Long Story Short

Following the release of “White Savior,” a new HBO documentary series following https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/sep/25/white-savior-complex-documentary-tv-show-hbo-renee-bach, a white missionary who tasked herself with managing a clinic in Uganda with no medical training, we reflect on the idea of of white savior complex and its implications for the global development sector. As well as discussing how to make localization initiatives more effective, we also delve into a Devex article that examines how the https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-states-agency-for-international-development-usaid-45096 can reach its https://www.devex.com/news/how-should-usaid-fund-differently-to-hit-its-localization-targets-106261 of giving 25% of eligible funds to local partners by 2025. For this episode of the podcast, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar is joined by global strategy and development leader Nasra Ismail to dig into these stories and how they are intertwined when we consider how glob

Last week saw the annual gathering of heads of state, thought leaders, civil society members, development professionals, and other industry personalities in New York City for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. In addition to our very own Devex @ UNGA 78 summit that happened on the sidelines of the main event, we reported on the most important news affecting the drive to reach the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the United States push to reduce the U.N.’s role in the reform of the international financial system. For this special episode of the podcast, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with our resident U.N. expert Colum Lynch to discuss what we learned at UNGA 78, including the most surprising moments and the key outcomes from the summit. You can also check out our special UNGA 78 roundup newsletter: https://www.devex.com/news/unga-special-edition-gloom-shrouds-a-divided-world-106265 Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.d

868329 In this special sponsored episode of This Week in Global Development, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Natalie Samarasinghe, head of global advocacy at https://www.devex.com/organizations/open-society-foundations-osf-45109, and Richard Gowan, U.N. Director at https://www.devex.com/organizations/international-crisis-group-45661, to discuss to what’s likely to come out of this year’s https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-nations-un-41567 General Assembly, the trust deficit facing the multilateral system, and whether this global gathering is even fit for purpose anymore. They also delve into the results of Open Society Foundations’ new poll on global public opinion towards human rights and democracy. This episode of This Week in Global Development is sponsored by Open Society Foundations.

With the high-level general debate of the 78th session of the https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-nations-un-41567 General Assembly taking place next week, leaders from around the world will be gathering in New York City to talk through some of the biggest issues facing societies around the world, including how we can best meet the Sustainable Development Goals and tackle the climate crisis. For this week we have a special episode of the podcast, in which Devex Managing Editor Anna Gawel sits down with our Global Reporter Colum Lynch. From whether Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit will overshadow other global issues to increasing poverty rates around the world, they discuss the key talking points ahead of the summit. https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters to Devex Newswire and our other newsletters. You can also register to attend in person or online https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-unga-78.html, our very own summit taking place on the sidelines of the most important discussion

This week The END Fund announced https://www.devex.com/news/tsitsi-masiyiwa-brings-local-approach-to-end-fund-as-new-board-chair-106109, with the aim of ushering in more African voices into discussions about increasing funding for neglected tropical diseases. During our conversation, we explored the role played by boards in influencing the work of philanthropic organizations. In the United Kingdom, we reported that https://www.devex.com/news/uk-s-crackdown-on-refugee-rights-could-release-over-2-6b-in-oda-106142could be diverted back to aid programs overseas after the U.K. tightened its laws on refugees, which means it can no longer claim spending on asylum seekers as official development assistance. To dig into these stories and others, I sat down with Anera President and CEO Sean Carroll, as well as Devex Managing Editor Anna Gawel, for the latest episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast. https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

This week Devex Climate Correspondent William Worley sat down with Meike van Ginneken, the Netherlands’ special envoy for water, who argued that we should be https://www.devex.com/news/dutch-water-envoy-eyes-fossil-fuel-subsidies-to-fund-climate-adaptation-106080to help overcome issues related to water shortages in the face of climate change rather than subsidizing fossil fuels. In addition to looking back at our Devex Pro event with https://www.devex.com/news/usaid-should-use-the-localization-tools-it-has-says-former-official-106101 and digging into the agency’s localization targets, we also discussed an opinion piece written by former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department Nancy Lee, who outlines why https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-country-owned-strategies-are-essential-for-global-progress-105925 will be key to achieving development goals. To find out more about these stories, make sure to check out the latest episode of the podcast, where I sit down with Larry Cooley, president em

For the latest episode of the podcast, I am joined by global strategy and development leader Nasra Ismail and Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth to discuss the top stories in global development, including insights intohttps://www.devex.com/news/morale-has-hit-rock-bottom-at-osf-amid-reorganization-staff-say-106056. This week we learned thathttps://www.devex.com/news/why-have-usaid-s-nextgen-contracts-been-so-badly-delayed-105970, which collectively are worth $16.8 billion over 10 years, are being delayed. We discuss the possible reasoning behind this, as well as its potential impact. We are also joined by Devex Climate Correspondent Will Worley live from Stockholm, who provided an update on the World Water Week conference happening in the Swedish capital. https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

