The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women (HERO)

Health and human services. Nutrition. Job programs. These are just a few of the sectors impacted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) cuts in Nigeria—one of the top 10 recipients of U.S. foreign aid. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced the elimination of 83 percent of USAID programs.

On today’s episode, senior producer Laura Rosbrow-Telem talks to aid workers and direct recipients in Nigeria about the fallout of the cuts so far. After that, host Reena Ninan interviews two special guests about what can be done to address the funding gap. First, Ninan talks to Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, president and CEO of Population Action International (PAI). Since it launched more than 60 years ago, PAI has advocated for sexual and reproductive health care in the United States and abroad. Then, Ninan speaks with Michael Jarvis, executive director of the Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion Collaborative (TAI). TAI is a network of funders focused on strategic and systemic ways to do philanthropy, including the MacArthur and Ford Foundations, among others. Jarvis reveals what he thinks funders can and can’t do at this moment.

Guests Interviewed:

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part by the Gates Foundation and Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

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As a special bonus, we're sharing an interview host Reena Ninan recorded with Preethi Herman about how to launch a digital campaign that actually changes policy.

Herman led the Change.org Foundation, supporting 100 million people in campaigns worldwide. Currently, Herman is the CEO and co-founder of the Nguvu Collective, a women-led organization that has impacted more than 200 million lives.

**Note: This interview took place before the U.S. foreign-aid freeze, which we will address more in coming episodes. Still, Herman’s advice about advocacy could not be more relevant.

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If you want to share how the disruption of aid is impacting your life, please be in touch. It can be anonymous, if you prefer. You can reach us at [email protected].

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part by the Gates Foundation and Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

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The United States has long been the largest aid donor in the world, accounting for about 40 percent of humanitarian assistance globally last year, according to the United Nations. But that is quickly changing. 

Most U.S. foreign aid is currently on hold. Thousands of projects are at risk of elimination. And nearly all staff from the U.S. Agency for International Development are on administrative leave. 

How did we get to this moment? And what has been the impact of the foreign aid freeze so far, including on women and girls? 

In the newest season of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, we are following the U.S. foreign aid news. In this first episode, you will hear a conversation we taped at Foreign Policy’s Emerging Threats Forum, an official side event of the Munich Security Conference, about the economic and security implications of halting overseas development assistance.

Foreign Policy editor in chief Ravi Agrawal spoke with Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, the president and CEO of the One Campaign, and Umulkher (Umi) Harun Mohamed, a member of Kenya’s National Assembly. Their conversation focuses on Africa, which gets about 30 percent of U.S. foreign aid annually. 

If you want to share how this disruption of aid is impacting your life, please be in touch. It can be anonymous, if you prefer. You can reach us at [email protected]. 

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part by the Gates Foundation and Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

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On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, the final in our season focusing on the World Bank/IMF meetings this fall, we dive deep into the World Bank’s newly launched gender strategy. We will hear from two leaders driving this vision forward, as they explain why the Bank decided to prioritize some new goals. 

First, host Reena Ninan speaks with Hana Brixi, Global Director for Gender at the World Bank, from the Atlantic Council’s pop-up studio in the IMF atrium. Then, Ninan talks to Anna Bjerde, Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank. Bjerde oversees a portfolio of programs worth about $340 billion and is leading new Bank reforms to make it more efficient. 

Guests and organizations: 

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part this season by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council. 

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The number of people exposed to floods globally has surged by nearly 25 percent since 2000, with Africa experiencing the most dramatic increase. Floods this spring were especially brutal in East Africa, killing nearly 530 people and most heavily impacting Kenya.

On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, we analyze the relationship between climate and gender equality. Host Reena Ninan begins by hearing from Nairobi-based reporter Eunice Maina, who spoke with a family deeply impacted by the spring floods. They dig deeper into how these floods and climate change in general disproportionately affect women and children.

Then, Ninan speaks with Tariye Gbadegesin, the CEO of the Climate Investment Funds. It is one of the world’s largest multilateral climate funds, and a significant portion of their work targets women and girls. We recorded this interview during the annual World Bank-International Monetary Fund meetings in October.

Guests and organizations: 

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part this season by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council.

