This Week in Global Development

As development budgets tighten, donors, NGOs, and implementing partners alike are all grappling with an increasingly urgent question: How do you move money efficiently and securely to people who need it most — especially in complex or hard-to-reach environments, where traditional banking fails? One technology that’s gaining traction in this space is blockchain. “The speed, the efficiency, the tran...

As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development wraps up, Devex reporters Jesse Chase-Lubitz and Elissa Miolene join Associate Editor Thomas Cserép for a podcast episode reflecting on what transpired this week in Sevilla — beyond the sweltering 115 degrees Celsius heat. The big takeaway from FfD4 is the Compromiso de Sevilla, a document that participants view as both a commitme...

With aid budgets under pressure globally, delegates at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, Spain, are urgently exploring innovative ways to fund global development. But as the spotlight shifts toward private capital, there’s a growing concern that essential interventions without immediate financial returns — such as health investments — could be overlooked....

Development leaders have converged on Sevilla, Spain, for the  Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development , or FfD4 — the first such gathering in a decade — as shrinking aid budgets and a U.S. retreat from multilateral commitments reshape the sector. At the 2015 conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,  official development assistance was at record levels amid ambitious “billions to...

This week, we have been closely following the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance ’s high-level replenishment event in Brussels. Gavi, the leading international organization that provides vaccines to lower-income countries, finalized its five-year investment round event with more than $9 billion in pledges — falling short of its total budget request of $11.9 billion.  The United States decided to cut its s...

This week, we are at the Bonn Climate Change Conference . From climate financing to the absence of the United States, we take a look at the major talking points at the summit and contemplate whether the talks will translate into actionable policies.  We also look at how the Trump administration’s plans to cut foreign aid funding could create unexpected domestic repercussions for American agricultu...

In celebration of our 100th podcast episode, we’re revisiting the most impactful global development stories from the past two years, covering the period since our very first recording. From the evolving aid landscape to the critical discussions around localization , we explore some of the key themes in global development that we have been covering. We examine the growing burden of debt in low-inco...

On this week’s podcast episode, we unpack U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget request, which proposes sweeping cuts to foreign aid and includes the elimination of funding for major global health initiatives such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria . The administration has also submitted a $9.4 billion rescission proposal to the U.S. Congr...

This week we reflect on the 78th World Health Assembly , which Devex covered on the ground in Geneva. From the historic agreement of the Pandemic Treaty to the World Health Organization 's strategies for addressing its persistent funding gap, we analyze the key takeaways from the conference.  We also discuss the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid delivery mechanism, which...

Explosive growth in the middle class , rapid urbanization, digitization and automation, the energy transition, and evolving geopolitics — these all present unique challenges for today’s businesses, said Jonathan Fantini-Porter, senior vice president of social impact in the Americas at Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. It’s against this backdrop that public and private sector leaders are grap...

With the 78th World Health Assembly in full swing, we dig into the main talking point of the conference: the Pandemic Agreement.  The landmark treaty was adopted during this year’s edition of the annual summit . The agreement is designed to create a world better prepared for pandemics, ensuring a more equitable distribution of lifesaving medical interventions — a key challenge highlighted by the C...

Next week, the global health community will convene in Geneva for the World Health Organization 's annual decision-making summit, the World Health Assembly. We preview the pivotal discussions expected to shape the coming year, including the implications of recent leadership changes and cost-saving initiatives at WHO , as well as the evolving role of philanthropic organizations in funding global he...

This week, we learned that billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates will commit most of his fortune to the Gates Foundation , which will close in 2045. Before this date, the foundation will double its philanthropy, spending $200 billion over the next two decades. The announcement comes as the organization, which has given away $100 billion since 2000, marks its 25th anniversary. Meanwhile, at the end...

For this special episode of our weekly podcast series, we sit down with outgoing UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. He reflects on his two terms, navigating the agency through transitions and current disruptions. Steiner candidly discusses the significant impact of Trump administration program cuts, detailing how they disrupted vital partnerships and supply chains in crisis-hit countries. Hear his...

This week marked the first 100 days of the second Trump presidency. From the cutting of foreign aid programs to the laying off of government staff, we reflect on the second Trump administration's impact on the global development sector .  On the topic of the U.S. government, the Department of Government Efficiency is also planning to shut down the Millennium Challenge Corporation . However, effort...

Conversations about critical raw materials — the natural resources that power  everything from clean energy to smart phones, electric vehicles, and even AI systems  — are not ones you hear about in every development circle, but this is starting to change. Given their critical role in the global economy and sustainable technology, they are now at the center of geopolitical power struggles, supply c...

With the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in full swing, we are recording live from the conference. From the United States’ approach to the institutions to how to create more jobs in the global workforce, we take a look at the key discussion points at the summit.  On the topic of the U.S., we chew over the possibility that the uncertainty surrounding potential tariffs imp...

This week we published a story in which we spoke with 14 former and current World Central Kitchen staff members and contractors to find out what lay behind the deaths of seven of the nonprofit’s staff members in Gaza . The interviewees described a workplace plagued by risk, inadequate training, and a “build-the-plane-while-flying-it” mentality. With the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and Intern...

Around 5 billion people — about two-thirds of the world’s population — globally lack access to safe, affordable surgical care.  Despite carrying 25% of the global surgical disease burden, Africa is served by just 2% of the world’s surgical workforce. The reasons for this disparity are complex — from underresourced medical education systems to the migration of trained professionals seeking better p...

Confusion surrounding U.S. foreign assistance deepened this week as USAID reversed several program terminations—including life-saving food aid—just days after announcing them. The World Food Programme called the initial cuts a “death sentence for millions,” and organizations are now raising questions about data accuracy and decision-making inside the administration. We also look at how European go...

The Trump administration formally informed Congress of its proposal to abolish USAID , merging key aspects of its operations into the State Department . This plan involves the complete shutdown of the agency and subsequent staff layoffs. Despite this, the U.S. government intends to preserve vital programs concerning humanitarian assistance, food security, and global health, potentially leading to...

This week, the Trump administration released a detailed inventory of 5,341 discontinued USAID programs , alongside the 898 projects that are still active. We dig into the ins and outs of the data to assess the true scope of the government's policy changes, as well as reveal which programs have been most affected.  During the conversation, we also discussed how the Trump administration’s foreign po...

In this special episode of This Week in Global Development, Devex dives deeper into how climate change is driving increased gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work and the cutting-edge research that’s not only mapping its impacts but also improving our understanding of potential solutions. Hear directly from Kathy Baughman McLeod, the founder and CEO of Climate Resilience for All...

This week we dig into the different proposals on how the Trump administration could reform foreign assistance. According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s post on the social media platform X, 1,000 programs will be retained , with plans to potentially fold USAID into the State Department .  We also learned that Peter Marocco, who acted as deputy administrator of USAID for 6 weeks, has offic...

This week a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to pay USAID partners for billions of dollars in foreign aid work completed before Feb. 13. The ruling also stated that the president does not have “unbounded power” in the realm of foreign affairs. This means that the U.S. government must spend the money that’s already been appropriated by Congress. We discuss whether this ruling will hol...