Long Story Short

There’s no question that artificial intelligence will have a massive impact on the future of food systems, but it remains to be seen whether it will address or perpetuate inequities. “I think the question is, how's it going to be used in our food system in a way that actually promotes all of the objectives that we want?” said Roy Steiner, senior vice president for the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. “Technology tends to be a fairly neutral tool. It multiplies whatever is underneath it. So if we have a completely inequitable system, it will multiply the inequity.”   Steiner spoke with Devex on the sidelines of South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, where conversations focused on the ways technology will transform every aspect of society, including the way the world grows, produces, distributes, supplies, and consumes food. The current food system is detrimental environmentally, socially, and nutritionally, Steiner said, adding that he’s hopeful that technological advancements can help the world t

The world needs new approaches, not just more funding, as it faces a financing gap of an estimated $4 trillion annually to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. “We’re either going to find this money somewhere under the cushions … or we’re going to make it cheaper,” said Hala Hanna, executive director of Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that launches open calls and backs innovators working to solve global problems. “So we really believe that innovation and finding new voices and new ideas is one key part of doing that.”  Devex spoke with Hanna at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. She drew on some of the same themes as Najada Kumbuli, head of investments at the Visa Foundation, and Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US. Each of them discussed the ways their organizations leverage innovation, technology, and investment to support new solutions for the SDGs that won’t come from traditional models. Listen to the episode to hear more on their strategies to build a mor

It’s no surprise that Anne Marie Burgoyne, managing director of Emerson Collective, had a long line of people forming to meet with her following her session at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas Wednesday. Burgoyne leads philanthropy for this social change organization started by Laurene Powell Jobs.  Devex's Kate Warren spoke with Burgoyne about Emerson Collective’s unique approach, its growing work on climate through the Waverley Street Foundation, and how Emerson Collective looks at the role of artificial intelligence in social change.  Listen to the episode to hear more from Burgoyne on Devex @ SXSW, a special edition of our This Week in Global Development podcast.

Next year marks 30 years since the start of the International Crisis Group, which conducts research and analysis to prevent and resolve global conflict. Comfort Ero, president and CEO of Crisis Group, says the organization was “made for this moment,” as crises continue to unfold from Gaza to Haiti to Ukraine. She spoke with Devex on the sidelines of South by Southwest, an annual conference in Austin, Texas, about America's role in the world, ahead of a high stakes U.S. presidential election, as well as the war in Gaza, and how the climate crisis and the rise of AI are shaping the future of conflict. “Our job is to find the political will, and to create ideas beyond the headlines, to get away from the noise, and to quietly try to thread the needle in a very complex and very dangerous world,” Ero said. Listen to the episode to hear more from Ero on Devex @ SXSW, a special edition of This Week in Global Development.

This week we published an article on how USAID spent its money last year. We noted that the agency spent $38.1 billion through its assistance and acquisition mechanism in the fiscal year that ended in September 2023. From the data it is evident that USAID has increased its spending for humanitarian crises, including the war in Ukraine. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention released their wishlist for the pandemic treaty. However, with countries in the global north — including the United Kingdom, Germany, and France — slashing their aid budgets, questions are being raised about whether there is an appetite for another pandemic financing mechanism, which is among one of the agency’s asks. On the topic of the Africa CDC, its acting deputy director-general, Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, is resigning from the organization this month as he wasn't allowed to apply for the deputy director-general position due to country quotas. Dr. Raji Tajudeen will become the acting deputy director-general until a form

This week Devex published an exclusive story on how Ghana-based NGO Youth Opportunity & Transformation in Africa, or YOTA, is embroiled in a dispute with CARE Ghana over a decision to raise staff salaries during an economic crisis where inflation was spiraling and staffers found it difficult to make ends meet. YOTA, which is one of two implementing partners, is accusing grant holder CARE Ghana of “bullying.” The story highlights some of the challenges that global development organizations are facing as they continue to try to localize. In Asia, a series of leaked trade agreement drafts highlight growing divisions within India’s flourishing pharmaceutical industry, with the leaked documents sparking concerns over access to generic medicines. We also elaborate on the reasoning behind what made it onto our list of 24 global development organizations to watch in 2024, which we published this week. What’s next for global pharmaceutical manufacturing? Which organizations are missing from our list? For the late

Last weekend we attended the Munich Security Conference, a summit which is not as solely centered around security as its name suggests. We look back at the highlights and lowlights of the conference, which touched upon many issues linked to global development, including food security and climate change. We also have an update on the future of UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian relief agency, which is facing calls to be disbanded. The United States is pushing other U.N. relief agencies to take over some of its functions. However, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has voiced concern that weakening UNRWA amid a massive humanitarian crisis would worsen the suffering of Palestinian civilians — as he believes it is the only organization with the capability to deliver assistance to the 2.2 million people with urgent needs. On the topic of U.N. agencies, we also published an exclusive story revealing that the U.N. Population Fund is planning to move a quarter of its New York staff positions to Nairobi in