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As global public debt reaches historic highs, one of the key solutions is increasing the amount of funding for “concessional” loans—or ones with very good terms. That is where the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) comes in.

According to the World Bank, the IDA is the world’s largest source of development finance for countries most in need. It provides low-income countries with grants and loans with little to no interest.

Every three years, the IDA has to raise funds from its members: donor countries. Its final replenishment meeting, where it will announce how much money it is able to raise, will take place on Dec. 5 and 6 in Seoul. The stakes are high as this critical deadline looms.

On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, host Reena Ninan speaks with two experts who care deeply about the IDA and financing for the world’s poorest countries. Ninan talks to Gargee Ghosh, president of global policy and advocacy for the Gates Foundation, and Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, president and CEO of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), at the Atlantic Council’s International Monetary Fund recording studio. They share their deep expertise about what really works in supporting women and girls, as well as reducing poverty.

Guests and organizations: 

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part this season by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council.

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Thousands of Kenyans protested against a finance bill in June that would have increased taxes on many everyday items. This was proposed in part to help pay off loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, which account for more than 40 percent of the country’s foreign debt. But what is Kenya’s current fiscal climate? And how are these debts impacting gender equality?

On today’s episode of The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, host Reena Ninan talks with Nairobi-based reporter Sharon Kiburi, who has been following Kenya’s debt crisis. Kiburi tells Ninan about her interview with Wanjira Wanjiru, a protest leader against the June finance bill, co-founder of the Mathare Social Justice Centre in Nairobi, and co-host of the Liberating Minds podcast.

Then, we hear from Diana Gichengo, the executive director of the Institute for Social Accountability (TISA). She discusses TISA’s efforts to engage with the IMF about their program in Kenya, which is largely expected to end in March. Gichengo spoke on a panel organized by Transparency International U.S. and moderated by the Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion (TAI) Collaborative on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank meetings in October.

Guests and organizations: 



The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part this season by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council.

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The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is back for a very special seventh season. If you’re a longtime listener, you’ll know our show generally focuses on women from the global majority, or the global south. But this time, we wanted to cover the banks and institutions shaping global funding—particularly as the world faces an unprecedented amount of governmental debt.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), global public debt is expected to top $100 trillion by the end of this year, its highest level ever. Many countries are facing painful choices about how to spend fewer resources, including on programs critical to women and girls.

We recorded most of our interviews at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in late October, right before the U.S. presidential election. Here, financial leaders decide how to spend billions of dollars on top development priorities, such as poverty reduction, climate change, and gender equality.

We’ll try to answer some big questions this season: How are countries and multilateral institutions grappling with so much government debt? What are they doing to prepare for the new U.S. administration? And how is all this impacting the fight for gender equality?

For the season premiere, we wanted to start by looking at what has worked in the past. We talk to two incredible women who have both been finance ministers and leaders at multilateral institutions about how they have advanced women and girls economically.

Guests and organizations: 

First, host Reena Ninan speaks with Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, and former finance minister of France. She is the first woman ever to hold any of these roles. Lagarde was also named by Forbes as the No. 2 most powerful woman in the world last year.

Special thanks to our media partner for this season, the Atlantic Council. They hosted Lagarde at an event during the IMF and World Bank meetings right before our interview.

Then, Reena interviews Malado Kaba, the former director of the Gender, Women, and Civil Society Department of the African Development Bank. She was also the first ever female finance and economy minister for the Republic of Guinea. Kaba is currently the managing director of Falémé Conseil, a consultancy firm focused on African economic growth.

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part this season by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council.

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With global public debt reaching historic highs, how are multilateral institutions approaching gender equality?

This season, launching November 19th, we talk to some of the biggest financial and development leaders about the long fight to support women and girls at the IMF/World Bank annual meetings.

Host Reena Ninan's interviews include:

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank

Malado Kaba, Former Head of Gender at the African Development Bank

Gargee Ghosh, President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the Gates Foundation

Anna Bjerde, Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council.

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We’re ending this season with a special bonus episode recorded live from Foreign Policy’s Her Power Summit, which took place during the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C.

First, host Reena Ninan speaks to United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. Then you’ll hear a panel discussion on the role of data in advancing gender equality.

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