This Week in Global Development

Devex | 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. 3d ago

    Beyond World Sight Day: Can the Global Summit for Eye Health Make Vision Impossible to Ignore?

    More than 90% of global vision loss is preventable or treatable with low-cost interventions such as cataract surgery or prescription glasses. Yet 1.1 billion people worldwide currently lack access to basic eye care — a number projected to double by 2050 without strategic action. In this special edition episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, sponsored by The Fred Hollows Foundation, Kate Warren, executive vice president and executive editor at Devex, sits down with The Fred Hollows Foundation’s CEO, Ross Piper, and director of strategic initiatives, Amanda Davis. Together, they explore how eye health can move out of clinical silos and onto the agenda of heads of state. The conversation examines the compelling economic case for vision care, noting that every $1 invested yields a 28-fold return in economic productivity. Piper and Davis discuss innovative financing models such as the World Bank-backed Vision Catalyst Fund, practical strategies for integrating eye care into primary healthcare systems and school screenings, and targeted approaches to eliminate gender disparities in vision loss.

    Beyond World Sight Day: Can the Global Summit for Eye Health Make Vision Impossible to Ignore?

  2. 4d ago

    Building resilient systems in development finance and global health

    This week we are at Building Bridges, a conference aiming to bring different stakeholders together to build investable solutions to global challenges. We discuss the key topics at the summit, including how the private sector can be effectively engaged in social impact and making financial instruments accessible for smaller businesses. We are also looking ahead to the World Health Summit, which will center around the theme “From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health.” From hearing from candidates for the WHO director-general role to the growing intersection of health and security, we highlight the key conversations and innovations we will be tracking at the conference. Devex will also be at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings next week, where AI will be on the agenda, as well as how these financial institutions are responding to rising global fertilizer and energy prices. To dig into these stories and others, Devex Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with reporters Adva Saldinger and Andrew Green for the latest edition of our weekly podcast series. Request an invite to attend Devex Impact House @ The World Bank/IMF annual meetings here: https://pages.devex.com/world-bank-imf-annual-meetings-2026.html

  3. 6d ago

    Special Edition: AI in practice: Bridging the implementation gap

    Across the global development landscape, artificial intelligence promises to redefine how health, education, and social protection services are delivered. However, moving past small-scale piloting to deliver measurable, population-level impact amid tightening budgets is rarely a pure tech challenge — it is an organizational and human one. In this special edition episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, sponsored by Boston Consulting Group, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Renee Laverdiere, managing director and partner at BCG. Together, they unpack why pacesetting organizations follow the 10-20-70 rule — 10% and 20% of AI value coming from data and algorithms, and the remaining 70% from people, process, and change management — how leadership can overcome workforce scaling bottlenecks, and how to structure vendor partnerships that build lasting internal capability rather than permanent dependency.

    Special Edition: AI in practice: Bridging the implementation gap

  4. Oct 2

    Special edition: Reimagining financing for development and growth

    The fundamental question of how development and growth are financed is undergoing a profound transformation. Over the course of a series of original essays and op-eds, The Next Frontier – a Devex series in partnership with the Children's Investment Fund Foundation – has mapped a rapidly changing, pluralistic financing ecosystem shaped by philanthropy, private capital, and domestic resources. To truly synthesize the perspectives spotlighted in series content, this conversation with Kate Hampton, CIFF CEO, Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa, CEO of CAMFED, and Dr. Sam Mugume Koojo, Assistant commissioner in the Macroeconomic Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development of Uganda serves as a retrospective. Together, the series authors look back at that collective body of work to evaluate how all parts of the development ecosystem can transition toward true shared responsibility and country-led paths to growth.

