Podcast
This Week in Global Development
Hosted by Devex | Global Development · EN
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 break down major headlines and invite members of the Devex newsroom to share their expert analysis.
Get up-to-date on news regarding foreign aid, humanitarian crises, the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, finance, philanthropy, climate, food systems, global health, and stay informed on the latest trends and policy changes shaping global development.
Episodes are published every Friday and can also be watched on YouTube.
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In each episode, hosts Adva Saldinger, David Ainsworth, and Rumbi Chakamba break down major headlines and invite members of the Devex newsroom to share their expert analysis.
Get up-to-date on news regarding foreign aid, humanitarian crises, the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, finance, philanthropy, climate, food systems, global health, and stay informed on the latest trends and policy changes shaping global development.
Episodes are published every Friday and can also be watched on YouTube.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@devex
Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters: https://www.devex.com/account/newsletters
81episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Tracking the real-world impacts of US foreign aid cuts
1w ago00:36:25Summary readyThis week, we discuss The Aid Report, a project supported by a media grant from the Gates Foundation to track the real-world impacts of U.S. foreign aid cuts. Over the past couple of months, the initiative has documented more than 1,000 verified impacts across multiple countries and sectors. We examine the major trends and surprises that emerged, discuss what lessons policymakers and donors can take away, and explore the questions that still remain unanswered.To unpack these findings, Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Kelli Rogers and Rashad Nimr for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. The podcast is taking a short break next week. We'll be back with a new episode the following week. Check out Perdure, a member of the Devex Podcast Network, via the link below:https://open.spotify.com/show/7CMiGygkWqhtoYfXVLuOQM?si=a07177387e314420&nd=1&dlsi=8866940a467843b4
SummaryThe new era of US and European foreign assistance
2w ago00:30:21Summary readyThis week we look back at the last 18 months of U.S. foreign assistance — a period defined by the dismantling of USAID and the absorption of foreign aid strategy into the State Department. We break down the types of initiatives the Trump administration is prioritizing and where the funding is flowing.On the other side of the Atlantic, the European Union is currently in the process of negotiating the bloc’s next seven-year budget. The new financial framework could mark a turning point for European aid, formalizing a shift from development-first spending toward an approach that increasingly serves member states’ geopolitical and economic interests.To dig into these stories and others, Adva Saldinger sits down with Michael Igoe and Jesse Chase-Lubitz for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Redeem your Devex Pro discount:https://www.devex.com/upgrade/payment?package_short_name=PRO&payment_page_permalink=pro-discount-fortypercent&utm_medium=link&utm_source=newswire&utm_campaign=pro_week_2026
SummaryTurning World Cup hype into impact, and governing AI for good
3w ago00:32:01Summary readyWith the FIFA World Cup entering its final week, we explore how NGOs operating in participating nations can leverage the tournament’s spotlight to advance their work. While tournament hype is notoriously fleeting, we break down how NGOs can translate a short-term spike in curiosity into sustained long-term impact.We also discuss our key takeaways from the United Nations’ Global Dialogue for AI Governance and the International Telecommunication Union’s AI for Good Summit, both of which we covered on the ground in Geneva, Switzerland. From the absence of major AI labs to how lower- and middle-income countries are demanding an equal voice in global tech regulation, we explore why the development sector must stop leaving AI’s future to technologists alone.To dig into these stories and others, David Ainsworth sits down with Catherine Cheney and Thomas Cserep 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 Freddy Nkosi, Senior Director of Global Programs for West and Central Africa & DRC Country Director at VillageReach. They explore how locally-led supply chains and data-informed approaches are helping countries, such as the DRC and Cameroon, address last-mile challenges, supporting efforts to ensure vaccines reach remote and underserved communities when and where they are needed.
