This Week in Global Development Podcast By Devex | Global Development cover art

This Week in Global Development

This Week in Global Development

By: Devex | Global Development
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About this listen

 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 leading experts for insightful 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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Episodes
  • Did Sevilla save multilateralism — or just survive the heat?

    Did Sevilla save multilateralism — or just survive the heat?
    Jul 3 2025
    As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development wraps up, Devex reporters Jesse Chase-Lubitz and Elissa Miolene join Associate Editor Thomas Cserép for a podcast episode reflecting on what transpired this week in Sevilla — beyond the sweltering 115 degrees Celsius heat.

    The big takeaway from FfD4 is the Compromiso de Sevilla, a document that participants view as both a commitment and a compromise. "Multilateralism lives" became the conference's unofficial motto as countries adapted to the United States’ absence.

    “It's more of a pickup moment after six months of global upheaval, and now moving forward and seeing what's next, and perhaps there'll be other actors that fill that gap, and maybe that might come from the global south itself,” Miolene said.

    Key outcomes include establishing a borrowers' group to amplify the voices of low- and middle-income countries, and creating a global debt registry aimed at promoting transparency. While climate language was significantly watered down due to the United States’ proposed amendments prior to their withdrawal, tax reform gained momentum, with renewed calls for a U.N. convention on international tax cooperation.

    However, civil society groups expressed frustration over access restrictions at the conference, while journalists faced rigorous checkpoints entering areas where negotiations were actually taking place.

    At the conference’s side events, private sector engagement was notably high, suggesting that despite falling aid budgets, there's a genuine appetite for partnerships — with the overall mood remaining cautiously optimistic about what comes next.
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    19 mins
  • FfD4 kicks off as aid budgets shrink and U.S. steps back

    FfD4 kicks off as aid budgets shrink and U.S. steps back
    Jun 30 2025
    Development leaders have converged on Sevilla, Spain, for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, or FfD4 — the first such gathering in a decade — as shrinking aid budgets and a U.S. retreat from multilateral commitments reshape the sector.

    At the 2015 conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, official development assistance was at record levels amid ambitious “billions to trillions” rhetoric — the idea that limited public funds could catalyze massive private investment to tackle global challenges such as climate change.

    Today’s backdrop includes the pandemic fallout, inflation, the war in Ukraine, and sweeping aid cuts. The U.S. participated in outcome document negotiations until the final stages, reportedly proposing 400 amendments to soften the language on climate and gender before withdrawing entirely, citing too many “red lines.”

    In this special live podcast episode recorded at Casa Devex, Devex’s events hub for the next few days, reporters Elissa Miolene and Jesse Chase-Lubitz sit down with Executive Editor Kate Warren to discuss what’s at stake and why this “once-in-a-decade” forum has taken on heightened significance.
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    23 mins
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