Shows / This Week in Global Development
This Week in Global Development
Dive into the week's most critical global development news with the This Week in Global Development podcast.
In each episode, hosts Adva Saldinger, David Ainsworth, and Rumbi Chakamba break down major headlines and invite members of the Devex newsroom to share their expert analysis.
Get up-to-date on news regarding foreign aid, humanitarian crises, the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, finance, philanthropy, climate, food systems, global health, and stay informed on the latest trends and…
Episodes
This Week in Global DevelopmentGlobal Progress in the AI Era: How the global south can finance AI infrastructure on its own terms
This week on Devex’s Global Progress in the AI Era podcast, we are breaking down the critical shift from simply accessing artificial intelligence to owning the…
- This Week in Global Development
Key takeaways from the AI Impact Summit, and philanthropy under scrutiny
Last week, we were at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 to find out how this revolutionary technology can transform global development. From AI regulation to the…
- This Week in Global Development
Global Progress in the AI Era: Governing the AI moment
Artificial intelligence is moving at breakneck speed, but can global governance keep up? In this episode of our new podcast series, Global progress in the AI…
- This Week in Global Development
What did we learn at the African Union Summit and the Munich Security Conference?
We examine the latest developments surrounding the African Continental Free Trade Area, or AfCFTA, which served as a focal point of the recent African Union…
- This Week in Global Development
What is the impact of aid cuts in Africa?
This week we take a look at a new report from the Center for Global Development, which found that aid cuts have largely failed to spark reform in sub-Saharan…
- This Week in Global Development
The new power players
In this episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, Business Editor David Ainsworth is joined by Managing Editor Anna Gowel and Deputy Managing…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial edition: Elevating oral health on the global agenda
In this special edition of our podcast, This week in global development, we explore the critical yet often overlooked issue of oral health with guests Anil…
- This Week in Global Development
US amps up aid restrictions, and those left behind in era of self-interest
This week we report on the U.S. State Department’s radical expansion of the Mexico City Policy, also known as the global gag rule, which blocks U.S. federal…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial edition: BCG on scaling global impact in an era of constraints
In this special edition of This Week in Global Development, recorded at Davos, we explore a fundamental shift in the development landscape: the move from…
- This Week in Global Development
The latest from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos
This week, we are tuning in from Davos as we report from the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. With Trump’s attendance and foreign policy dominating…
- This Week in Global Development
Inside the US foreign aid breakthrough and $2B commitment to the UN
This week, U.S. lawmakers reached a deal on a $50 billion compromise foreign assistance bill. Even though the agreement implements a 16% reduction from what…
- This Week in Global Development
What does 2026 hold for global development?
In the first episode of the year, we look ahead to what we expect to happen in 2026 in global development. From more foreign aid cuts by traditional Western…
- This Week in Global Development
Forget quiet quitting, the State Department appears to be quiet hiring
In our final episode of 2025, we discuss a tumultuous year in U.S. foreign assistance. It has not always been clear who is calling the shots in the new world…
- This Week in Global Development
A look at Kenya’s new deals with the US, and the latest on food aid cuts
The U.S. State Department has signed a bilateral agreement with Kenya, its first in its ongoing efforts to overhaul how it provides global health assistance…
- This Week in Global Development
Impact of HIV funding cuts, and the rise of digital public infrastructure
We dig into the details of a new report published by UNAIDS, which found that donor funding cuts to the HIV response could lead to an additional 3.9 million…
- This Week in Global Development
G20 politics, and the future of UNHCR
This week, we unpack the major storylines emerging from the G20 Summit — the first ever held on African soil — where South Africa used its presidency to…
- This Week in Global Development
Trump’s approach to global health, and the latest from COP30
This week, we take a look at the details of the new template for bilateral agreements between the United States and partner governments, which sheds light on…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial edition: Can AI safely support mental health?
In this special episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, we dive into a fast-moving and timely question at the intersection of technology and…
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On the ground at COP30: The latest on climate finance and deciphering the jargon
This week we are on the ground at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil, where the intense heat and daily thunderstorms…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial edition: Innovation in Action - Scaling Climate Solutions from the Ground Up
In this week’s special episode of the This week in global development podcast, filmed at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and hosted in partnership with CropLife…
- This Week in Global Development
After 2025’s ‘seismic’ shock, what’s next for development and aid?
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s Humanitarian and Resilience Investing Initiative’s Frontier Markets Impact Meeting in Geneva, Devex teamed up…
- This Week in Global Development
The potential exodus of NGOs from the US, and the rise of authoritarianism
This week, we reported that U.S.-based international nonprofits are looking into registering sister organizations overseas as they face an increasingly…
- This Week in Global Development
Special episode: Pivotal Ventures on Funding the Future of Women’s Health
In this week’s special edition of the This Week in Global Development podcast, we explore how investing in women’s health is not just a health issue — it’s…
- This Week in Global Development
The impact of aid cuts: UN reform and the role of philanthropy
This week, we explore the ins and outs of UN80, the United Nations' reform plan to cut costs and boost efficiency. We outline what this initiative, drafted as…
- This Week in Global Development
Live from the World Bank annual meetings: The debates dominating Washington
This week, we are on the ground at the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings, closely following the conversations that will shape the global…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial edition: A conversation with the Mines Advisory Group
In this week’s special edition of the This Week in Global Development podcast, we spotlight the Mines Advisory Group, or MAG, recipient of the 2025 Hilton…
- This Week in Global Development
A look ahead to the World Bank and IMF meetings
This week on the podcast, we unpack what to watch during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington, D.C. — from shifting…
- This Week in Global Development
Could taxes fix the global health funding crisis?
