Devex Podcasts

Development leaders have converged on Sevilla, Spain, for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, or FfD4 — the first such gathering in a decade — as shrinking aid budgets and a U.S. retreat from multilateral commitments reshape the sector.

At the 2015 conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, official development assistance was at record levels amid ambitious “billions to trillions” rhetoric — the idea that limited public funds could catalyze massive private investment to tackle global challenges such as climate change.

Today’s backdrop includes the pandemic fallout, inflation, the war in Ukraine, and sweeping aid cuts. The U.S. participated in outcome document negotiations until the final stages, reportedly proposing 400 amendments to soften the language on climate and gender before withdrawing entirely, citing too many “red lines.”

In this special live podcast episode recorded at Casa Devex, Devex’s events hub for the next few days, reporters Elissa Miolene and Jesse Chase-Lubitz sit down with Executive Editor Kate Warren to discuss what’s at stake and why this “once-in-a-decade” forum has taken on heightened significance.

Special episode: Can health survive the development finance revolution? by Devex

This week, we have been closely following the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s high-level replenishment event in Brussels. Gavi, the leading international organization that provides vaccines to lower-income countries, finalized its five-year investment round event with more than $9 billion in pledges — falling short of its total budget request of $11.9 billion.

The United States decided to cut its support for the organization, with U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stating that the country will not fund Gavi until it works to “re-earn the public trust.”

On the topic of the U.S., our discussion also covers the Trump administration's decision to withdraw support for various U.N. Sustainable Development Goal commitments, alongside its absence from the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.

To discuss these stories and others, Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Sara Jerving and Colum Lynch for the latest episode of our podcast series.

Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters:

https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

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 at the summit and contemplate whether the talks will translate into actionable policies.

We also look at how the Trump administration’s plans to cut foreign aid funding could create unexpected domestic repercussions for American agricultural producers.

This policy shift carries severe consequences, potentially undermining the economic stability of U.S. farmers involved in aid supply chains and degrading crucial international mechanisms for disease and pest surveillance that transcend national borders.

In order to dig into these stories, and others, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba 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

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 our very first recording.

From the evolving aid landscape to the critical discussions around localization, we explore some of the key themes in global development that we have been covering. We examine the growing burden of debt in low-income countries and the urgent need for climate finance.

During this episode, we also look back at the key takeaways from the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, where Devex was a media partner.

For this week’s edition, Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar and Global Development Reporter Elissa Miolene to mark this special occasion.

Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters:

https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

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 elimination of funding for major global health initiatives such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The administration has also submitted a $9.4 billion rescission proposal to the U.S. Congress, seeking to formally cancel previously approved funds, much of it earmarked for foreign assistance. If approved, the move would codify into law cuts already made by the Department of Government Efficiency. The upcoming congressional response will be a critical test of foreign aid advocacy.

We also discuss what happened at last week’s African Development Bank meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where delegates discussed the need to diversify funding sources in the wake of U.S. aid cuts and focus on more reliable partnerships. The meetings also marked a leadership transition, with Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah appointed as the AfDB’s new president, vowing to mobilize private sector investment and deepen partnerships with the Gulf states.

To discuss these stories, Devex Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba is joined by reporters Michael Igoe and Ayenat Mersie for this episode of This Week in Global Development.

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 elimination of funding for major global health initiatives such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The administration has also submitted a $9.4 billion rescission proposal to the U.S. Congress, seeking to formally cancel previously approved funds, much of it earmarked for foreign assistance. If approved, the move would codify into law cuts already made by the Department of Government Efficiency. The upcoming congressional response will be a critical test of foreign aid advocacy.

We also discuss what happened at last week’s African Development Bank meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where delegates discussed the need to diversify funding sources in the wake of U.S. aid cuts and focus on more reliable partnerships. The meetings also marked a leadership transition, with Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah appointed as the AfDB’s new president, vowing to mobilize private sector investment and deepen partnerships with the Gulf states.

To discuss these stories, Devex Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba is joined by reporters Michael Igoe and Ayenat Mersie for this episode of This Week in Global Development.

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 World Health Organization's strategies for addressing its persistent funding gap, we analyze the key takeaways from the conference.

We also discuss the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid delivery mechanism, which is facing internal collapse and accusations of violating humanitarian norms. The organization’s now-former executive director, Jake Wood, resigned on Sunday, just one day before the private humanitarian organization’s food aid distribution plan for Gaza launched, saying that it was “not possible” to implement the initiative “while also strictly adhering to humanitarian principles.”

This week’s episode also looks ahead to the topics we will be following at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development starting next month in Seville, Spain.

Digging into these stories and others, Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba and Global Development Reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz to bring you This Week in Global Development.

Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters:

https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters

Explosive growth in the middle class, rapid urbanization, digitization and automation, the energy transition, and evolving geopolitics — these all present unique challenges for today’s businesses, said Jonathan Fantini-Porter, senior vice president of social impact in the Americas at Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

It’s against this backdrop that public and private sector leaders are grappling with questions of longevity, opportunity, and continued growth. With this in mind, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Devex convened over 400 practitioners from the fields of tech, policy, and finance last month in Washington, D.C., for the Global Inclusive Growth Summit. The sessions and conversation centered on what it takes to create and lead economic growth, how to future-proof an organization’s mission, and the role of innovative leadership in shaping a better future.

“The key is the shared urgency around how we future-proof inclusive growth … and the importance of cross-sector collaboration at scale,” said Fantini-Porter. “Siloed solutions just aren't enough in this context that we're living through at this point.”

Taking that conversation beyond the summit, Fantini-Porter talks to Raj Kumar, Devex’s president and editor-in-chief, in a special podcast episode about how businesses — especially small businesses in rural areas — can create resilience in their communities and support economic opportunities for all.

This special episode of This week in Global Development was sponsored by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

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 adopted during this year’s edition of the annual summit. The agreement is designed to create a world better prepared for pandemics, ensuring a more equitable distribution of lifesaving medical interventions — a key challenge highlighted by the COVID-19 response. We delve into what this means for pandemic preparedness and chart the essential next steps.

During the conversation, we also discuss the funding challenges faced by the World Health Organization and possible solutions that are being explored to ensure its sustainable future.

For this special episode of our podcast series recorded live on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, Devex Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, the principal adviser to the director-general on program management and the continental incident manager for mpox at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters:

https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters