The question of how multilateral development banks need to reform themselves so they are fit to face today's global challenges was again high on the agenda at the recent World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.

These debates and recommendations for reform can be technical and complex, but what do the people these financial institutions were set up to serve think about what changes are needed?

This episode, which was recorded from the sidelines of the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., considers whether development finance is really reaching those who need it most. We ask how we can harness recent trends and technological advances so they work for – rather than against – the most vulnerable.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Liesbet Steer, President and CEO of the Education Development Center & Chair of the ODI North America Board
• Andrew Herscowitz, Executive Director, ODI North America
• Sheila Warren, CEO, Crypto Council for Innovation and ODI North America Board Member

Related resources

• ODI's Spring Meetings resources hub
• How to better reach underserved borrowers (ODI event)
• Towards an MDB agenda for reform in FCV (ODI paper)
• Navigating fragility: the new multilateral agenda (ODI event)
• Matching finance to need (ODI event)
• Do we need a new Bretton Woods agreement for the post-Covid era? (Think Change podcast)
• Will early blooms bear fruit? Key takeaways from the 2024 World Bank Spring Meetings (ODI blog)
• MDB Insights: 2024 Spring Meetings previewed (ODI blog)

The crises of hunger in Sudan and Gaza are grave humanitarian emergencies with profound consequences for affected communities.

A recent UN briefing to the Security Council stated that Sudan is set to face the “world’s worst hunger crisis”, while an international committee of experts issued a dire warning that famine is not only imminent in Northern Gaza, but a risk across the entire territory.

While man-made famine continues to be used as a weapon of war for political gain, the prevailing response from international humanitarian agencies is to provide food aid. But is this really the solution? And how does it affect local humanitarian efforts?

This episode dives into these questions and seeks to hold those responsible for these hunger crises to account.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Alex de Waal, Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation
• Omima Omer Jabal, Khartoum State ERR Jabal Awliya Program Office
• Hamish Young, Senior Emergency Coordinator in Gaza, State of Palestine
• Nuha Yousif, ERR Sennar state, Programme office
  
  

Related resources

• Sounding the alarm on Sudan’s hunger crisis (ODI event recap)
  
  
• Sudan conflict – how did we get here and what next? (Think Change podcast) 
  
  
• From El-Fasher to Khartoum: The fallout from 20 years of conflict in Darfur (ODI event) 
  
  
• Sudan’s humanitarian crisis slips further from sight (ODI event recap)
  
  
• Humanitarian hypocrisy, double standards and the law in Gaza (ODI blog)
  
  
• Will the ICJ ruling change anything for Gaza? (Think Change podcast)

Global public debt is at unprecedented levels. The UN has reported that nearly half of the world’s population lives in countries that spend more paying off debts to other countries than they spend on healthcare for their own people.

While needs soar as countries try to address the impact of the poly-crisis and invest significantly to transform their economies and societies, economic growth is in sharp retreat in many nations in the Global South.

The World Bank is calling for donor governments to step up. They have put ‘IDA replenishment’ top of the agenda at this month’s Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.

But why is the World Bank calling for this record replenishment? Join us as we explore the case for the IDA to become more effective and efficient at a time of soaring needs.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Annalisa Prizzon, Principal Research Fellow, ODI
• Seynabou Sakho, Director of Strategy and Operations for the World Bank Office of the Managing Director of Operations
• Gregory Chen, MD of Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative, BRAC International

Related resources

• ODI on multilateral development banks
• ODI Day at the 2024 Spring Meetings 
• Bigger, but also better: why MDB reform must go further (ODI blog)
• One year on, the World Bank must focus on how to implement its Evolution Roadmap (ODI blog)
• Matching finance to need (Davos 2024 event video)
• Strengthening MDBs: the triple agenda (Annual Meetings 2023 event video)
• What do borrowing countries think of MDB reform? (Think Change podcast)

When it comes to development, creative and cultural practitioners are too often overlooked and underestimated as agents of change.  

