Despite fractured politics in the US (and elsewhere) around foreign aid, Congress recently reauthorised plans to fund PEPFAR – the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – even though the programme itself has not been formally reauthorised.

Since being established in 2003, PEPFAR funding for prevention, care and treatment programmes is estimated to have saved over 26 million lives. It's one of the most successful global health initiatives, and against all odds it remains a symbol of bipartisan cooperation.

But this moment raises bigger questions about what comes next. How sustainable is a model that depends so heavily on political will in the Global North? How can countries in the Global South set their own agendas? And how will increasingly polarised US politics shape PEPFAR's future, especially on issues around sexual and reproductive health and rights?

Guests dissect these questions and examine how PEPFAR and the wider global health architecture must evolve to meet today’s urgent challenges.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive
• Elizabeth Campbell, Executive Director, ODI Global Washington
• Doris Macharia, President, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
• Fionnuala Murphy, Head of Global Advocacy, Frontline AIDS

Related resources

• PEPFAR Latest Global Results & Projections Factsheet (Dec. 2024) (US Department of State)
• Frontline AIDS welcomes the news that PEPFAR will be spared from US cuts to aid (Frontline AIDS statement)
• How do US policy changes target transgender rights and undermine democracy? (Insight, ODI Global)

The humanitarian system and its principles are being destroyed. Over 1,000 people have been killed seeking aid in the past weeks in Gaza, caught between famine and bullets. With humanitarian actors systematically prevented from reaching people affected by crisis in many contexts, governments are turning to the private sector – security firms, consultants, and ex-military operatives.

From Gaza to Sudan to Myanmar, this shift raises urgent questions. Is a privatised model of humanitarianism going to become dominant? What would it mean for humanitarian operations and principles? And how can it be proactively addressed?

This episode examines what’s driving governments to outsource aid, and what this means for trust, principles, and the future of humanitarian response. Joshua Craze shares insights from his recent investigation into the operations of for-profit US company Fogbow in South Sudan. We hear how these dynamics play out on the ground in the West Bank from Oxfam’s Bushra Khalidi, and ODI Global’s Dustin Barter unpacks the wider implications for the international aid system.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Dustin Barter, Senior Research Fellow, ODI Global
• Joshua Craze, writer and researcher on South Sudan
• Bushra Khalidi, Policy Lead at Oxfam in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Related resources

• Fogbow operations in South Sudan and beyond raise red flags for faltering aid system (The New Humanitarian)
• Beyond the reset: Five priorities for genuine humanitarian transformation (The New Humanitarian)
• Stop the siege, stop the starvation – political gestures won't save Gaza (Insight, ODI Global)
• What does the failure of humanitarianism in Gaza mean? (Insight, ODI Global)
• The politics of hunger – can famine in Gaza and Sudan be stopped? (Think Change podcast, ODI Global)
• The future of aid (Resources hub, ODI Global)

This episode examines a challenge at the heart of development finance. Much energy is focused on mobilising more capital in low-income countries and emerging economies, but funding alone isn't enough. A deeper issue persists: there simply aren’t enough bankable projects – ventures that are ready to absorb investments at scale.

Traditionally, development finance has been demand-led – waiting for the right opportunities to emerge. But this model is evolving. Some development institutions (DFIs) are now looking to actively help create the very markets we want to invest in.

Our recent report explores this shift, highlighting how institutions like British International Investment (BII) and Norfund are stepping in to initiate entirely new commercial ventures in challenging markets. These aim to generate critical investments in sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and healthcare.

So what does it take to build truly investable opportunities from the ground up? Experts discuss how to create sustainable, locally owned ventures that can deliver lasting development impact.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Paddy Carter, Director of Development Economics, British International Investment
• Frederique Dahan, Director, Development and Public Finance team, ODI Global
• Shaun Githuku, Director, Gridworks Development Partners LLP
• Noah Law, Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay & Member of the International Development Committee, UK Parliament

Related resources

• DFI sponsorship of new platforms and ventures: why and how? (Report, ODI Global)
• DFI sponsorship of new platforms and ventures: why and how? (Video of report launch event, ODI Global)
• Risk, return and impact (Report, British International Investment)
• Gridworks Development Partners LLP (British international Investment)
• MedAccess (British International Investment)

Climate disasters are intensifying globally, with vulnerable nations facing disproportionate impacts despite minimal contributions to global emissions. From prolonged droughts in East Africa to intensifying cyclones in the Pacific, these events reveal a troubling paradox: 

As the Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate demonstrates, countries must borrow to recover from disasters, yet face financial systems that: 

• Penalise them for climate risks they didn't create 
• Exacerbate vulnerabilities through rising sovereign defaults 
• Fail to support long-term resilience investments 

This episode examines three critical dimensions: 

