This Week in Global Development3 Jul 2025

Did Sevilla save multilateralism — or just survive the heat?

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.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(244)

Special Edition: AI in practice: Bridging the implementation gap

Across the global development landscape, artificial intelligence promises to redefine how health, education, and social protection services are delivered. However, moving past small-scale piloting to ...

6 Okt 27min

Special edition: Reimagining financing for development and growth

The fundamental question of how development and growth are financed is undergoing a profound transformation. Over the course of a series of original essays and op-eds, The Next Frontier – a Devex seri...

2 Okt 33min

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 grea...

1 Okt 35min

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 Deve...

30 Sep 29min

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 increase...

25 Sep 30min

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 ...

24 Sep 20min

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, agricu...

17 Sep 38min

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 Ripplework...

15 Sep 32min