s...
An interview with Elora Kokalari, Head of the Albanian Delivery Unit at the Prime Minister’s Office
Center for International Development (CID): The Albanian Delivery Unit was modelled after the UK Delivery Unit (2001-2010) under ex-PM Tony Blair. What problem was the Delivery Unit designed to solve in Albania?
In a poetic reference, Sri Lanka is often described as “a teardrop of the Indian Ocean.” The island country is endowed with some of the world’s most scenic landscapes, a diverse culture, and a documented history that spans across three millennia. For a country that recently emerged from a 26-year-long civil war, Sri Lanka faces the challenge for transforming its short-lived “peace dividend" into sustainable growth.
Following the end of the civil war in 2009 and the presidential election in 2015, Sri Lanka...
From 2015 to September 2017, Rudina Mullahi directed the program "Innovation against corruption: Building a citizen-centric service delivery model in Albania" (ISDA) with the Minister of State for Innovation and Public Administration.
A recently published report co-written by Rudina and Cherie Hart, Development writer at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Population...
To countries like Albania, membership in the European Union is presented as the ultimate modernization project that will lift all boats and bring about greater prosperity and democratization.
However, more often than not, transition reproduces hierarchies and inequities that usually underpin relations between a prosperous center and a backward periphery.
Instead of being a cure, a solution to the political primitivism and underdevelopment, the story with...
An Interview with Dr. Milena Harito, Minister of Innovation and Public Administration of Albania
If you were a citizen of the Republic of Albania in need of a moderately complex public service in 2014, you were almost certain to enter a maze of public bureaucracy: dark and messy offices, long lines, vague instructions and procedures, and little opportunity for citizen feedback or tolerance for criticism. It’s no wonder that the uncertainty around these services forced most citizens to use their social and family connections, and in some cases, bribes, to ensure speedy...
