This Week in Global Development

By Devex | Global Development

Dive into the week's most critical global development news with the This Week in Global Development podcast.

In each episode, hosts Adva Saldinger, David Ainsworth, and Rumbi Chakamba bre... more

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FAQs about This Week in Global Development:

How many episodes does This Week in Global Development have?

The podcast currently has 244 episodes available.

This Week in Global Development episodes:

October 01, 2026 Inside the US global health overhaul and Buffett's philanthropic strategy
The United States is set to implement one of the biggest overhauls of its global health assistance in decades. The new strategy will reshape how billions of dollars flow to 35 countries, shifting greater responsibility onto their governments through bilateral agreements that encapsulate the Trump administration’s America First Global Health Strategy.

In this episode, we discuss what we know of the ins and outs of these health deals, what they mean for the wider foreign aid architecture, and why their known components are already proving controversial despite being largely shrouded in secrecy.

The conversation then turns to our event with Howard G. Buffett, who criticized the West’s approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He urged greater support for Ukraine, while also calling out philanthropic organizations to step up. At our event, Howard also offered a closer look at Warren Buffett’s philanthropic strategy, revealing how his father’s charitable trust could deploy up to $23 billion annually as it works to spend down his fortune by 2034.

To dig into these stories, David Ainsworth sits down with Anna Gawel and Andrew Green for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

When most of us think of pensions, we think of a tool that provides retirement security. But what if pensions could achieve different goals beyond old-age poverty?

In this segment of This Week in Global Development, sponsored by Coller Pensions Institute, David Pinkus, the institute’s executive director, challenges us to think about pensions differently. Speaking to Kate Warren, executive editor and executive vice president at Devex, Pinkus points to their new SDG report to explain how, under the right conditions, well-designed pension systems can significantly contribute to the broader development agenda.

To read the new report, The Contribution of Well-Designed Pension Systems toProgressing the Sustainable Development Goals, visit:
collerpensionsinstitute.org/our-research/whitepapers
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36min
September 30, 2026 The Power to Decide: Reclaiming Sovereignty in a Digital Era
In this special edition episode of This Week in Global Development, sponsored by Public Digital, Devex's Alan Robbins sits down with Public Digital's Lauren Kahn and Mike Bracken CBE. Recorded at Devex Impact House during UNGA, they unpack the urgent need for emerging economies to transition from passive "tech-takers" to active "tech-makers" by reclaiming digital sovereignty.

The conversation explores how developing nations can avoid the developmental risks of vendor lock-in, shape local digital ecosystems, and build resilient digital public infrastructure (DPI). Kahn and Bracken highlight practical steps for governments to move from traditional aid to strategic agency, leveraging open standards and investing in internal civil service capabilities to ensure critical systems can survive future crises.

Dive deeper into these frameworks in Public Digital's newly released book, Digital Sovereignty: The Power to Decide: public.digital/pd-books/digital-sovereignty-the-power-to-decide
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29min
September 25, 2026 Global Progress in the AI Era: As Anthropic urges caution on AI, its ‘beneficial deployments’ work grows
Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei made headlines recently by calling for slowing the development of increasingly powerful AI models to give safety measures time to catch up. That only increased the urgency of another effort within the company, which is expanding: An initiative to help governments and nonprofits use the models available today.

Elizabeth Kelly leads that effort as Anthropic’s head of “beneficial deployments,” which works with governments and nonprofits to put Claude, the company’s AI model, to use.Before joining Anthropic, she led the U.S. AI Safety Institute, which worked to evaluate risk and develop safety standards for frontier AI systems.

In a live recording of the Global Progress in the AI Era podcast at Devex Impact House on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, she argued that her past and present roles are connected.

“Safety and access are two sides of the same coin,” Kelly said. “We are not going to see any of the benefits from AI unless we really invest in safety.”

Anthropic used speaking engagements this week at UNGA81 to showcase organizations working with its technology. At its own event on Tuesday, titled The Briefing, speakers included Meenakshi Ramesh, CEO of Pratham Education Foundation, Rwanda’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Innovation Paula Ingabire, and Rania Dagash-Kamara from the U.N.’s World Food Programme.

In the podcast interview, Kelly expanded on Anthropic’s partnership with Rwanda, its first multisector government partnership in Africa, which was announced earlier this year. She also pointed to Anthropic’s work with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI, on producing situation reports during the recent Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Other examples she cited included the International Rescue Committee’s work on child malnutrition in Nigeria and maternal care in Burkina Faso.
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31min
September 24, 2026 Live from UNGA: Navigating the new era of multilateralism
This week we are closely tracking the conversations at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and what they mean for the global development sector. From U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech rejecting international governance frameworks and championing national sovereignty to questions around AI regulation, we break down what the discussions at the U.N.’s headquarters in New York mean for this new era of global policy.

Beyond reflecting on outgoing U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ legacy, we unpack the latest developments in the secretary-general race. Amid the leadership discussions, we analyze whether traditional development priorities are increasingly taking a back seat to broader geopolitical tensions and global security issues.

To dig into these topics, Adva Saldinger sits down with Colum Lynch for a live recording of our weekly podcast series.
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21min
September 17, 2026 The Gates Foundation's latest AI pledge, and a look ahead to UNGA 81
This week, we report on the Gates Foundation’s 2026 Goalkeepers Report, which includes a $1 billion pledge to make AI more inclusive. The funding aims to expand access across health, education, agriculture, and digital equity to directly benefit the global south. We unpack how AI can help lower-income nations tackle critical challenges while ensuring local communities remain central to the process.

