Special episode: A conversation with the Mines Advisory Group

In this week’s special edition of the This Week in Global Development podcast, we spotlight the Mines Advisory Group, or MAG, recipient of the 2025 Hilton Humanitarian Prize — the world’s largest annual humanitarian award. MAG’s work clearing land mines and unexploded ordnance has saved lives and restored livelihoods in post-conflict communities for more than three decades.In a special episode sponsored by the Hilton Foundation, Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar speaks with MAG CEO Darren Cormack about what the $3 million unrestricted prize means for the organization, the growing risks civilians face from land mines in conflicts such as Ukraine, Syria, and Sudan, and how new technologies —from drones to artificial intelligence — are helping speed up mine clearance.Cormack reflects on rising global conflict levels, threats to international humanitarian law, and why mine action remains both a moral and developmental imperative — enabling farmers to work safely, children to return to school, and displaced people to rebuild their lives.To hear more, listen to this conversation with Darren Cormack on This Week in Global Development.

This week on the podcast, we unpack what to watch during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington, D.C. — from shifting global growth forecasts to reforms across multilateral development banks. As the fall meetings kick off, leaders in development finance are looking closely at how the World Bank is reshaping itself to mobilize more private capital and move faster on project approvals.Amid ongoing reforms, attention is turning to how new tools such as securitizations and guarantee instruments can attract institutional investors while balancing the needs of borrowing countries. The conversation also explores the ways investors are seeking to value ecosystems alongside traditional climate assets, and how differences between U.S. and European markets are shaping approaches to ESG, or environmental, social, and governance, and climate investment.To discuss these developments, Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger sits down with Elissa Miolene and J.P. Morgan’s Faheen Allibhoy for the latest episode of This Week in Global Development.Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters. 

This week, we discuss the details of the “Accra Reset,” an effort to declare an end to the era of development-as-usual and to push for the creation of new governance, business, and financing models. With traditional donors cutting foreign assistance, African nations and others are using the initiative to jointly invest, design, and create solutions with external partners.With official development assistance plummeting, governments are under pressure to make up their global health funding shortfall through taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary beverages.  However, these levies may not be a financial panacea.During the conversation, we also look back at how U.S. objections stalled the long-negotiated United Nations declaration on noncommunicable diseases, sending it to a full General Assembly vote this month, and look ahead to the World Health Summit.To dig into these stories and others, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Senior Reporter Sara Jerving and contributing reporter Andrew Green for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

This week we are on the ground in New York to cover the 80th United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week. Our discussion breaks down President Donald Trump’s address at the summit, where he called climate change a hoax, denounced Europe’s energy policies, and focused on the urgent need to address uncontrolled migration.The global drive for emissions reduction is moving forward despite the Trump administration's stance on climate action, with high emitters, including China, submitting their Nationally Determined Contributions, or their climate action plans to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.To dig into these stories and catch up on what’s happening at UNGA80, senior editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with senior global reporter Colum Lynch and global development reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Note on episode: David Lammy’s current title is deputy prime minister, not prime minister as mentioned in the episode.Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

This week, the Devex team is on the ground at the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York. On the sidelines of the high-level talks, we are hosting a series of events with some of the most influential voices in global development at our dedicated venue, Devex Impact House. From the future of foreign assistance to the latest plan to reform the U.N., we discuss the forces shaping the sector and defining a new era of global development. This comes amid President Donald Trump's plans to reshape the international system, with a clear focus on reducing foreign aid and challenging long-standing international norms.With the U.S. appearing to retreat from the U.N., we explore who the contenders are to fill the gap left by the world’s largest economy. To explore the key conversations we are following at UNGA, Senior Editor Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Senior Global Reporter Colum Lynch, as well as Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar, for this special episode of our weekly podcast series.Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

