This Week in Global Development

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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 policy changes shaping global development. Episodes are published every Friday and can also be watched on YouTube. Subscribe to our YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@devex Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

  1. 10 hr ago

    Special edition: Live from Hamburg: Can governments still invest in the future?

    This special two-part edition of This Week in Global Development comes to you from the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, where leaders from across development, government, business and civil society gather to debate the big questions facing the global economy — from climate and debt to security, trade, and the future of international cooperation. In part one, Devex Global Development Reporter Ayenat Mersie speaks with Achim Steiner, chair of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, to explore a question at the heart of today’s geopolitical moment: Are governments preparing for the wrong kinds of threats?  As defense budgets climb around the world, Steiner tells Ayenat that countries risk neglecting the investments that actually make societies more secure, from climate resilience and affordable clean energy to digital infrastructure. He also explains why sustainability should be seen not as a sacrifice, but as an opportunity to strengthen economies, lower costs, and build resilience. In part two, Ayenat speaks with Sierra Leone Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, who talks about “the politics of painful choices” — the difficult trade-offs governments face when debt burdens, aid cuts, and external shocks leave little room for long-term investment. He reflects on balancing immediate needs with climate action, why he believes countries need new tools to absorb global shocks, and what sustainability looks like from the perspective of a government under severe fiscal pressure.

    1hr 8min
  2. Special edition: The blueprint for better lung cancer screening

    1 day ago

    Special edition: The blueprint for better lung cancer screening

    In this special edition of the This Week in Global Development podcast, produced in partnership with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Devex co-founder and Executive Vice President Alan Robbins sits down with three architects of Kentucky’s transformation in fighting high lung cancer rates: Dr. Jamie Studts, Dr. Jennifer Redmond Knight, and Dr. Timothy Mullett — the team behind the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative and the QUILS™ system. After a decade of data, the results are clear: earlier diagnoses are being seen in Kentucky, and current efforts are seeking a similar impact in Mississippi and Nevada. But the real story is how these results were achieved. Rather than imposing top-down protocols, QUILS™ works by equipping local community programs with data-informed tools, continuous feedback, and practice support — helping local clinics serve as trusted access points for lung cancer screening in their communities. The conversation tackles the hardest part of scaling any screening program: human behavior. Lung cancer carries a unique stigma rooted in decades of anti-smoking messaging, and that stigma remains a powerful barrier, discouraging eligible patients from coming forward. The QUILS™ response is to replace shame and fear with empathy and hope, building person-centered care directly into clinical workflows so the burden does not fall on patients alone. For global health leaders, the implications are clear: The barriers Kentucky faced — rural isolation, underresourced systems, cultural mistrust — are not unique to one region. They exist everywhere. And the infrastructure built to overcome them may be exactly what the world needs. Visit Strengthening Care Systems — a series raising awareness of the scale of the global lung cancer burden and the systems-level changes required to address it: https://pages.devex.com/strengtheningcaresystems.html

    31 min

  3. 6 days ago

    Live from London Climate Action Week

    As London Climate Action Week gets into full swing, we break down the key talking points from the conference so far. With the city in the midst of a scorching heat wave, the discussion of climate change feels even more urgent than usual.  We explore the transactional landscape that developing nations face, where much-needed capital is increasingly tied to the private sector. Beyond the balance sheets, one of the current tensions is the collision between green ambitions and economic survival. From the push for rapid electrification to the rollout of Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, African nations are being forced to thread a near-impossible needle: industrializing their economies while navigating low-carbon mandates. Complicating matters is a growing communications crisis within the sector itself. To secure funding and dodge political blowback, many NGOs are camouflaging their climate work under the banners of health, food, or energy security. However, driving the climate conversation underground risks leaving the communities most vulnerable to extreme weather out of the spotlight when they need it most. To bring you the latest from London Climate Action Week, Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with global development reporters Ayenat Mersie and Jesse Chase-Lubitz for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.  Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

