This Week in Global Development

This year is seeing the proliferation of AI technology in our lives, which is having a big effect on the way many of us carry out our daily tasks in the workplace. From improving disaster response to helping address environmental challenges, the new technology has a huge potential to have a positive impact on global development . During our conversation, we discuss the risks and opportunities that...

Last week, the World Health Organization released its long-awaited updated guidance on the prevention and management of malnutrition in children, which aims to reduce child mortality through starvation by widening access to treatment worldwide. For this episode, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar is joined by Matthias Berninger, the senior vice president for public affairs and sustainab...

High interest rates are threatening the gains made in financial inclusion over the past decade, with investors backing off riskier investments especially in inclusive fintech, as reported by Devex’s Shabtai Gold this week. While some regions have achieved robust progress — such as India, where nearly 80% of adults now have a bank account — others are lagging behind. Over half the population of sub...

French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris this week, which aims to strike a new post-World War II pact between high-income nations and those most at risk from climate change and crippling debt. However, with key players not attending, including U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak , U.S. President Joe Biden, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,...

This week USAID released its long-awaited localization update . Despite the progress made, not least due to the success of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief , or PEPFAR, the agency is yet to come close to reaching its target of spending 25% of funding on local organizations by 2025. From the U.K. government reclaiming official development assistance via taxes to India’s renewable...

While usually during the summer period news is expected to slow down, it was certainly not the case for the first couple of days of June. As the unexpected struggle to reauthorize PEPFAR continues and we mark the beginning of a new era at the World Bank with Ajay Banga’s presidency , the start of the month has most definitely been eventful. From discussing what to expect from Banga’s presidency to...

Seven years ago, the United Nations' World Humanitarian Summit proposed the "humanitarian-development nexus" to improve collaboration between the two ends of the aid sector. Although it was initially a good idea to enhance efficiency and reduce costs, this framework has struggled to deliver amidst the increasing number of humanitarian disasters and prolonged crises. Recently, Devex's Teresa Welsh...

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund ’s Spring Meetings have come to an end this weekend. A great sense of change was anticipated for this year’s event, as Devex wrote last week . But what do we make of the talks now that they are over? That’s the question we asked our guests in the first episode of “This Week in Global Development,” a weekly podcast where we break down the big headlines...