DevelopmentAid Dialogues

Neglected tropical diseases affect more than 1.5 billion people, close to one in six worldwide, yet they remain among the least visible and mediatized health problems on the planet. The medicines to treat most of them already exist, often for less than US$0.50 a dose. In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues, host Hisham Allam speaks with Dr. Wendy Harrison , CEO of Unlimit Health, about why th...

As the ongoing U.S./Israel–Iran war reverberates across the region—affecting energy markets, transport routes, and economic stability in the Middle East and North Africa—the question for the development sector is becoming more urgent: can Gulf donors sustain their expanding role in global aid, or will their priorities shift inward?   In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues, podcast host Hisham...

In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogue s, podcast host Hisham Allam spoke with Lotfullah Najafizada , an Afghan journalist and founder of Amu TV, a Washington-based international news outlet reaching audiences inside and outside Afghanistan.   With nearly 20 years on Afghan media frontlines—including over a decade as Tolo News director and multiple Press Freedom Awards— he joined us ahead of t...

In this episode of Development Aid Dialogues, podcast host Hisham Allam spoke with Jonathan Criss , CEO and Founder of Vital Lyfe . After more than 13 years working on Dragon and Starlink , from cargo racks to reusable spacecraft, Criss left to establish Vital Lyfe, a company building small-scale purification systems for remote villages, disaster zones and infrastructure-poor communities already f...

In this episode of Development Aid Dialogues, podcast host Hisham Allam interviewed Fadi Bou Ali , a sustainable finance specialist working at the intersection of capital markets and climate solutions, for an in-depth look at how green and blue bonds are reshaping climate finance. Fadi, an expert within ABAAD - Resource Centre for Gender Equality , explains that green bonds and regular loans are “...

Every year, the World NGO Day is a moment to recognize the work nonprofits and community-based organizations do in some of the world’s toughest places—and to be honest about the pressures they face, from shrinking civic space to falling budgets and rising security risks. To mark the day, DevelopmentAid Dialogues host Hisham Allam speaks with Linda Nordby , Head of the Humanitarian Division at Norw...

In this episode of Development Aid Dialogues—marking International NGO Day at the end of February—podcast host Hisham Allam interviewed Dara Johnston , Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for UNICEF in Palestine , for an in-depth look at how nonprofits complement big institutions on the ground. With a month-long series spotlighting NGOs' grassroots role in crises, community voices and glob...

Reframing Dutch Aid:  Steven Collet on Mutual Interests and Smart Partnerships in 2026   How does the international aid sector survive shrinking budgets? Hisham Allam asks Steven Collet , Deputy Director-General of International Cooperation at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs . With a background ranging from the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) to diplomatic missions in Tanzania and Vietnam...

In climate politics, it is easy to treat COP summits as a travelling show: intense media noise, careful drafting marathons, and then a quick shift to the next crisis. In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues, host Hisham Allam talked with Paulo C. De Miranda about when these summits stopped being just diplomacy and started to matter for people, balance sheets and fragile communities.  Paulo, Ch...

The United Nations Office for Project Services , widely known as UNOPS, is pushing climate accountability into the core of development work by tackling the most elusive part of its carbon footprint: Scope 3 emissions. In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues, host Hisham Allam speaks with Samantha Stratton-Short , Head of Strategic Initiatives, Infrastructure and Project Management at UNOPS and...

International development is heading into a crunch moment, and this episode with Professor Raj M. Desai puts numbers, mechanisms, and politics around what “shrinking aid” really means for countries that still depend on it—especially in the context of USAID cuts and the growing push toward blended finance. In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues , podcast host Hisham Allam speaks with Desai, a...

In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues, podcast host Hisham Allam interviewed Rebecca Thissen, Global Advocacy Lead at CAN International, for an in-depth look at the real outcomes of COP30 in Belem, Brazil. Thissen, a veteran defender of climate justice, shared her perspective as a COP30 participant on how high-stakes negotiations and geopolitical tensions shaped both the atmosphere and the d...