This week, we discuss the details of the “Accra Reset,” an effort to declare an end to the era of development-as-usual and to push for the creation of new…
- This Week in Global Development
UNGA 80: Trump, climate, and the biggest headlines from the summit
This week we are on the ground in New York to cover the 80th United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week. Our discussion breaks down President Donald…
- This Week in Global Development
Live from UNGA80: What's at stake for global development
This week, the Devex team is on the ground at the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York. On the sidelines of the high-level talks, we are hosting a…
- This Week in Global Development
A look ahead to the high-level meetings of 80th United Nations General Assembly
This week, we take a look at the key talking points ahead of the high-level meetings of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. From the Trump…
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The Africa Climate Summit, and a new legal test for the Trump administration
This week, we were at the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, closely following the stories that matter most to the global development community…
- This Week in Global Development
Special episode: The US budget deadlock explained
The negotiation and approval of the U.S. budget is a complex process, filled with political bargaining and high-stakes showdowns that can have a profound…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial episode: Beyond malaria: Africa’s shift to integrated mosquito management
For decades, Africa's malaria strategy has focused almost exclusively on disease control through indoor mosquito management and personal protection — bed nets…
- This Week in Global Development
A new era at the African Development Bank, and Trump’s rescission package
This week, Akinwumi Adesina stepped down as the chief of the African Development Bank after a 10-year tenure. He was replaced by Sidi Ould Tah at the helm of…
- This Week in Global Development
A look at UN80, and how emerging donors are reshaping the aid landscape
This week, we take a look at the details of the latest United Nations reform, the UN80 Initiative, which is designed to make the organization more efficient…
- This Week in Global Development
Trump’s plan for UNGA, and the impact of aid cuts on refugees in Malawi
This week takes a look at an internal email seen by Devex, which outlines the U.S. Department of State’s priorities for the United Nations General Assembly. In…
- This Week in Global Development
State Department faces $20B spending deadline as fiscal year end looms
With the U.S. Agency for International Development officially ceasing operations as the main U.S. foreign aid agency on July 1, the State Department now faces…
- This Week in Global Development
A look at the Trump administration's plan for DFC
This week, we're taking a deep dive into the Trump administration's vision for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. The White House’s…
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The next steps after FfD4, and how UN programs are affected by aid cuts
This week, our conversation features Shari Spiegel, chief of the Financing for Sustainable Development Office at the United Nations Department of Economic and…
- This Week in Global Development
US aid slashed: Inside the $8 billion cut to foreign assistance
After an all-night marathon of amendments, the U.S. Senate voted to advance President Donald Trump’s $9 billion rescissions package this week. While the…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial episode: Reimagining a more just and equitable global system
While the abrupt cuts to official development assistance and closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development have upended the existing global…
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Foreign aid at a crossroads: What's next for global development?
With the U.S. Agency for International Development officially dismantled and its remnants folded into the State Department, the landscape of global aid is at a…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial episode: How blockchain is powering crisis-to-cash infrastructure
As development budgets tighten, donors, NGOs, and implementing partners alike are all grappling with an increasingly urgent question: How do you move money…
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Did Sevilla save multilateralism — or just survive the heat?
As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development wraps up, Devex reporters Jesse Chase-Lubitz and Elissa Miolene join Associate Editor…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial episode: Can health survive the development finance revolution?
With aid budgets under pressure globally, delegates at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, Spain, are urgently…
- This Week in Global Development
FfD4 kicks off as aid budgets shrink and U.S. steps back
Development leaders have converged on Sevilla, Spain, for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, or FfD4 — the first such gathering…
- This Week in Global Development
How cuts to Gavi reflect US disengagement from development
This week, we have been closely following the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s high-level replenishment event in Brussels. Gavi, the leading international…
- This Week in Global Development
Bonn climate talk updates, and how aid cuts are affecting US farmers
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…
- This Week in Global Development
Episode 100: What happened in global development over the past 2 years?
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…
- This Week in Global Development
Trump budget targets US aid, plus what we heard at AfDB meetings
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…
- This Week in Global Development
Key takeaways from WHA78, and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s fallout
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…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial Episode: Leadership, small business, economic growth in a changing landscape
Explosive growth in the middle class, rapid urbanization, digitization and automation, the energy transition, and evolving geopolitics — these all present…
- This Week in Global Development
Live from WHA78: A look at the Pandemic Agreement
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…
- This Week in Global Development
Previewing the World Health Assembly, and Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
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…
- This Week in Global Development
Bill Gates’ big announcement, and Trump’s budget proposal
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…
- This Week in Global Development
Exclusive Interview: UNDP's Achim Steiner on the 'chronic erosion' of development
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…
- This Week in Global Development
How the first 100 days of Trump's presidency impacted global development?
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…
This Week in Global DevelopmentSpecial episode: What’s at stake in the race for critical raw materials?
Conversations about critical raw materials — the natural resources that power everything from clean energy to smart phones, electric vehicles, and even AI…
- This Week in Global Development
Live from the World Bank meetings, an inside look at the targeting of MCC
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…