A team of 40 researchers from ODI and 10 developing countries embarked on a unique monitoring study on the effects of the global financial crisis over the period 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 it was expected that worse conditions were underway.

With current forecasts of the state of the world economy ranging from green shoots, 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, ODI organised a workshop on 7 September 2009 to mark the start of the second phase (August-December 2009) of the monitoring study (deepening selected Phase 1 studies and covering other countries) and consider the effects of the global slowdown (and possible green shoots) on 11 low-income countries.