According to UNESCO, the creative and cultural sector is one of the most powerful engines of global development. It accounts for nearly 50 million jobs worldwide, representing 6.2% of all existing employment and 3.1% of global GDP.  

On this episode, our guests discuss the immense potential of art, design and creativity to inspire social development and tackle global injustices. They unveil the ways in which creative projects are more than aesthetic pursuits – they are at the heart of change and testament to our shared humanity, fostering human connections and challenging the status quo. 

Join us as we explore the intersection of creativity and development, and ask why – and how – creative and policy communities must work more closely together to change the world.

This episode was produced in partnership with LAGO. 

Guests 

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Federica Fragapane, Information Designer and ODI Research Associate  
• Adama Sanneh,  CO-Founder and CEO, Moleskine Foundation  
• Marta Foresti, Visiting Senior Fellow, ODI
  
  

Related resources

• Creating our collective future: what the arts and design can do for development
  
  
• On Freedom of Movement (wi de muv) trailer (youtube.com) 
  
  
• Hearts and minds | How Europeans think and feel about immigration
  
  
• Key workers: migrants’ contribution to the COVID-19 response
  
  
• The Beauty of Movement: arts and research for new migration narratives | ODI: Think change 
  
  
• Data and design: making stories visible 
  
  
• The ALIGN - Advancing Learning and Innovation on Gender Norms - Platform | Align Platform

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Gaia Vince, Environmental Journalist and Author of Nomad Century: How climate migration will reshape our world
• Michai Robertson, Research Fellow, ODI
• Claire Kumar, Senior Research Fellow, ODI Europe

Femicide – the intentional killing of women and girls with a gender-related motivation – affects every society around the world.

According to UN Women, nearly 89,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2022 – the highest number recorded in the past 20 years. And over half of all female homicides were committed by family members or intimate partners.

This episode puts a spotlight on this global atrocity. Experts from Italy, Kenya and Mexico share insights on how femicide is impacting their countries. We examine its root causes, how women’s movements are countering it, and what further action is urgently needed to bring about truly lasting change.

While comprehensive legislation is a critical starting point, we hear why challenging gender norms which make misogyny so deeply entrenched in society is fundamental if we are to curb femicide and see transformational change.

Speakers

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Dinah Musindarwezo, Co-CEO, Womankind Worldwide
• Diana Jiménez Thomas Rodriguez, Senior Research Officer, ODI
• Nicoletta Mandolini, Researcher, CECS, Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Related resources

• Gender-related killings of women and girls (femicide/feminicide): Global estimates of female intimate partner/family-related homicides in 2022 (UN Women report)
• 10 ways to transform gender norms (ALIGN booklet)
• Transforming gender norms for women’s economic rights and empowerment (ALIGN report)
• Is no space safe? Working to end gender-based violence in the public sphere (ALIGN briefing paper)
• Mobilising for change: how women’s social movements are transforming gender norms (ALIGN report)
• Think Change podcast: how can we counter the anti-feminist backlash? (ODI)
• From allyship to action: how men can step up to end violence against women (ODI event video/podcast)
• ODI in conversation with Emma Dabiri: can coalitions counter the anti-feminist backlash? (ODI event video/podcast)
• Women's organisations and feminist mobilisation: supporting the foundational drivers of gender equality (ODI briefing paper)

In November, South Africa approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to consider whether Israel is committing genocide.

All eyes were on the Hague last month as the ICJ made its interim ruling, calling for Israel to "take all measures within its powers" to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza. But it stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.

The court also ruled that aid must be allowed into Gaza. But since then, allegations from Israel that some employees of UNRWA – Gaza's biggest aid agency – were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks has resulted in 16 donor countries suspending UNRWA funding.

In this episode, legal, humanitarian and foreign policy experts take stock of these events and dissect what the ICJ ruling really means for Israel, Gaza and wider geopolitical relations.