From the highly anticipated leadership races for the top jobs at the United Nations and World Health Organization, to a critical high-level meeting on pandemic preparedness, we discuss the major themes ahead of UNGA 81, as well as highlight the sessions we are most excited for at Devex Impact House.

To dig into these topics, Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Anna Gawel and Catherine Cheney for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

In the segment of the podcast funded by GSK/ViiV Healthcare, Devex Executive Vice President and Executive Editor Kate Warren speaks with GSK's Chief Global Health Officer, Dr. Harmony Garges. They explore how community-led models, local health worker support, and strategic partnerships are addressing last-mile delivery challenges — from integrating malaria vaccines into primary healthcare in Liberia and Sierra Leone to expanding access to HIV care globally — ensuring much-needed health innovations reach remote and underserved communities.

Request to attend Devex Impact House @ UNGA here.
...more
39min
September 15, 2026 Special edition: The real funding gap isn't money
In this special episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, sponsored by Rippleworks, Devex Senior Editor for Special Coverage Catherine Cheney sits down with Doug Galen, CEO of Rippleworks, and Azeez Gupta, co-founder of Rocket Learning, to reimagine how philanthropy thinks about scale.

As foreign aid budgets shrink, most conversations stop at the number cut. This one asks a different question: What if the real constraint isn’t how much capital is available, but what that capital is allowed to pay for?

Unpacking Rocket Learning’s growth through sustained operational support, the conversation makes the case that flexible, founder-friendly capital shouldn’t be the exception in philanthropy — it should be the default.
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33min
September 10, 2026 Bypassing the traditional aid system: The big bet to end starvation
This week, we discuss our in-depth story on Operation End Starvation, a new initiative aiming to remake the global malnutrition supply chain. With a focus on cost-effectiveness, the project pairs public cash for ready-to-use therapeutic foods, or RUTFs, with philanthropic dollars to fund manufacturers, transporters, and delivery partners worldwide. The initiative represents a wider shift in foreign aid — for example, it bypasses the traditional multilateral system — and critics argue it still isn't cost-effective enough and is siphoning away crucial resources from broader hunger prevention efforts.

We also reflect on our key takeaways from the Africa Food Systems Forum, including the innovations driving the future of African agriculture and how the continent's agribusiness sector is responding to a changing funding landscape to become more self-reliant.

To dig into these stories, and others, Adva Saldinger sits down with Tania Karas and Elissa Miolene for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

In the sponsored segment of the podcast, hosted in partnership with The Pfizer Foundation*, Devex Executive Vice President and Executive Editor Kate Warren speaks with Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, about how AI-enabled tools are being piloted and refined alongside local communities — and what it takes for promising innovations to scale responsibly and advance equity.

*Founded in 1953 by Pfizer Inc. as a charitable organization, The Pfizer Foundation is a separate legal entity from Pfizer Inc. with distinct legal restrictions.
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36min
September 03, 2026 The fight over $7.5B in expiring aid and a rejected State Department grant
We recently reported that roughly $7.5 billion in international affairs funding is set to expire by the end of this month. In a letter, more than 100 U.S. lawmakers have urged the State Department to spend the money. We unpack the situation and what it means for development spending, including the $3 billion previously slated for global health programs.

While some politicians are urging the State Department to spend its expiring budget, Samaritan’s Purse is turning down a $300 million federal grant. The organization’s president, Franklin Graham, maintained that the group has “always relied on God, not government, for funding.” We discuss the potential reasons behind this move, noting that in addition to not being aligned with Samaritan’s Purse’s mission, the money may have been deemed too restrictive and relatively insignificant compared to its $1.8 billion revenue in 2024.

To dig into these stories, and others, Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with reporters Sara Jerving and Elissa Miolene for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

Check out Humanitarian Frontiers, a member of the Devex Podcast Network:
https://humanitarianfrontiers.buzzsprout.com/
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27min
August 27, 2026 The water sector’s funding challenge and Asia’s philanthropy push
At World Water Week in Stockholm, financing took center stage ahead of the U.N. Water Conference in Abu Dhabi this December. The annual gathering saw around 2,000 participants discuss water governance, security, and the rising pressures of a global water bankruptcy.

However, attracting private investment remains difficult, with water projects often seen as offering low returns and traditionally relying on public funding. This has prompted a renewed focus on the World Bank’s "Water Forward" initiative, which aims to make the sector more attractive to investors.

Meanwhile, the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network conference in New Delhi, India, brought together philanthropists, impact investors, and nonprofits to discuss how the region’s own capital can be mobilized to tackle development challenges instead of relying on traditional foreign aid.

While AVPN attendees looked to local philanthropy to finance areas such as mental health and cervical cancer research, the broader global health sector is facing severe funding pressures. One example is the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which faces a more than $100 million funding shortfall for efforts to combat the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

To explore how these financing challenges are playing out across the development sector, Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Tania Karas and Jenny Lei Ravelo for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

Sign up to Devex Impact House @ UNGA 81 here:
https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-unga-81.html
...more
31min
August 25, 2026 Special edition: Rethinking the housing crisis
What if housing finance could help solve today's biggest challenges? In this special episode, Habitat for Humanity’s Jacqueline Innocent reveals why housing is an upstream catalyst for health, education, and equality — and how inclusive finance can transform global housing systems.
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28min

FAQs about This Week in Global Development:

How many episodes does This Week in Global Development have?

The podcast currently has 244 episodes available.

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