• Systemic reforms needed to align debt frameworks with climate reality 
• Distributional challenges preventing finance from reaching frontline communities 
• Innovative proposals to achieve climate justice through financial transformation 

Guests 

• Moritz Kraemer, Chief Economist, LBBW; Co-Chair, Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate 
• Yussuf Hussein, Climate Finance Advisor, Kenya’s Special Envoy on Climate Change 
• Sarah Colenbrander, Director, Climate and Sustainability Programme, ODI Global 

 Resources: 

• Tackling the Vicious Circle: The Interim Report of the Expert Review on Debt, Nature and Climate 
• Healthy Debt on a Healthy Planet: Towards a virtuous circle of sovereign debt, nature and climate resilience 
• Indebted: how to support countries heavily reliant on oil and gas revenues to secure long-term prosperity 

Climate impacts are continuing to intensify. More severe storms, droughts, floods and heatwaves are inflicting devastation on the most vulnerable communities – those who also bear the least responsibility for the climate crisis.

But as the need for climate action becomes ever more urgent, international aid is retreating. USAID has been dismantled, whilst wealthy countries across Europe have slashed their aid budgets.

This episode asks what the aid cuts mean for the most climate-vulnerable countries. With fiscal space tightening and multilateralism on the decline, guests discuss how governments and international organisations can incentivise more private sector investment, scale up climate finance and channel it to where it’s most needed. We also hear what impact regional partnerships could have in delivering meaningful climate action in this new global landscape.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (Chief Executive, ODI Global)
• Hans Peter Lankes (Deputy Chief Executive, ODI Global)
• Sara Schonhardt (international climate reporter, Politico)
• Lord Nicholas Stern (Chair, Grantham Research Institute)
  
  

Related resources

• A Fair Share of Climate Finance (Project, ODI Global)
• Revitalising finance for adaptation: what role for the multilateral climate process? (Working paper, ODI Global)
• Vulnerable nations on the brink: the double shock of aid cuts and US tariff increases (Insight, ODI Global)
• The relationship between climate action and poverty reduction (Report, LSE)
• Small change? Our projections for the conflict blind spot in climate finance by 2030 (Insight, ODI Global)

At a time of major geopolitical turbulence, Europe finds itself at a crossroads. Long regarded as a pillar of stability and multilateralism, the continent's role in today's increasingly divided world is being tested in numerous ways – as are its key institutions.

There is a new fragility to Europe's external relationships – underscored by Trump's threats to impose tariffs on EU imports, and by disagreements on security guarantees for Ukraine.

This episode dissects Europe's changing role and influence in the world today. Experts explore how European nations can come together to face external threats effectively, and identify some immediate opportunities for change.

Among our guests is ODI Europe’s Board Chair, Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, who shares ideas put forward in his thought-provoking new book The Divorce of Nations: A Diplomat’s Inside View as the Global Order Collapses. We also hear from historian and political writer Timothy Garton Ash, and Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies, University of Oxford
• Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, King’s College London & Director, UK in a Changing Europe
• João Vale de Almeida, Chair of the ODI Europe Board and a former European Union Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations

Related resources

• The Divorce of Nations: A Diplomat’s Inside View as the Global Order Collapses (João Vale de Almeida, The History Press, 2025)
• Homelands: A Personal History of Europe (Timothy Garton Ash, Penguin Random House, 2023)
• How is Ukraine redefining global security? (Think Change podcast, ODI Global)
• Europe and the new world order: an updated approach to foreign engagement (Briefing paper, ODI Global)
• Can ‘the West’ be trusted? The future of European humanitarian aid (Insight, ODI Global)
• Navigating aid and national interest in Ukraine: the development toolbox of European donors (Insight, ODI Global)

Since 2011, Syria has been ravaged by conflict, foreign interventions and political fragmentation – leaving millions displaced and communities in crisis.

But amidst the devastation, a new conversation is taking shape.

Just months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a new interim government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa has formed. A recent poll shows 70% of Syrians feel hopeful, but that hope is colliding with hard realities.

More than 1,300 people – many believed to be civilians – have been killed in Syria’s worst violence since the fall of the Assad regime, as clashes erupt between forces loyal to the new government and Assad holdouts. Meanwhile, reconstruction is stalled. Western sanctions, unpaid civil servants, and new US tariffs risk deepening the crisis.

In this episode, we ask whether this fragile but hopeful moment for Syria can endure. Can international partners support recovery without repeating the mistakes of the past? And how can we centre the voices of Syrians in the process of rebuilding their country?