This week, we take a look at the key talking points ahead of the high-level meetings of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. From the Trump administration’s cutting of funding to international organizations to China’s desire to increase its influence at the U.N., we discuss the conversations that we will be following that are most relevant to the global development community.During the discussion, we also explored some of the conversations that may not get the attention they deserve, including reforming the global debt architecture and securing the future of humanitarian funding. To look ahead to UNGA 80, Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Senior Global Reporter Colum Lynch and Allison Lombardo, former deputy assistant secretary at the State Department, for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Together, they break down the diplomatic challenges and highlight negotiations that will shape this year’s discussions.Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

This week, we were at the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, closely following the stories that matter most to the global development community. From forging a unified voice ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference to how carbon markets could transform climate action on the continent, we discuss the key takeaways from the conference.In the United States, we continue to follow a key lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's foreign aid spending — or lack thereof. The case, which is a test of the executive branch's power over government spending, is now headed to the Supreme Court. The administration asked the highest court to intervene after a lower court compelled it to spend foreign assistance funds that Congress had already appropriated. We take a look at where the case stands and what might happen next. To dig into these stories and others, Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger sits down with Managing Editor Anna Gawel and Global Development Reporter Ayenat Mersie for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Sign up for Devex Newswire and our other newsletters. 

The negotiation and approval of the U.S. budget is a complex process, filled with political bargaining and high-stakes showdowns that can have a profound impact far beyond Washington. This process directly shapes funding for foreign aid, global health, and humanitarian crises around the world.With the Trump administration proposing a “pocket rescission” package that would cut an additional $5 billion from foreign assistance, its approval would have a significant impact on the global development sector.To gain insight into the complexities of the U.S. budget and its implications for the development sector, Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Senior Reporters Adva Saldinger and Michael Igoe for this special episode of our weekly podcast series. Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.

For decades, Africa's malaria strategy has focused almost exclusively on disease control through indoor mosquito management and personal protection — bed nets, indoor spraying, and individual-level interventions. But this approach alone isn’t working. Progress against malaria in the African region has slowed significantly, with cases declining by just 5% since 2015 and mortality by 16%, according to the World Health Organization.Experts now argue it’s time to shift from disease-centric, indoor mosquito management to more robust integrated mosquito management strategies. That means taking a tiered approach, starting with reducing mosquito breeding sites, treating water sources with larvicides, and then targeting adult mosquitoes. “The tendency will probably be to think about controlling mosquitoes when they are flying only. But they are actually more vulnerable when they are not flying, usually when they are in the water,” explained Silas Majambere, EMEA Health Business Manager at Valent BioSciences.This approach, known as larval source management, has proven both cost-effective and sustainable. "The conversation is shifting away from just talking about a disease and saying, how do we take those limited public health dollars and manage the mosquito so that we can manage multiple diseases for those dollars?" said Jason Clark, Managing Director for global public health and forest health at Valent BioSciences.Some countries are already moving in this direction.In Benin, the government is framing mosquito control not just as a health issue but as an economic one. The government is focusing on tourism as one of the key pillars of growth for the country, and the presence of mosquito-borne diseases is a direct threat to that, explained Sinde Chekete, advisor to the President of Benin. “We believe that investing in mosquito control will ultimately bring resources, will bring revenue, because we'll be able to welcome more tourists… and reduce the overall cost of malaria,” he said.Chekete, Majambere, and Clark joined Devex executive editor Kate Warren to discuss the shift toward integrated mosquito management in a special Devex podcast episode sponsored by Valent BioSciences.

This week, Akinwumi Adesina stepped down as the chief of the African Development Bank after a 10-year tenure. He was replaced by Sidi Ould Tah at the helm of the institution, who is promising reform, new partnerships, and a focus on jobs — even as the bank confronts tight budgets and a looming African Development Fund replenishment.In the United States, the Trump administration proposed another $5 billion cut to foreign aid spending through a move known as a “pocket rescission.” This proposal builds on the cancellation of roughly $8 billion in foreign aid funding in July. We take a look at the controversial maneuver, which has not been used since 1977.To dig into these stories, and others, David Ainsworth sits down with Michael Igoe and Ayenat Mersie for the latest episode of our podcast series.Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.