Recently, the U.S. Agency for International Development published 14 "good practices" to define what a locally led program looks like as part of its push for half its projects to be locally led by 2030. We spoke to local community leaders to find out what they think. While many are optimistic, some have argued that they haven’t seen much change just yet and expressed concern about whether these indicators will translate into action. For one thing, USAID’s localization guidelines do not specify whether local people can voice whether they believe a program is locally led or not. On the topic of involving local communities in development initiatives, we also published an opinion piece outlining how decolonization must be applied to organizational design, the distribution of money, and how skill sets are valued. Additionally, this week, the U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion emergency funding bill. While much of it is military spending, it includes about $10 billion in humanitarian aid. It now heads to the Hou

This week we published an article on the development finance issues to watch in 2024. From fresh climate finance targets to the role that private capital mobilization can play in overcoming global development challenges, we discuss what we expect from the upcoming year and whether the ideas proposed will lead to tangible change in low-income countries. On the topic of capital increase, at an event on Monday, World Bank President Ajay Banga discussed his plans to reform the way the institution runs, including speeding up project approvals and streamlining the International Development Association ahead of its replenishment this year. It is hoped that the reforms will help increase the capital needed to overcome development challenges. Are the proposed reforms to the development finance architecture achievable? What is missing from the agenda? To answer these questions and dig into these stories, as well as others, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits down with Global Nation co-founder Jonathan

During the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, more than 110 countries committed to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030. Africa, in particular, is a key source of critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt, which are needed to power clean technologies ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines. But without proper safeguards in place, there is a risk that the mining of minerals for the green energy transition could end up exacerbating existing inequalities. “One key element is social equity; prioritizing vulnerable communities to ensure that they benefit from the transition, including job creation, access to affordable clean energy, and protection from adverse impacts,” said professor Youba Sokona, former vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Professor Sokona was joined by Yamide Dagnet, former director of climate justice at Open Society Foundations, and Devex’s Raj Kumar for a special episode of This Week in Global Development

As we approach the U.S. presidential election in November, we take a look at how the Biden administration set out to change the U.S. government’s foreign aid system. With less than a year left in his term, we consider whether the targets set can be realistically achieved this year. As USAID continues its effort to localize — or shift power to local organizations — we also dig into a report on the topic based on the feedback of 300 local organizations, international agencies, and USAID staff. The report outlined what needs to change for the agency to reach its localization goals. Meanwhile in the Middle East, U.N. relief workers are being accused of having participated in the Hamas massacre that took place on Oct 7. The U.S. and other major donors have said they’ll cut funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, stripping people affected by the conflict in Gaza from vital funding. To dig into these stories and others, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sits dow

2023 was the hottest year on record. So it’s no surprise that the climate emergency was a big focus of last week’s World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Devex’s Raj Kumar sat down with several leaders to discuss how the climate crisis intersects with their work: Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Sophie Atiende, CEO of the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery; and Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity. Together, they explore the interconnections between climate change and the issues they are focused on, as well as the urgency for action. Sands describes a visit to northern Nigeria with Muhammad Ali Pate, the country’s minister of health and social welfare, where they saw “a shocking number” of children who were malnourished and severely ill with malaria. “It’s a good example of how the climate change interaction is sort of multifactorial,” he said, explaining how climate change is harming agricultural productivity, lea

A new report reveals serious gaps in the clinical pipeline for diseases with pandemic potential, and limited investments in their research and development over the years. While research and development funding for COVID-19 reached over $14 billion from 2020 to 2022, the combined research funding for the other nine priority pathogens with pandemic potential identified by the World Health Organization total just $1.7 billion. We dig into the report — which comes from the International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat — as well as how we could improve our preparedness for the next pandemic. Despite the concerns about global pandemic preparedness, we have seen a landmark moment in the fight against malaria, with Cameroon becoming the first African country to roll out WHO's first recommended malaria vaccine into its routine immunization program. This week also marked the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Millenium Challenge Corporation, or MCC, a U.S. aid agency which set out to help the lowest-income c

