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, agriculture, and digital equity to directly benefit the global south. We unpack how AI can help lower-income nations tackle critical challenges while ensuring local communities remain central to the process.From the highly anticipated leadership races for the top jobs at the United Nations and World Health Organization, to a critical high-level meeting on pandemic preparedness, we discuss the major themes ahead of UNGA 81, as well as highlight the sessions we are most excited for at Devex Impact House.To dig into these topics, Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Anna Gawel and Catherine Cheney for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.In the segment of the podcast funded by GSK/ViiV Healthcare, Devex Executive Vice President and Executive Editor Kate Warren speaks with GSK's Chief Global Health Officer, Dr. Harmony Garges. They explore how community-led models, local health worker support, and strategic partnerships are addressing last-mile delivery challenges — from integrating malaria vaccines into primary healthcare in Liberia and Sierra Leone to expanding access to HIV care globally — ensuring much-needed health innovations reach remote and underserved communities.Request to attend Devex Impact House @ UNGA here.

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 Rippleworks, and Azeez Gupta, co-founder of Rocket Learning, to reimagine how philanthropy thinks about scale.As foreign aid budgets shrink, most conversations stop at the number cut. This one asks a different question: What if the real constraint isn’t how much capital is available, but what that capital is allowed to pay for?Unpacking Rocket Learning’s growth through sustained operational support, the conversation makes the case that flexible, founder-friendly capital shouldn’t be the exception in philanthropy — it should be the default.

This week, we discuss our in-depth story on Operation End Starvation, a new initiative aiming to remake the global malnutrition supply chain. With a focus on cost-effectiveness, the project pairs public cash for ready-to-use therapeutic foods, or RUTFs, with philanthropic dollars to fund manufacturers, transporters, and delivery partners worldwide. The initiative represents a wider shift in foreign aid — for example, it bypasses the traditional multilateral system — and critics argue it still isn't cost-effective enough and is siphoning away crucial resources from broader hunger prevention efforts.We also reflect on our key takeaways from the Africa Food Systems Forum, including the innovations driving the future of African agriculture and how the continent's agribusiness sector is responding to a changing funding landscape to become more self-reliant.To dig into these stories, and others, Adva Saldinger sits down with Tania Karas and Elissa Miolene 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 Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, about how AI-enabled tools are being piloted and refined alongside local communities — and what it takes for promising innovations to scale responsibly and advance equity.*Founded in 1953 by Pfizer Inc. as a charitable organization, The Pfizer Foundation is a separate legal entity from Pfizer Inc. with distinct legal restrictions.

We recently reported that roughly $7.5 billion in international affairs funding is set to expire by the end of this month. In a letter, more than 100 U.S. lawmakers have urged the State Department to spend the money. We unpack the situation and what it means for development spending, including the $3 billion previously slated for global health programs.While some politicians are urging the State Department to spend its expiring budget, Samaritan’s Purse is turning down a $300 million federal grant. The organization’s president, Franklin Graham, maintained that the group has “always relied on God, not government, for funding.” We discuss the potential reasons behind this move, noting that in addition to not being aligned with Samaritan’s Purse’s mission, the money may have been deemed too restrictive and relatively insignificant compared to its $1.8 billion revenue in 2024.To dig into these stories, and others, Devex Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with reporters Sara Jerving and Elissa Miolene for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.Check out Humanitarian Frontiers, a member of the Devex Podcast Network:https://humanitarianfrontiers.buzzsprout.com/

At World Water Week in Stockholm, financing took center stage ahead of the U.N. Water Conference in Abu Dhabi this December. The annual gathering saw around 2,000 participants discuss water governance, security, and the rising pressures of a global water bankruptcy.However, attracting private investment remains difficult, with water projects often seen as offering low returns and traditionally relying on public funding. This has prompted a renewed focus on the World Bank’s "Water Forward" initiative, which aims to make the sector more attractive to investors.Meanwhile, the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network conference in New Delhi, India, brought together philanthropists, impact investors, and nonprofits to discuss how the region’s own capital can be mobilized to tackle development challenges instead of relying on traditional foreign aid.While AVPN attendees looked to local philanthropy to finance areas such as mental health and cervical cancer research, the broader global health sector is facing severe funding pressures. One example is the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which faces a more than $100 million funding shortfall for efforts to combat the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.To explore how these financing challenges are playing out across the development sector, Rumbi Chakamba sits down with Tania Karas and Jenny Lei Ravelo for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.Sign up to Devex Impact House @ UNGA 81 here:https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-unga-81.html

What if housing finance could help solve today's biggest challenges? In this special episode, Habitat for Humanity’s Jacqueline Innocent reveals why housing is an upstream catalyst for health, education, and equality — and how inclusive finance can transform global housing systems.

Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen, three of the world’s most hunger-prone nations, were removed from the latest reporting by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network — a U.S.-based data and monitoring system which tracks hunger levels across the globe. The move leaves aid organizations supporting these countries in the dark, even though all three have seen an escalation in humanitarian needs. It’s part and parcel of the Trump administration’s broader posture toward the three nations, which have been virtually cut off from foreign assistance since early 2025.In Haiti, the Inter-American Development Bank is developing a $44 million agricultural program for smallholder farmers. But Haitian INGOs say that local farmers weren’t consulted about the program design, raising broader questions about the role of communities in project development.Looking ahead to COP31, the U.N. climate summit faces a critical identity test. The conference must now shift from setting targets to delivering them. But this will be hard to navigate in an era where climate finance, geopolitics, and global trust remain under intense strain.To discuss these stories and others, Adva Saldinger sits down with Elissa Miolene and Jesse Chase-Lubitz for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series. Sign up to Devex Impact House @ UNGA 81 here:https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-unga-81.html

In this episode of This Week in Global Development, Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Senior Reporters Michael Igoe and Sara Jerving to discuss the U.S. State Department’s announcement to allocate nearly $2 billion to partnerships with faith-based and community organizations providing global health and humanitarian aid. It is the largest funding package of its kind in over two decades, and this week’s guests discuss how the move is driven by the U.S. government's belief that faith-based groups are more cost-efficient, with the Trump administration arguing they have the potential to be more financially sustainable in the long term. This podcast episode explores whether these faith-based partnerships include non-Christian organizations, and whether this new approach will truly maximize impact.

In this week’s special edition episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, sponsored by the International Youth Foundation and the Caterpillar Foundation, we examine how shifting labor markets, automation, and artificial intelligence are reshaping the job landscape, leaving millions of young people out of work even as employers face widespread skill shortages. We’re joined by Christina Sass, president and CEO of IYF, and Asha Varghese, president of the Caterpillar Foundation and head of corporate social responsibility for Caterpillar Inc., to explore why addressing this transition from education to employment is not just a youth issue, but a critical development priority.The discussion also looks at the power of long-term partnerships in creating systemic, scalable workforce solutions. Highlighting nearly two decades of collaboration through the EquipYouth initiative, and tens of thousands of young people reached, our guests share how combining technical training with essential life skills builds youth agency, resilience, and lasting economic opportunity. The conversation also delves into aligning hiring and training with evolving local and global industry needs, navigating the impacts of AI, and why long-term ecosystem investments outperform short-term grants in achieving sustainable solutions.

This 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