A team of 40 researchers from ODI and 10 developing countries embarked upon a unique monitoring study looking into the effects of the global financial crisis from January-March 2009. It found that some effects had already become visible when the G-20 leaders met in London on 2 April 2009, but worse was likely to come. With current forecasts of the state of the world economy varying widely from green shoots, to double dips, to a long and deep recession, and ahead of the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh on 24-25 September 2009, where the position of low income countries should be considered, this workshop marked the start of the a second phase of the monitoring study (deepening selected phase 1 studies and covering other countries), and considered the effects of the global slowdown on 11 low income countries. The workshop aimed to obtain initial information for the G-20 meeting, informing the development responses of countries such as Sweden (the current president of the EU), while also clarifying a path forward until December 2009.

We are grateful for funding from UK DFID and Swedish SIDA.