The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) has welcomed 25 tax and finance professionals as the latest cohort of its teaching and learning course, which commenced this month.
Delivered by ICTD for 10 years and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and NORAD, the Research on Tax and Development course provides participants with the conceptual tools, practical methodological skills, and academic literature needed to conduct novel and policy-relevant research in the field.
This year’s cohort – carefully selected from over 800 applicants, the most yet – consists of tax practitioners, researchers, lawyers, civil society actors, and public finance experts, among others, with participants hailing from across the African continent, as well as Asia and North America.
“In recent years we have broadened the pool of participants in the course to include not just members of staff from a wide variety of revenue authorities, but also civil society activists, journalists, and researchers,” said ICTD Research Fellow Max Gallien, who co-leads the Teaching & Learning programme.
“The diversity of our cohort always leads to fascinating discussions and unexpected case studies. I’m really looking forward to meeting the new cohort, and to the conversations and projects that will come out of the course,” he added.
Also taking note of the cohort’s diverse range of experiences and expertise, participant Yande Musonda, a data scientist at the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) said: “I am particularly interested in learning about the experiences of other countries and how they have successfully implemented data-driven and technological solutions to enhance their tax systems. This comparative perspective will be invaluable in helping me develop tailored solutions that address the unique challenges we face at ZRA.”
Meanwhile, Carolina Rodrigues Finette, a researcher from the Tax Justice Network, noted how the programme’s focus on low-income countries aligns with her work: “Many of the countries I focus on face significant challenges in designing and implementing tax policies that are both effective and equitable. These challenges include limited administrative capacity, high levels of informality, and socio-economic conditions that can exacerbate inequalities.”
“This training offered by ICTD will provide me with insights into how these challenges can be addressed and how successful gender-sensitive tax policies have been implemented in other low-income contexts,” she added.
The programme is delivered online throughout the course of the year with the final module typically held in-person. It would include introductions to current academic debates on key themes in tax and development, sessions on how to formulate and frame a research question, introductory and advanced training on research methods, and practical sessions on how to manage a project, apply for funding, and write up results.
Participants from last year’s cohort have previously shared how the course helped them move forward in their respective careers and research endeavours, following the delivery of the final module, which was held in Accra, Ghana in September 2024.
See what they had to say in this video:
ICTD is committed to nurturing joint teaching and learning opportunities around tax and development. Click here to learn more about these activities.
