For this special episode of our weekly podcast series recorded at COP29, Devex climate reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz sits down with Kulthoum Omari-Motsumi from the Africa Adaptation Initiative, Patrick Verkooijen of the Global Center on Adaptation, and Tagaloa Cooper from the South Pacific Regional Environment Program. 

Agriculture is both a driver of climate change, with around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions coming from direct on farm emissions, and a potential game changer in mitigating it, if carried out sustainably. Yet currently agriculture receives only 4.3% of total mitigation and adaptation finance, making it an underutilized part of the solution to climate change. “Maybe an important conversation to have in Baku is to say, of the finances that we have available, are we all focussing on the...

While the African continent has seen significant economic growth in recent years, it continues to grapple with critical infrastructure challenges that hamper business expansion, service delivery, trade, investment, as well as sustainable development.  In the latest episode of This Week in Global Development, Devex Executive Vice President Kate Warren speaks with Alain Ebobissé, CEO of Africa50, during the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in...

As the COP 29 U.N. climate conference kicks off in Baku, Azerbaijan, we look ahead to the potential implications of the discussions on the global development sector. Labeled as the “finance COP,” one of the expected outcomes of the summit is a new financial goal for high-income countries to deliver to lower-income countries to address the challenges induced by climate change. With Trump’s recent reelection and implications for development, as well as Europe’s ongoing cuts to development...

This week, former President Donald Trump was elected for a second term at the White House. His reelection marks a radical shift in U.S. foreign policy priorities for a sweeping range of issues, not least abortion, climate, global health, and LGBTQI rights.  The global development community is closely watching how things are unfolding in Washington, D.C. Major reforms to the international financial system are expected, as well as cuts in funding to the U.S. Agency for International...

This week we discuss the key takeaways from Devex World 2024, our flagship event that took place in Washington, D.C., alongside the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings. From discussions with philanthropist Howard Buffett, who called for increased aid to Ukraine, to a conversation with former executive director of the World Food Programme David Beasley, who believes the U.S. can once again lead on foreign aid, the event brought together key figures in global development. We...

With the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings wrapped up, all eyes are now turning to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, to be held next month in Baku, Azerbaijan.  So how do multilateral development banks stack up? Are their policies and programs enough to address climate shocks? Can and should they take on more risk? And is the money that MDBs have promised actually getting to where it needs to go?   To explore these questions and more, Devex...

On Thursday, Devex hosted its biannual Devex World summit in Washington, D.C. Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar was on hand to interview global development heavy hitters on stage — and also sat down with Climate Investment Funds CEO Tariye Gbadegesin. CIF, founded in 2008, is a $12 billion multilateral climate finance fund. While all brains were focused on the World Bank annual meetings, they looked ahead to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, in Baku,...

The World Bank Group released its new Gender Strategy earlier this year with three key aims: ending gender-based violence, expanding economic opportunities, and engaging more women as leaders. But how will the bank achieve these lofty aims? Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger sits down with the bank’s Global Director for Gender Hana Brixi for our latest podcast to learn about how this new plan will be implemented and what exactly is changing. And Mary Borrowman, a policy fellow in the...

This is the first of a series of three special episodes of This Week in Global Development tied to the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington, D.C. Devex senior reporter Adva Saldinger speaks to Lord Mark Malloch Brown, who's co-leading an initiative aimed at assessing and providing recommendations for these Bretton Woods institutions, and Gates Foundation's president of global advocacy, Gargee Ghosh, about the challenges facing the IDA replenishment in December.

As we look ahead to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund annual meetings, we discuss what to expect from the summit, including whether the decisions made will have a meaningful impact and help overcome some of the biggest challenges in global development.  With the looming U.S. elections just around the corner, we consider the potential implications for the World Bank's strategy and the influence the vote may exert on this year’s annual meetings. While the rhetoric around this...

This week we published an exclusive interview with Nicholas Kristof, an award-winning New York Times columnist. He spoke about what he saw in Sudan and the global community’s failure to respond to one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises — as the conflict in Gaza overshadows other crises around the world. As public attention wanes in the face of new crises, we question whether crisis fatigue is hindering humanitarian aid from reaching those in dire need. We also discussed a study that...