SummaryEbere Okereke believes global health is about power
3w ago01:29:56Summary readyGlobal health is entering a period of profound upheaval. As governments reassess foreign aid, donors rethink decades-old models, and African leaders push for greater ownership of their health systems, one question looms over the sector: Who should hold the power to shape global health?Dr. Ebere Okereke is a prominent voice in that conversation. She joins Theory of Change for a wide-ranging conversation with Devex Senior Reporter Michael Igoe about the risks and opportunities of this massive global health shakeup."Everything's about power. Everything is about politics. But it's also about understanding what power you have," Okereke says.She reflects on the consequences of the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the rise of bilateral health agreements, the promise of the Accra Reset, and why African governments must play a far greater role in defining and financing their own priorities. At the same time — with disease outbreaks still testing national response systems — she cautions against retreating from global collaboration, arguing instead for a model that is "locally owned, regionally anchored, but remain[s] part of a global architecture."
SummaryUncertainty over UNAIDS’ future and avoiding sexual abuse in Ebola response
4w ago00:33:48Summary readyWith uncertainty lingering over its future, we discuss a new UNAIDS interim report outlining potential pathways forward — including further downsizing the secretariat, turning it into a U.N.-hosted hub, or merging it with another health entity. During the conversation, we explore UNAIDS’ alternative suggestions, as well as how this imminent transition fits into the wider restructuring of the global health architecture.As the Ebola emergency continues across eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, responders are facing a lack of community trust. During the 2018–2020 outbreak of the disease, aid workers subjected the locals to widespread sexual abuse and exploitation. We discuss whether the humanitarian sector is doing enough to prevent history from repeating itself.To dig into these stories and others, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with senior reporters Jenny Lei Ravelo and Sara Jerving for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.Sign up to Devex CheckUp here:https://www.devex.com/newsletters/devex-checkup
SummaryUS aid leadership changes and a controversial UN merger
Jul 200:34:26Summary readyThis week we discuss Jeremy Lewin’s departure from the U.S. State Department’s foreign aid bureau to the White House. His transition to the National Security Council ends a controversial leadership marked by the retreat of the U.S. from its long-held role as the world’s leading bilateral donor. He is expected to be replaced by Andrew Veprek, who has pushed immigration and refugee restrictions at the State Department. As the United Nations continues to face budgetary constraints, we also analyze the potential merger of two major U.N. development agencies: the U.N. Development Programme, or UNDP, and UNOPS. While Secretary-General António Guterres sees this ambitious development reform as a way to overcome a yawning funding gap, UNDP chief Alexander De Croo and UNOPS Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva have butted heads over their vastly different visions for the future.During the conversation we also discuss our key takeaways from the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, including a new initiative that is designed to tackle debt, trade, climate finance, and multilateral reform to help reset the terms of global cooperation.To dig into these stories and others, Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger sits down with U.N. correspondent Colum Lynch and reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. How can climate and nature investments move from ambition to action?In the sponsored segment of the episode, recorded live at Devex Impact House during London Climate Action Week, Kate Warren, Executive Editor and Executive Vice President at Devex, speaks with Waqas Batley, Senior Director, Conservation and Climate Finance Policy at The Nature Conservancy.Together, they explore how policy advocacy can help countries develop the plans, financial roadmaps, and regulatory systems needed to attract investment in nature and climate. The conversation looks at why nature should be understood as economic infrastructure, what finance ministries can do to send clearer signals to investors, and how approaches such as country platforms can help turn national climate and biodiversity priorities into investable pipelines.Sign up to Devex Invested:https://www.devex.com/newsletters/invested
SummarySpecial edition: Live from Hamburg: Can governments still invest in the future?
