Following the catastrophic funding drops of 2025, what does the immediate future hold for international development cooperation? This episode investigates the immediate impacts of deep aid cuts on the ground, addressing the driving forces behind fragile public support in donor nations, the severe consequences of funding withdrawals on health sectors, and how the current geopolitical environment is accelerating a shift away from traditional donor-recipient paradigms.

In the first of a three-part bonus series of Global Aid Rethink, hosts Ivica Petrikova (Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London) and Melita Lazell (Associate Professor in Political Economy and Development at the University of Portsmouth) return to examine the stark realities of a changing global aid landscape.

Joining Ivica and Melita for this conversation are Nilima Gulrajani, Principal Research Fellow at ODI Global, and Nafisa Bedri, Global Professor in Gender and Reproductive Health in Africa, currently based at the University of Portsmouth. Together, they explore the devastating real-world outcomes of recent bilateral cuts - particularly concerning maternal and child health in conflict environments like Sudan - and analyse new sovereignty movements like the 'Accra Reset'. The conversation also highlights the critical need to bypass traditional international bureaucracies to fund local organisations directly, cultivate transnational solidarity, and build a more transparent, investment-based model for global development.

• Read the transcript here

This is a Research Podcasts production.

Additional Resources:

• N. Gulrajani, "North Stars for Northern Donors: what should guide donors as dialogues turn to decisions?", ODI Global (22nd May 2026)
• H. Aly, N. Gulrajani and J. Pudussery, "Reimagining donorship: The Donors in a Post-Aid World dialogue series", ODI Global (11th May 2026)
• What now? Moving from dialogue to decisions, ODI Global (11th May 2026)
• N. Gulrajani, "From Peak Aid to a Post-Aid World", Current History (2026)
• N. Gulrajani and H. Aly, "Should a Northern donor exist in the 21st century? Introducing a new dialogue series", (11th Sep 2024)

Episode credits:

Presenters: Ivica Petrikova, Royal Holloway, University of London and Melita Lazell, Portsmouth University

Guests: Nilima Gulrajani and Nafisa Bedri

Producer: Catherine McDonald, Research Podcasts

Music: MFCC via Pixabay

This podcast was generously funded by the ESRC-funded Royal Holloway Social Science Impact Accelerator

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