Last week, we published an exclusive article on the European Union’s plan to cut its development spending by €2 billion (around $2.2 billion) over the next three years. This will account for a 35% reduction in the amount of money it gives to the world’s lowest-income countries as the bloc aims to focus on other priorities, including supporting Ukraine and stopping migration to Europe. The European Union is not the only entity in Europe reducing its aid budget. The French government also...

In April, a group of multilateral development banks signed an agreement to work more closely together, known as a viewpoint note, which set a series of goals, including scaling up their financing capacity, and delivering more on climate.  Earlier this week, at the U.N. General Assembly, the heads of MDBs sat down with U.N. leaders to identify how they could make more progress to deliver those goals. Devex heard from Ilan Goldfajn, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, about the...

In a special edition of the This Week in Global Development podcast recorded on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly, chef and entrepreneur José Andrés spoke with Devex’s Kate Warren to discuss his humanitarian work with World Central Kitchen and the challenges of addressing global hunger. For Andrés, having a set system for food aid doesn’t work. This explains WCK's unique approach. Rather than shipping in prepackaged food aid to various humanitarian situations, WCK...

This week Devex is in New York covering the 79th United Nations General Assembly as well as the Summit of the Future. In addition to hosting our very own summit on the sidelines of these events, we are also closely following the conversations happening at the U.N. and around the rest of Manhattan that are most important to the global development community.  From reforming the international financial architecture to addressing geopolitical issues — we explore whether the discussions taking...

It’s no secret that promises to deliver more humanitarian and development funding to local and national organizations have not been fulfilled.  During the high-level week of the 79th U.N. General Assembly, Devex caught up with Degan Ali, who heads the Kenya-based NGO Adeso. Ali is a leading voice in the aid decolonization movement, which seeks to decenter the voices of Western decision-makers and shift more power to local leaders in the global south.  Ali discussed the lack of trust and...

Among the major development initiatives under discussion at the United Nations this week in New York is an ambitious goal set out by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, which aims to get electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030. During the high-level week of the U.N. General Assembly, Devex caught up with Andrew Herscowitz, CEO of the M300 Accelerator, which aims to make these ambitions into reality. M300 is based at the Rockefeller Foundation and supported by the Global...

As world leaders get ready to meet in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly, we explore what we can expect from the event and whether big ideas can translate into meaningful action. The U.N.’s Summit of the Future is also set to take place early next week. With so many questions surrounding the conference, we contemplate whether the world is ready to solve the problems of tomorrow if we can’t solve the problems of today.  Meanwhile, from filling the gap regarding inadequate...

After severe cuts to its 2024 budgets for development and humanitarian aid, we found that the German government is planning to slash funds again in 2025. A recently released draft budget spells out nearly €1 billion in cuts to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, or BMZ, from €11.22 billion ($12.36 billion) this year to €10.28 billion in 2025. Germany is not the only European country planning to reduce its aid budget. In the United Kingdom, the aid budget in 2024 is...

As the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation marks its 20th anniversary, we discuss our latest article on the agency. While MCC has invested $17 billion in 47 countries since its founding, we contemplate whether the agency has lived up to its founders’ lofty aims of holding countries accountable for good governance and rooting out corruption. Meanwhile, one of the biggest threats to aid workers isn't just war or disaster — it's workplace stress. From oppressive workloads to toxic cultures,...

This week we take an in-depth look at USAID’s localization report. While in certain countries the agency has already significantly surpassed its localization target, in others it is struggling to get close to it. We discuss why that might be and contemplate how USAID can get closer to channeling 25% of its eligible dollars to local levels by 2025. On the topic of USAID, we also dive into the findings of an investigation by the USAID Office of Inspector General that show the agency did not...

This week we are at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. We delve into what we are hearing on the sidelines of the event, particularly how U.S. vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris would approach foreign policy and assistance.  In this week’s episode we also discussed our exit interview with outgoing British International Investment chief Nick O'Donohoe, who highlighted that his successor will have to find the balance between focusing on the...

In a world of growing humanitarian needs, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is shining a light on those who risk their own lives to save others. Founded in 2015 to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, the Aurora Prize awards $1 million annually to an individual whose actions have made a significant impact in preserving human life in the face of adversity. In this special episode sponsored by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Raj Kumar is joined by Aurora co-founder Noubar Afeyan, Memory...