There are a growing number of social entrepreneurs using technology to address a range of development challenges in Africa, from agriculture healthcare to education. But many of them say that financing is the greatest barrier to scale. At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024, Devex’s Raj Kumar sat down with three social entrepreneurs: Temie Giwa-Tubosun, CEO of LifeBank, a healthcare technology and logistics company delivering critical medical supplies, Gerald Abila, founder of BarefootLaw, a non-profit in Uganda providing access to justice through technology, and Mayur Patel, chief commercial officer at M-Kopa, an asset financing platform in Africa. Their conversations point to several ways social entrepreneurs are using technology to address social challenges, as well as the crucial role financing must play in scaling their impact. "The big barriers for growth are not demand,” Patel said. “They're not the scalability of the platform, or the opportunity. The big barriers to growth are figuring out

It’s a big moment for the United Nations Green Climate Fund. Its funding levels hit a record high following the climate conference COP 28, with several countries adding contributions to its second replenishment that sent the fund’s total soaring past its $10 billion goal to $12.8 billion. GCF’s Executive Director Mafalda Duarte oversaw the replenishment after assuming the role only three months prior, having departed her previous job as the head of the Climate Investment Funds in June. Somewhere in there, she was also at the Africa Climate Summit, the U.N. General Assembly, and multiple other global engagements. “Quite intense,” she acknowledged to Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar in Davos, Switzerland, the latest stop on her whirlwind travel agenda. But if Duarte has been busy, it’s because she’s making huge strides at an organization that was in a notably rocky place a few years ago. On this episode of Davos Dispatch, a series housed under our regular weekly podcast, This Week in Global Devel

This week we are in Davos closely following the conversations taking place at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. This year’s discussions have focused heavily on artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the humanitarian and development sectors. We also dig into our key takeaways from the conference, along with the question of whether we have reached a turning point when it comes to giving a voice to the global south. In addition to AI, climate change also took center stage at the summit, and we contemplate whether this is an indication that leaders are recognizing the gravity of the situation and its link to issues around global health. Will AI transform global development? And what impact will blockchain technology have on the sector? For the latest edition of our podcast series, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar sat down with Hedera Chief Policy Officer Nilmini Rubin and BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh to discuss the top global development stories from the past we

The “billions to trillions” narrative — the idea that a relatively small amount of public financing can be used to crowd in trillions of dollars in private capital to solve climate and other development challenges — has been discussed in development finance circles for nearly a decade now. And yet there’s still an annual $4 trillion gap in financing for energy, water, and other critical development objectives. Speaking to Devex’s Raj Kumar, Samaila Zubairu, CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation shared how his organization is leveraging public-private partnerships in “risky” countries such as Gabon and Djibouti, and what larger multilateral development banks should be doing to be more effective. “What is most important is for us to introduce more urgency in our approach to work. We need to really start to focus on outcomes,” Zubairu said. “We should all be accountable. We should be looking at what's the baseline at a certain period of time, and what are we doing to cause improvements to happen.” Zubairu joi

While a new year for many heralds a fresh start, the war that broke out in Gaza in October 2023 continues to rage, with the death toll numbering in the thousands. We take a look at the conflict from a global development and humanitarian lens by speaking with representatives from organizations doing aid work there to get an insider perspective on the crisis. They reveal the obstacles they face — such as the lack of fuel and inability to keep in touch with staff — and how they try to meet the needs of those affected by the war. What is the situation like on the ground? What are the misconceptions in the media? To find out, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar and Managing Editor Anna Gawel sit down with Arnaud Quemin, Middle East-North Africa/Europe regional director for Mercy Corps, as well as Anera Regional Development Lead Saddam Sayyaleh for the latest episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/accoun

The middle class is the most successful group in world history, but today, it’s facing a bit of an identity crisis. The realities of automation, climate change and other factors are straining the once ubiquitous middle class dream, and younger generations are questioning whether it’s really all it’s cracked up to be. In his new book, "The Rise of the Global Middle Class: How the Search for the Good Life Can Change the World," economist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Sustainable Development Homi Kharas traces the evolution of the middle class all the way from its roots in Victorian England, and ultimately offers a new policy agenda that could pave a way forward. For more information on upcoming episodes and to sign up for our mailing list, visit the Devex Book Club here: https://pages.devex.com/devex-book-club.html

Like many of us, Rajiv Shah knew early on that he wanted to make an impact on the world, but he wasn’t quite sure how to do it. His book, "Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens," opens with some of that early uncertainty, like the summer he spent treating leprosy patients in India, and his time working on Al Gore’s ultimately doomed campaign. But as Raj writes in his book, that uncertainty was all part of an important realization he’d eventually come to: that large-scale change doesn’t come from caution, but from what he calls a “big bets philosophy,” which says that it’s only by trying to fundamentally solve, not just improve, pressing problems that the world can truly be transformed. For more information on upcoming episodes and to sign up for our mailing list, visit the Devex Book Club here: https://pages.devex.com/devex-book-club.html