This week we brokehttps://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-us-allies-block-major-un-development-declaration-106006 on the United States, the United Kingdom, and a handful of allied powers blocking an agreement on a draft declaration that advocates the need to accelerate progress on a set of critical development goals, throwing a spanner into high-level negotiations ahead of the United Nations General Assembly taking place next month. In the United Kingdom, an inquiry has been told that development assistance rules are denying “vulnerable” https://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-us-allies-block-major-un-development-declaration-106006, or SIDS, the help they need to combat the climate emergency as they are classified as “too rich” to receive funding. The U.K. government also received strong criticism for its aid being used to fund thehttps://www.devex.com/news/uk-faces-criticism-for-funding-soccer-in-china-amid-aid-cuts-106031, even as spending reductions are predicted to lead to thousands of deaths this year across

This week Devex reported that the https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-states-agency-for-international-development-usaid-45096 saw a record-breaking obligation to local contractors in 2022, https://www.devex.com/news/how-usaid-funding-for-local-contractors-increased-by-169-8-in-2022-105966. While this is promising, it will be vital to ensure that initiatives are not tokenistic and that localization efforts are indeed meeting the needs of the communities they are aiming to serve rather than ticking development boxes. In the United Kingdom, the https://www.devex.com/organizations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office-fcdo-158082 https://www.devex.com/news/thousands-will-die-from-ongoing-aid-cuts-uk-government-admits-106008 that thousands of people “in acute humanitarian need” will die unnecessarily from hunger, poor health care, and during pregnancy because of ongoing aid cuts. At the World Bank, Ajay Banga received some backlash from employees as he announced that while he would like to maintain a f

While we usually expect the summer months to be slower than usual, it has certainly not been the case over the past week. In https://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-uk-to-be-stopped-from-spending-aid-budget-on-arriving-refugees-105973, we found out that the https://www.devex.com/organizations/organisation-for-economic-co-operation-and-development-oecd-29872 will most likely declare that the United Kingdom cannot legally spend its overseas development assistance on domestic refugee costs because of a new law cracking down on arrivals. In 2022 the country spent £3.7 billion — 29% of its ODA budget — https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1149594/Statistics-on-International-Development-Provisional-UK-Aid-Spend-2022.pdf, exploiting OECD rules that allow the allocation of refugees’ hotel and other bills as ODA for 12 months. On the other side of the pond, the United States’ https://www.devex.com/news/bipartisan-foreign-affairs-budget-bill-sails-through-us-

This week we’re closely following the conversations that took place at the Women Deliver conference in Kigali, Rwanda, which brought together thousands of people from diverse fields to help elevate women’s voices and accelerate the drive toward achieving gender equality. We also delve into whether hosting conferences and headquartering development organizations in the global south is an effective tool to drive the localization agenda, and we touch on the https://www.devex.com/organizations/world-health-organization-who-30562’s postponement of its plan to require staff to rotate to different duty stations every several years. To dig into these topics and get the latest on our coverage of Women Deliver, for episode nine of the This Week in Global Development podcast series I talk to Devex Senior Reporter Sara Jerving and Larry Cooley, president emeritus and senior adviser at Management Systems International. https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

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 https://www.devex.com/news/how-could-ai-be-used-to-improve-development-105843. During our conversation, we discuss the risks and opportunities that lie in adopting AI. Following thehttps://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-inside-millennium-challenge-corp-s-fight-to-unionize-105860 to bring back staff to their offices, we also delve into the topic of remote work and the potential direction the sector may head in, especially when taking into account that humanitarian missions are often in distant places far away from an organization’s headquarters. For episode eight of the This Week in Global Development podcast series, I sat down with Anera President and CEO Sean C. Carroll, as well as Devex Managing Editor Anna Gawel to dis

Last week, the https://www.devex.com/organizations/world-health-organization-who-30562 released its long-awaited updated guidance on the https://www.devex.com/news/who-releases-updated-malnutrition-treatment-guidelines-105817 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 sustainability at Bayer, as well as Devex Senior Reporter Teresa Welsh to discuss the recommendations. They also dig into how Russia’s war in Ukraine is negatively affecting food supplies in low- and middle-income countries and discuss https://www.devex.com/news/china-absolutely-obsessed-with-cutting-spending-at-un-105825 to the https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-nations-un-41567. Don’t forget to follow https://pages.devex.com/food-secured, our series that explores innovative ideas for a more sustainable and resilient fo

https://www.devex.com/news/how-high-interest-rates-threaten-reversal-on-financial-inclusion-gains-105784 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-Saharan Africa, or about 530 million people, are still unbanked. Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron’s global financing summit, which aimed to address rising debt burdens and high interest rates, wrapped up at the end of last week https://www.devex.com/news/frustration-and-tentative-progress-at-macron-finance-summit-105789, as covered by Devex Brussels Correspondent Vince Chadwick. The summit ended with a number of strong interventions from leaders in Africa and Latin America who challenged Western governments on inequitable global governance structures a