    Special edition: Reimagining financing for development and growth

  5. Oct 1

    Inside the US global health overhaul and Buffett's philanthropic strategy

    The United States is set to implement one of the biggest overhauls of its global health assistance in decades. The new strategy will reshape how billions of dollars flow to 35 countries, shifting greater responsibility onto their governments through bilateral agreements that encapsulate the Trump administration’s America First Global Health Strategy. In this episode, we discuss what we know of the ins and outs of these health deals, what they mean for the wider foreign aid architecture, and why their known components are already proving controversial despite being largely shrouded in secrecy. The conversation then turns to our event with Howard G. Buffett, who criticized the West’s approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He urged greater support for Ukraine, while also calling out philanthropic organizations to step up. At our event, Howard also offered a closer look at Warren Buffett’s philanthropic strategy, revealing how his father’s charitable trust could deploy up to $23 billion annually as it works to spend down his fortune by 2034. To dig into these stories, David Ainsworth sits down with Anna Gawel and Andrew Green for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. When most of us think of pensions, we think of a tool that provides retirement security. But what if pensions could achieve different goals beyond old-age poverty? In this segment of This Week in Global Development, sponsored by Coller Pensions Institute, David Pinkus, the institute’s executive director, challenges us to think about pensions differently. Speaking to Kate Warren, executive editor and executive vice president at Devex, Pinkus points to their new SDG report to explain how, under the right conditions, well-designed pension systems can significantly contribute to the broader development agenda. To read the new report, The Contribution of Well-Designed Pension Systems toProgressing the Sustainable Development Goals, visit: collerpensionsinstitute.org/our-research/whitepapers

  6. Sep 30

    The Power to Decide: Reclaiming Sovereignty in a Digital Era

    In this special edition episode of This Week in Global Development, sponsored by Public Digital, Devex's Alan Robbins sits down with Public Digital's Lauren Kahn and Mike Bracken CBE. Recorded at Devex Impact House during UNGA, they unpack the urgent need for emerging economies to transition from passive "tech-takers" to active "tech-makers" by reclaiming digital sovereignty. The conversation explores how developing nations can avoid the developmental risks of vendor lock-in, shape local digital ecosystems, and build resilient digital public infrastructure (DPI). Kahn and Bracken highlight practical steps for governments to move from traditional aid to strategic agency, leveraging open standards and investing in internal civil service capabilities to ensure critical systems can survive future crises. Dive deeper into these frameworks in Public Digital's newly released book, Digital Sovereignty: The Power to Decide: public.digital/pd-books/digital-sovereignty-the-power-to-decide

    The Power to Decide: Reclaiming Sovereignty in a Digital Era

  7. Sep 25

    Global Progress in the AI Era: As Anthropic urges caution on AI, its ‘beneficial deployments’ work grows

    Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei made headlines recently by calling for slowing the development of increasingly powerful AI models to give safety measures time to catch up. That only increased the urgency of another effort within the company, which is expanding: An initiative to help governments and nonprofits use the models available today. Elizabeth Kelly leads that effort as Anthropic’s head of “beneficial deployments,” which works with governments and nonprofits to put Claude, the company’s AI model, to use.Before joining Anthropic, she led the U.S. AI Safety Institute, which worked to evaluate risk and develop safety standards for frontier AI systems. In a live recording of the Global Progress in the AI Era podcast at Devex Impact House on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, she argued that her past and present roles are connected. “Safety and access are two sides of the same coin,” Kelly said. “We are not going to see any of the benefits from AI unless we really invest in safety.” Anthropic used speaking engagements this week at UNGA81 to showcase organizations working with its technology. At its own event on Tuesday, titled The Briefing, speakers included Meenakshi Ramesh, CEO of Pratham Education Foundation, Rwanda’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Innovation Paula Ingabire, and Rania Dagash-Kamara from the U.N.’s World Food Programme. In the podcast interview, Kelly expanded on Anthropic’s partnership with Rwanda, its first multisector government partnership in Africa, which was announced earlier this year. She also pointed to Anthropic’s work with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI, on producing situation reports during the recent Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Other examples she cited included the International Rescue Committee’s work on child malnutrition in Nigeria and maternal care in Burkina Faso.

    Global Progress in the AI Era: As Anthropic urges caution on AI, its ‘beneficial deployments’ work grows

  8. Sep 24

    Live from UNGA: Navigating the new era of multilateralism

    This week we are closely tracking the conversations at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and what they mean for the global development sector. From U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech rejecting international governance frameworks and championing national sovereignty to questions around AI regulation, we break down what the discussions at the U.N.’s headquarters in New York mean for this new era of global policy. Beyond reflecting on outgoing U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ legacy, we unpack the latest developments in the secretary-general race. Amid the leadership discussions, we analyze whether traditional development priorities are increasingly taking a back seat to broader geopolitical tensions and global security issues. To dig into these topics, Adva Saldinger sits down with Colum Lynch for a live recording of our weekly podcast series.

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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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