Devex Podcasts

Climate change affects everyone, but for many young people, it represents the risk of a stolen future. According to the World Bank, by the time many of the teenage climate activists of today are in their late 20s, climate change could force an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty. In the fourth episode of COPcast, Devex sat down with Jessica Bwali — a young climate activist from Zamb...

Around 80% of the farmland in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia is managed by smallholder farmers who provide up to 80% of the food supply in these regions. Extreme weather events fueled by climate change, such as droughts and flooding, are making their livelihoods unsustainable in some parts of the world, driving mass migration and fueling poverty and malnutrition. In the third episode of the COPcast,...

Extreme weather is ravaging countries across the African continent, with historic droughts, floods, and cyclones creating endless loops of humanitarian disasters. The Horn of Africa is on the brink of famine, and Nigeria was hit with the worst floods in over a decade. In the lead-up to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 27, in Sharm-el- Sheikh, Egypt, African nations came to...

As world leaders gather in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt for the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, Devex Associate editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with senior reporters Sara Jerving and William Worley to look back at the climate commitments made last year, take stock of where we currently stand, and highlight key expectations for Africa’s first COP.

In the final episode of UNGA Decoded, Michael Igoe sits down with Colum Lynch – who recently joined Devex as senior global correspondent, focusing on the UN’s health, humanitarian, and development work – to find out what he made of this year’s UNGA, how the global gathering has changed since he first started reporting on the UN, and about how his own views about the UN’s role in the world inform t...

The world is in the midst of a learning crisis. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of kids in low- and middle-income countries were living in what the World Bank calls “learning poverty.” Now, in the wake of school closures and remote learning, that number could spike to 70% — with huge implications for the opportunities available to kids for the rest of their lives and for the glob...

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed stark inequalities in the global health architecture. As the virus spread, a handful of mostly wealthy countries proved to have the money, the private sector relationships, and the power to be first in line for vaccines, treatments and supplies — and global health institutions struggled to even the playing field. Health leaders on the African continent have taken tha...

Gerda Verburg on building a nutrition movement by Devex

America's refugee resettlement system has been battered by politics and bureaucracy. Nazanin Ash leads a new coalition of grassroots resettlement networks called Welcome. US, which is built on a simpler premise: that when asked to help those in need, most people will say "yes." Before joining Welcome. US, Ash served as Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the International Rescue Commit...

Marinel Sumook Ubaldo has channeled the firsthand experience of climate-related disaster into a voice of youth advocacy. Working with the nonprofit Living Laudato Si' Philippines, Ubaldo is fighting for the rights of those with the most to lose from a warming planet. A Filipino climate activist, Ubaldo helped organize the first youth climate strike in her country in 2019 and continues to lobby gov...

The president of the Rockefeller Foundation says the World Bank and other financial institutions must do more to rise to the challenges of economic and climate crises that threaten to unwind global development gains. Michael Igoe sits down with Rajiv Shah to talk about this, and how the foundation’s historical ties to oil money have affected its present-day focus on climate transitions. Before bec...

UNGA is back and so is the Clinton Global Initiative. Devex Editor in chief Raj Kumar talks with Chelsea Clinton about what the future holds for her family's signature convening — and what she wants to see happen in global health. Chelsea Clinton is vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, where she focuses on the Foundation’s global health programs. She is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Unive...

Since José Andrés founded World Central Kitchen in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning chef has been challenging the traditional model of shipping in food aid from overseas in emergency situations. World Central Kitchen focuses on mobilizing grassroots networks of cooks and food producers, with the aim of creating a more sustainable local fo...

As the global development community descends on New York City for the 77th United Nations General Assembly, Devex Senior Reporter Michael Igoe sits down with our very own Editor-in-Chief, Raj Kumar, to discuss: what is UNGA, exactly? Raj Kumar is a Washington, D.C.-based social impact leader, journalist, and author specialized in global development. He is the President & Editor-in-Chief of Devex,...

Not only does 2022 mark the third year of a global pandemic, it also marks seven and a half years into the SDGs — the halfway point. This year, the World Economic Forum Annual meeting will convene in person for the first time in 2 years. This week-long event is an opportunity to reflect on crucial SDG goals and targets and to develop solutions to spring forward and achieve them in a post-pandemic...

Alexandra Hernández Muro on her journey into LGBTQ activism by Devex

Victoria Zwein on the challenges facing women in politics in Lebanon by Devex

Before the pandemic, 37% of schools didn’t have a decent toilet. What impact does that have on education? In this final episode of the series, Amruta and Rebecca speak to Ada Oko-Williams, senior WASH manager of sanitation at WaterAid and co-founder of the African Women Sanitation Professionals Network and Mohammad Zobair Hasan, chief of research, evaluation, and monitoring at the Development Orga...

WASH at the heart of peace and war by Devex

With COP 26 in full swing, Rebecca and Amruta explore how water, sanitation and hygiene are affected by climate change – and could also help provide a solution. Sanitation and Water for All's Catarina de Albuquerque, Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, and Aishwarya Pramod, accelerator and investment manager at the Toilet Board Coali...

“Can you imagine labor and delivery without water?” That’s the reality for many women in rural Ethiopia, according to Migs Muldrow, founder and board chair of Village Health Partnerships. Without it, patients can’t use the toilet and health care workers can’t wash their hands after procedures, Nkwan Jacob Gobte, a WASH infection prevention and control nurse working with the Cameroon Baptist Conven...

When it comes to poor access to water and decent sanitation, the repercussions are often disproportionately felt by women. For example, a lack of adequate facilities in schools might mean girls having to stay at home during their menstruation, impacting their ability to learn; collecting water instead of working can limit their opportunities to earn a living, and using a toilet without a lock can...

Around the world, millions of people lack access to clean and safe drinking water, toilets, and handwashing facilities. In a new podcast from Devex, reporters Rebecca Root and Amruta Byatnal take a look at how a lack of water, sanitation and hygiene, or WASH, services is impacting communities, and the small scale solutions that can help us better understand how to make progress on a larger scale.

Charles Muthoga, Health Economist, Botswana Harvard Aids Partnership by Devex

This year’s UN climate talks in Katowice have raised major questions about the influence of fossil fuel companies on global climate policy, the ability of negotiators to push forward an ambitious climate agenda and the fortitude of the Paris Agreement. Against a conflicting backdrop of alarming new climate science and pro-coal superpowers working against the tide of progress, the fate of the Paris...