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 https://www.devex.com/news/abortion-politics-cast-shadow-over-pepfar-reauthorization-105627continues and we mark the beginning of a https://www.devex.com/news/ajay-banga-faces-great-expectations-as-he-takes-helm-of-world-bank-105621, the start of the month has most definitely been eventful. From discussing what to expect from Banga’s presidency to a deep dive into a two-month investigation concerning the https://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-africa-cdc-head-s-bizarre-entanglement-with-clinton-initiative-105403, we review the week’s top stories in the latest episode of This Week in Global Development. For this episode, Devex president and editor-in-chief, Raj Kumar, is joined by Devex managing editor Anna Gawel, as well as George Ingram, senior fellow at the The Brookings Institution. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.

This week https://www.devex.com/organizations/united-states-agency-for-international-development-usaid-45096 released its https://www.devex.com/news/usaid-s-localization-push-has-a-long-way-to-go-agency-s-report-says-105716. Despite the progress made, not least due to the success of the https://www.devex.com/organizations/u-s-president-s-emergency-plan-for-aids-relief-pepfar-48995, 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 https://www.devex.com/news/how-the-uk-swipes-back-tens-of-millions-in-aid-cash-every-month-in-tax-105726 via taxes to India’s https://www.devex.com/news/is-india-s-renewable-energy-push-a-threat-to-food-security-105693 threatening the country’s food security, the past week has been filled with controversies that have the potential to hinder the drive toward meaningful change. Tune in to the latest episode of This Week in Development to hear our take on the issues. For

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.https://www.devex.com/news/no-show-sunak-criticized-for-skipping-macron-s-financing-summit-105746, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, serious doubts remain over whether the decisions made during the summit will translate into meaningful action. There are also major disagreements between French organizers and participants over https://www.devex.com/news/scoop-macron-summit-docs-show-limited-vision-for-development-banks-105715, including multilateral development banks. For this special episode, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar talks to Brussels correspondent Vince Chadwick, connecting from the French capital, to get an insider perspective on the discussions happening

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 discussed the https://www.devex.com/news/is-the-humanitarian-development-nexus-still-working-105179 This week, another global development topic made headlines when USAID Administrator Samantha Power informed the U.S. Congress that the agency would find it difficult to achieve its localization targets, https://www.devex.com/news/usaid-localization-goals-could-be-hard-to-reach-power-says-105426. To make sense of these and other significant news stories of the week, tune in to This Week in Global Development. This weekly podcast analyzes the major headlines in global development and invites top experts to help us u

The https://www.devex.com/organizations/world-bank-group-38382 and https://www.devex.com/organizations/international-monetary-fund-imf-44300’s Spring Meetings have come to an end this weekend. A great sense of change was anticipated for this year’s event, as Devex https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POj7pKAiMfBjV6XVtzLqvdFl7hDRkh_cIAJk751bHLEsdmSK84GPZKGp6DIUTHby_ktmPXCjXcDTzwM1S4pAekfZEqImHmz_-L7EvS_3vXYi_b4EMxeeSrzFjSgeK9yaKvucDEvsw8dyjV0kwEmKW49VnNyUC7HO_1GSPcE-NBpZ2lHTOWQCCXoTUxHkoLq-6VBiDr2m_jHJxjfUWUXskpxJbwVKn9P3BwLHHqASjVeWax5H6FXIcfktAzo5E-k55EXGdquJl7GlRvYMv3jof86NwZ9LN37bFetK6SuxfzUI2/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGLCc832WCFtokdstUmmKEfUXw4DJCO2m5TetDhEshAXRfM4aNr-g5FipjSebSCzzw2XWelC2Y=. 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 in global development and bring in top experts to help us do it. For this episode, Devex president and edito

Davos 2023 has wrapped, and Devex was there to experience it all. In this installment of Davos Dispatch, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar compared notes with reporter Vince Chadwick on what the conference means for development, the private sector and how the two can, and must, work together. And despite their differing Davos experiences—Raj moderated a number of WEF panels while Vince joined a frozen press scrum waiting in vain for Greta Thunberg—they both agree that the conference is quite unlike anything else.