Artificial intelligence is changing the way we think about healthcare, offering new ways to connect, diagnose, and support patients—especially through telemedicine. More people than ever are speaking to their doctor from home, getting advice online, and sharing data from their devices. It’s fast, it’s convenient, and it’s full of promise. But is it enough? Where does technology stop and real human...

The age of artificial intelligence is reshaping healthcare delivery worldwide, with telemedicine at the forefront of this transformation. In episode five of the DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast , host Hisham Allam speaks with Dr. med. Jan Niclas Strickling , a German board-certified interventional cardiologist who has played a key role in advancing telemedicine through Germany’s certified centers...

The global humanitarian landscape is marked by stark contrasts: while some crises like Ukraine dominate international attention and resources, others such as Sudan, the Sahel, and Haiti struggle in the shadows. In this episode of the DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast, host Hisham Allam had a lightning interview with Désirée Ketabchi , Head of Humanitarian Action & Advocacy at Oxfam Belgium and...

World Humanitarian Day 2025, observed globally on August 19, stands as a solemn tribute to the courage and sacrifice of aid workers delivering hope amid crises. In this episode of the DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast, host Hisham Allam speaks with Sajeda Shawa , head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the United Arab Emirates. With over 18 years of...

The hard truth of modern humanitarian action was this: access had closed, risks had risen, and remote delivery had become unavoidable. In this episode of the DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast (Season 3), host Hisham Allam spoke with Ina Bluemel —a veteran of emergency health, WASH, and logistics leadership across WHO , IFRC , and multiple NGOs—about what it took to keep aid effective when workers c...

The age of abundant Western aid is ending—and this time, no rebound is guaranteed. In this episode of the DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast, host Hisham Allam speaks with Dr. Julius Kirimi Sindi , a systems innovator and director of the Gates Foundation–backed Catalyze Impact Initiative, about how global development must adapt before it unravels. Drawing from decades of leadership in African resear...

Devastating wildfires and intense heatwaves are sweeping across continents—from Indonesia’s burning rainforests and Canada’s parched woodlands to Latin America and, of course, Europe’s Mediterranean coasts. The scale and frequency of these disasters are reminders that climate change is no longer a distant threat, but a global emergency demanding action at every level.  In this episode of Developme...

As mounting debt strangles public services and climate disasters escalate, a provocative idea is gaining ground: what if countries could trade their debt burdens for environmental action? In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast , host Hisham Allam speaks with Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine , Director General of the Association for Forests, Development and Conservation (AFDC) , about debt-for-n...

“Localization” has become one of the most repeated terms in international development—but is it a genuine shift, or just a new label for old practices? In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast, host Hisham Allam speaks with Dr. Duncan Green, Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics and longtime Oxfam strategist, about why shifting power in aid is harder—and more essential...

Abandonment at the Breaking Point: Confronting the Aid Cuts with Stephen Cornish   By: DevelopmentAid Dialogues  In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast , host Hisham Allam speaks with Stephen Cornish , General Director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Switzerland , about the mounting global humanitarian crises—from famine zones in Sudan to the collapse of water systems in Chad—and th...

In this 26th episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast , host Hisham Allam interviews Stefan Dercon , Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and author of Gambling on Development, about the global consequences of recent aid cuts by major donor countries, particularly the United States. As foreign aid budgets shrink and populist politics gain traction, the discussion delved into...

As foreign aid cuts ripple across donor nations, global health systems are beginning to fracture. In the 25th episode of the DevelopmentAid Dialogues podcast, host Hisham Allam sat down with Lisa M. Hilmi , Executive Director of CORE Group , to discuss the very real and immediate consequences of this funding vacuum. Hilmi, a seasoned public health leader, has spent decades working across Africa, S...

As foreign aid budgets shrink across Western nations, the global development sector is confronting a moment of reckoning. In this episode of DevelopmentAid Dialogues , host Hisham Allam speaks with Katri Bertram —a global health and development expert with two decades of experience spanning international organizations, NGOs, and government institutions. She is currently the International Director...