Devex Podcasts

Apr 03 2025 235 ep. 30 mins 111

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News, analysis and business insights from Devex, the media platform for the global development community.

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This Week in Global Dev: #91: Trump's USAID abolition plan: What does it mean for global development?

Apr 03 2025 36 mins

The Trump administration formally informed Congress of its proposal to abolish USAID, merging key aspects of its operations into the State Department. This plan involves the complete shutdown of the agency and subsequent staff layoffs. Despite this, the U.S. government intends to preserve vital programs concerning humanitarian assistance, food security, and global health, potential

Business in challenging markets: Viva Ona Bartkus on building businesses in fragile economies

Apr 02 2025 41 mins

Summary Discover why "business as usual" fails in the world's toughest places. Viva Ona Bartkus sits down with Raj Kumar to reveal the counterintuitive tactics that unlock massive opportunities where others fear to tread. Learn why: The most successful security strategy isn't higher walls – it's community ownership How to turn "middlemen with guns" into business partners Why Chin

This Week in Global Dev: #90: Which programs were hit hardest by the Trump administration’s aid cuts?

Mar 27 2025 36 mins

This week, the Trump administration released a detailed inventory of 5,341 discontinued USAID programs, alongside the 898 projects that are still active. We dig into the ins and outs of the data to assess the true scope of the government's policy changes, as well as reveal which programs have been most affected. During the conversation, we also discussed how the Trump administrat

Special episode: How research helps tackle climate-driven violence against women workers

Mar 25 2025 38 mins

In this special episode of This Week in Global Development, Devex dives deeper into how climate change is driving increased gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work and the cutting-edge research that’s not only mapping its impacts but also improving our understanding of potential solutions. Hear directly from Kathy Baughman McLeod, the founder and CEO of Climate

This Week in Global Dev: #89: Unpacking proposals to overhaul US foreign aid

Mar 20 2025 27 mins

This week we dig into the different proposals on how the Trump administration could reform foreign assistance. According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s post on the social media platform X, 1,000 programs will be retained, with plans to potentially fold USAID into the State Department. We also learned that Peter Marocco, who acted as deputy administrator of USAID for 6

This Week in Global Dev: #88: What does the latest federal ruling mean for US foreign assistance?

Mar 13 2025 33 mins

This week a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to pay USAID partners for billions of dollars in foreign aid work completed before Feb. 13. The ruling also stated that the president does not have “unbounded power” in the realm of foreign affairs. This means that the U.S. government must spend the money that’s already been appropriated by Congress. We discuss whethe

This Week in Global Dev: #87: The battle for USAID's future, and shock cuts to UK foreign assistance

Mar 06 2025 23 mins

This week the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to not pay billions of dollars in foreign aid to USAID and State Department partners — lifting a temporary reprieve granted by Chief Justice John Roberts. On the topic of USAID, the U.S. African Development Foundation mounted a direct challenge to the Trump administration. Wednesday saw USADF sta

This Week in Global Dev: #86: The latest on the dismantling of USAID

Feb 26 2025 34 mins

This week we closely followed the latest developments on the U.S. government’s attempt at dismantling USAID. We learned that the Trump administration has decided to cut 1,600 USAID personnel based in the United States, while also placing nearly all direct hires worldwide on administrative leave by midnight Sunday. Simultaneously, the Trump administration terminated nearly 10,00

Devex Book Club: Danny Sriskandarajah

Feb 23 2025 47 mins

From refugee camps to Oxfam's helm, Danny Sriskandarajah has witnessed firsthand how real change can happen—not in boardrooms, but on streets and in communities. Drawing from his book "Power to the People," he challenges the development sector's top-down mindset by showcasing how citizen action, from anti-corruption movements to neighborhood repair cafes, creates lasting social t

This Week in Global Dev: #85: In legal limbo: Inside the lawsuits against Trump's aid freeze

Feb 20 2025 33 mins

This week we were closely following the lawsuits filed against the Trump administration for freezing U.S. foreign assistance. One of the lawsuits targets Elon Musk, stating that the billionaire has decimated the U.S. Agency for International Development without the authority to do so. However, the government appears to be determined to fight back against those who are ready to chal