Jul 101:08:00Summary readyThis special two-part edition of This Week in Global Development comes to you from the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, where leaders from across development, government, business and civil society gather to debate the big questions facing the global economy — from climate and debt to security, trade, and the future of international cooperation.In part one, Devex Global Development Reporter Ayenat Mersie speaks with Achim Steiner, chair of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, to explore a question at the heart of today’s geopolitical moment: Are governments preparing for the wrong kinds of threats? As defense budgets climb around the world, Steiner tells Ayenat that countries risk neglecting the investments that actually make societies more secure, from climate resilience and affordable clean energy to digital infrastructure. He also explains why sustainability should be seen not as a sacrifice, but as an opportunity to strengthen economies, lower costs, and build resilience.In part two, Ayenat speaks with Sierra Leone Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, who talks about “the politics of painful choices” — the difficult trade-offs governments face when debt burdens, aid cuts, and external shocks leave little room for long-term investment. He reflects on balancing immediate needs with climate action, why he believes countries need new tools to absorb global shocks, and what sustainability looks like from the perspective of a government under severe fiscal pressure.
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Special edition: The blueprint for better lung cancer screening
Jun 3000:30:38Summary readyIn this special edition of the This Week in Global Development podcast, produced in partnership with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Devex co-founder and Executive Vice President Alan Robbins sits down with three architects of Kentucky’s transformation in fighting high lung cancer rates: Dr. Jamie Studts, Dr. Jennifer Redmond Knight, and Dr. Timothy Mullett — the team behind the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative and the QUILS™ system.After a decade of data, the results are clear: earlier diagnoses are being seen in Kentucky, and current efforts are seeking a similar impact in Mississippi and Nevada. But the real story is how these results were achieved. Rather than imposing top-down protocols, QUILS™ works by equipping local community programs with data-informed tools, continuous feedback, and practice support — helping local clinics serve as trusted access points for lung cancer screening in their communities.The conversation tackles the hardest part of scaling any screening program: human behavior. Lung cancer carries a unique stigma rooted in decades of anti-smoking messaging, and that stigma remains a powerful barrier, discouraging eligible patients from coming forward. The QUILS™ response is to replace shame and fear with empathy and hope, building person-centered care directly into clinical workflows so the burden does not fall on patients alone.For global health leaders, the implications are clear: The barriers Kentucky faced — rural isolation, underresourced systems, cultural mistrust — are not unique to one region. They exist everywhere. And the infrastructure built to overcome them may be exactly what the world needs.Visit Strengthening Care Systems — a series raising awareness of the scale of the global lung cancer burden and the systems-level changes required to address it: https://pages.devex.com/strengtheningcaresystems.html
SummaryLive from London Climate Action Week
Jun 2500:29:01Summary readyAs London Climate Action Week gets into full swing, we break down the key talking points from the conference so far. With the city in the midst of a scorching heat wave, the discussion of climate change feels even more urgent than usual. We explore the transactional landscape that developing nations face, where much-needed capital is increasingly tied to the private sector.Beyond the balance sheets, one of the current tensions is the collision between green ambitions and economic survival. From the push for rapid electrification to the rollout of Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, African nations are being forced to thread a near-impossible needle: industrializing their economies while navigating low-carbon mandates.Complicating matters is a growing communications crisis within the sector itself. To secure funding and dodge political blowback, many NGOs are camouflaging their climate work under the banners of health, food, or energy security. However, driving the climate conversation underground risks leaving the communities most vulnerable to extreme weather out of the spotlight when they need it most.To bring you the latest from London Climate Action Week, Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth 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
SummaryFact-checking US aid claims as the State Department continues to hire
Jun 1800:29:17Summary readyIn our landmark 150th episode, we discuss a common theme in global development over the past 18 months: the state of U.S. foreign aid. We’re seeing the State Department steadily replenish its workforce, with dozens of open roles across the agency’s global health, international aid, and disaster response bureaus.On the topic of U.S. foreign assistance, last week Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed the U.S. remains the world's top aid provider "by far" despite the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development. While provisional figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development indicate that Germany has officially overtaken the U.S. for the top spot, we find that the reality is more complex as the validity of the claim hinges entirely on how "aid" is defined. We break down the data and the nuance behind the figures.To discuss these stories, and others, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Business Editor David Ainsworth and Global Development Reporter Elissa Miolene for episode number 150 of our weekly podcast series.Register for Devex Impact House @ London Climate Action Week here:https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-london-climate-action-week.html
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