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Sana Kikhia, Executive Director, Syrian Legal Development Programme (SLDP) 
• Leen Fouad, Senior Research Officer, Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), ODI Global 
• Amy Rodgers, Coordinator, Middle East Durable Solutions Platform 
  
  

Related resources

• Syria’s chance to build better, not backward (Insight, ODI Global)
  
  
• Lifting sanctions on Syria: a bumpy path (Insight, ODI Global)
  
  
• Tens of thousands of people forcibly disappeared: will the international community step up for Syrians? (Insight, ODI Global)
  
  
• Syria's pursuit of justice: navigating accountability amidst ongoing turmoil (Insight, ODI Global)
  
  
• Revolution and rupture: humanitarianism and human rights in Syria and Myanmar (Event video, ODI Global)

Minerals like lithium, cobalt and rare earth are not just commodities. They are strategic assets which are shaping global power and the future of the energy transition.

As US-China trade tensions escalate, countries across Africa (and elsewhere) where these minerals are found are now renegotiating their role in an increasingly fragmented global economy.

This episode asks how Africa’s mineral wealth can truly benefit its people and future generations. Guests discuss the challenges countries face in adding value domestically, and whether there’s an opportunity to push for a more equitable, sustainable governance of the mineral supply chain.

Drawing on the latest developments in the South China sea, Greenland and the new US-Ukraine minerals deal, we also hear how resource scarcity, trade, and geopolitical and economic interests are closely intertwined today against a backdrop of ongoing violence and instability.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Akim Daouda, Founder and CEO, Mwaana Inc.
• Rebecca Nadin, Director, Global Risks and Resilience team, ODI Global
• Silas Olan’g, Africa Energy Transition Advisor, Natural Resource Governance Institute

Related resources

• The critical minerals race to net zero (Event recording, ODI Global)
  
  
• Critical minerals, critical moment: Africa’s role in the AI revolution (Insight, ODI Global)
  
  
• The ‘strategic mirage’ of Africa’s green minerals wealth (Insight, ODI Global)
  
  
• Why China is seeking greater presence in Africa – the strategy behind its financial deals (Insight, ODI Global)

With economic uncertainty, rising debt burdens, and a growing share of the world’s poorest people living in fragile contexts, the stakes for the upcoming 4th Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Seville have never been higher.

According to a recent OECD report, the gap between development financing needs and available resources could reach $6.4 trillion by 2030 if the global financing system isn’t significantly overhauled.

The conference in June present a pivotal opportunity to ignite reform. It's a vital forum where UN members, international institutions, businesses, and civil society come together at the highest level to rethink how we fund global development.

In this episode, we dissect the key questions set to shape discussions at FfD4. How can we mobilise the trillions needed to meet the SDGs? How can the global financial architecture be made more inclusive and responsive? And what bold steps must be taken to unlock investment where it’s needed most?

Development finance experts share insights on multilateral development bank reform, the role of concessional finance, and opportunities to build a more sustainable, equitable future.  

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Mónica Colomer, Ambassador at Large for Financing for Development, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Spain   
• Alvaro Lario, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• Annalisa Prizzon, Principal Research Fellow, ODI Global  
  
  

Related resources

• Development finance needs major overhaul to achieve global goals (OECD report)
• Financing development at a crossroads: What's at stake and what reforms are needed? (Development Policy Review)
• ODI Global at the Spring Meetings (resources hub)
• Are Southern-led MDBs the future of development finance? (Think Change podcast, ODI Global)
• MDB Insights Spring Meetings 2025 (Newsletter, ODI Global)
• Unlocking the potential of blended concessional finance: making aid work harder (Event video, ODI Global)
• Maximising operational effectiveness and impact: key priorities for multilateral development banks (Report, ODI Global)

Development finance is no longer just about aid. It’s about power, priorities, and who gets to decide.

For decades, institutions like the World Bank and IMF have set the agenda, with high-income countries holding the reins. But a shift is underway. Southern-led multilateral development banks (MDBs) – where borrowing nations are also the majority shareholders – are rewriting the rules.

These banks, like CAF (Development Bank of Latin America) and the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) Group, bring something different to the table: speed, flexibility, and a laser focus on local needs. But they also face hurdles: higher borrowing costs, limited global visibility, and the challenge of financing a just climate transition in economies still grappling with poverty.

With the Spring Meetings taking place later this month, this episode dives into the rise of these institutions. Are they the future of development finance? Can they complement – or even challenge – traditional MDBs? And what reforms are needed to unlock their full potential?

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Alejandra Botero, Director of Strategy and Development, CAF
• Chris Humphrey, Senior Research Associate, ODI Global
• Admassu Tadesse, Group President and Managing Director, TDB Group

Related resources

• ODI Global resources on multilateral development banks
• Southern-led multilateral channels for climate finance (Working paper, ODI Global)
• What makes an MDB an MDB? Southern-led multilateral banks and the sovereign debt crisis (Working paper, ODI Global)
• Climate-smart reform of multilateral development banks: priorities for the G20 (Policy brief, ODI Global)
• Investing for resilience: a panel discussion with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun (Event video, ODI Global)
• What do borrowing countries think of MDB reform? (Think Change podcast, ODI Global)