    29 min

  4. 18 Jun

    Fact-checking US aid claims as the State Department continues to hire

    In our landmark 150th episode, we discuss a common theme in global development over the past 18 months: the state of U.S. foreign aid. We’re seeing the State Department steadily replenish its workforce, with dozens of open roles across the agency’s global health, international aid, and disaster response bureaus. On the topic of U.S. foreign assistance, last week Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed the U.S. remains the world's top aid provider "by far" despite the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development. While provisional figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development indicate that Germany has officially overtaken the U.S. for the top spot, we find that the reality is more complex as the validity of the claim hinges entirely on how "aid" is defined. We break down the data and the nuance behind the figures. To discuss these stories, and others, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Business Editor David Ainsworth and Global Development Reporter Elissa Miolene for episode number 150 of our weekly podcast series. Register for Devex Impact House @ London Climate Action Week here: https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-london-climate-action-week.html

    29 min

  5. 11 Jun

    Development banks pivot strategies as global volatility deepens

    At this year’s annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Riga, Latvia, discussions centered on a critical structural shift: what development finance should look like in an age of persistent volatility. Ukraine is increasingly shaping the answer, as the bank’s sustained financing during the war emerges as a potential blueprint for future conflicts. We were also on the ground for the World Bank Fragility Forum, an event uniting global stakeholders to address the challenges of operating in areas experiencing fragility, conflict, and violence. The deteriorating situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo emerged as a central discussion point. Highlighting the complexity of aid delivery in active conflict zones, the governor of the DRC’s South Kivu province issued a stark call to withhold funding for development projects until baseline peace and stability are secured. Examining the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy, we also contemplate how to ensure that domestic resource mobilization becomes an effective way to increase development finance. To dig into these stories and others, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Managing Editor Anna Gawel and Global Development Reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Sign up to Devex Invested, our free, semiweekly newsletter bringing you the insider brief on business, finance, and the SDGs: https://www.devex.com/newsletters/invested

    30 min

  6. 4 Jun

    The latest on the Ebola outbreak response

    This week, we unpack the latest on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. With no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo species driving the spread, we dive into the race to develop a vaccine and the critical funding shortfalls standing in the way. While pledges have been made, much of that support has yet to reach those affected on the ground. We also discuss the congressional hearings on Trump’s fiscal year 2027 foreign affairs budget request, which featured a debate on the Ebola crisis. With this being the first outbreak since the dismantling of USAID, we break down the United States’ approach to the health emergency. To dig into these stories and others, Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Senior Reporters Sara Jerving and Michael Igoe for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.  Check out Devex’s new podcast series Theory of Change: https://www.devex.com/focus/theory_of_change

    30 min

  7. 28 May

    Can domestic resources and private capital fund development?

    In this episode, we look back at the conferences we reported from over the past few weeks, reflecting on how global development narratives are evolving across both the global north and the global south. With traditional donors stepping back, the African Development Bank is using its annual meetings to urge governments to fix tax inefficiencies and better mobilize domestic resources to drive sustainable economic development. We found similar themes at the OECD’s Future of Development Co-Operation conference in Paris and the Global Partnerships Conference in London, where unlocking private capital and prioritizing country-led development emerged as key talking points. To analyze these trends, Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger sits down with Business Editor David Ainsworth and Global Development Reporter Ayenat Mersie for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.  Sign up to Devex Invested: https://www.devex.com/newsletters/invested

    42 min

  8. 20 May

    Live from the World Health Assembly

    Filmed live from Geneva, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, this episode of This Week in Global Development delves into the critical debates unfolding on the ground in Geneva. That includes the tense atmosphere following the World Health Organization’s rare decision to proclaim a global health emergency over the latest Ebola outbreak, mounting fears regarding the virus tracking into dense urban centers, and how containment efforts are hindered by strict funding restrictions that leave the vast majority of voluntary budgets tied up. The discussion also looks at the highly anticipated — yet heavily criticized — joint strategy to reform global health infrastructure, capturing the frustration of analysts who feel the plan avoids essential conversations about institutional mergers. The behind-the-scenes maneuvering for the next WHO director-general selection enters the conversation as well, along with the complex legislative hurdles facing the African Medicines Agency as it strives to secure pharmaceutical independence across the continent. During the sponsored segment of the podcast, brought to you by PATH, Devex Executive Vice President and co-founder Alan Robbins sits down with Dr. Melanie Saville, PATH’s Chief Scientific Officer, to discuss why diagnostics must move from being viewed as a recurring cost to being funded as essential global health infrastructure.

    23 min
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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 policy changes shaping global development. Episodes are published every Friday and can also be watched on YouTube. Subscribe to our YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@devex Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

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