At this year’s annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Riga, Latvia, discussions centered on a critical structural shift: what development finance should look like in an age of persistent volatility. Ukraine is increasingly shaping the answer, as the bank’s sustained financing during the war emerges as a potential blueprint for future conflicts.

We were also on the ground for the World Bank Fragility Forum, an event uniting global stakeholders to address the challenges of operating in areas experiencing fragility, conflict, and violence. The deteriorating situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo emerged as a central discussion point. Highlighting the complexity of aid delivery in active conflict zones, the governor of the DRC’s South Kivu province issued a stark call to withhold funding for development projects until baseline peace and stability are secured.

Examining the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy, we also contemplate how to ensure that domestic resource mobilization becomes an effective way to increase development finance.

To dig into these stories and others, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Managing Editor Anna Gawel and Global Development Reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

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