Speakers

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Kate Mackintosh, Executive Director, UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe
• Raz Segal, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University
• Ronak Gopaldas, Director, Signal Risk
• Sorcha O’Callaghan, Director of Programme, Humanitarian Policy Group

Related resources

• South Africa’s ICJ case has already altered its foreign policy space (Institute for Security Studies)
• Humanitarian hypocrisy, double standards and the law in Gaza (ODI insight)
• Gaza | The politics of narrative (ODI event)
• Israel/OPT crisis - what's needed to stop the bloodshed? (ODI podcast)
• Palestine and Israel - How can justice prevail? (ODI podcast)

Artificial intelligence (AI) dominated conversations at the recent World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

The release of ChatGPT to the public in December 2022 put AI firmly in the spotlight. And today it is all around us, promising to transform how we live our lives. But there are plenty of concerns and warnings about how it could impact the world. Many have sounded the alarm, even the so-called “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton, who has been vocal about the dangers of the technology he helped to create.

In this episode, experts reflect on the ethical implications of these technological advances. We ask how AI can become a force for social good which empowers people globally rather than entrenching inequalities. And with over half the world due to go to the polls in 2024, what impact will AI have on politics in this major election year and beyond?

Speakers

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, and advocate of data and AI for good
• Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General, Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO
• Stephanie Diepeveen, Senior Research Fellow, ODI
  
  

Resources

• Has AI ushered in an existential crisis of trust in democracy? (ODI insight)
• International AI Governance must be truly global (ODI insight)

Last year was a bumpy one for the global economy, with sluggish growth, high inflation, tightened monetary policy and instability in the financial sector. This all played out against a backdrop of increased geopolitical tensions and fiscal pressures.

This second podcast in our two-part mini-series on 2024 trends examines the global economic outlook for the year ahead. Will the next 12 months be defined by more uncertainty, or are there reasons to be optimistic about changes ahead?

Experts discuss the big economic trends and developments to watch out for in 2024, including the outlook for global trade, prospects for India’s economy and green investment, and what needs to happen to tackle persistent income inequality within and between countries.

Speakers

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Arancha González Laya, Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs
• Rathin Roy, Visiting Senior Fellow, ODI
• Michael Jacobs, Professor of Political Economy, University of Sheffield & ODI Visiting Senior Fellow
  
  

Related resources

• Think Change episode 37: what trends will shape 2024? Part 1

2023 has been another year marked by major crises. This final episode reflects on where we are now, and the major global themes shaping 2024.

The world is at a pivotal moment as we try to cope with multiple, interconnected crises. The number of people fleeing war, persecution and violence is at an estimated 114 million, against a backdrop of rising geo-political tensions, carbon emissions, food and energy crises, and economic instability.

All this comes at a time when systems are overwhelmed, and international cooperation remains fragmented. But are there reasons for optimism?

Next year will be the biggest election year in history with more than half the world due to exercise their right to vote, putting the spotlight on the state of global democracy.

In this episode our guests share their unique perspective on the major themes and forces shaping 2024.

Speakers

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Ian Bremmer, President and Founder, Eurasia Group
• Alexis Akwagyiram, Managing Editor, Semafor Africa
• Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, Director of Programme, Politics and Governance, ODI

An increase in modern slavery in the last five years has been met with a decrease in the political will needed to address it.

But what can consumers do to make more ethical choices this holiday season and beyond? In this episode we navigate the intricate web of human trafficking, exploitation and forced labour within global supply chains. We put the spotlight on the retail industry, exposing its role in the disproportionate vulnerability of women and children to forced labour.

Our guests delve into the evolving response of the world to human trafficking challenges, exploring the complexities tied to migration and government policies. As the discussion unfolds, the conversation draws crucial links to the theme of sustainability and provides practical advice for consumers.~

Join Sara Pantuliano and guests in this exploration of ethical consumerism, human rights and the collective responsibility to create a sustainable world.

Speakers

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI
• Nasreen Sheikh, Survivor, Author and Social Entrepreneur
• Grace Forrest, Founding Director, Walk Free
• Ekaette Ikpe, Director, African Leadership Centre, Kings College London, and ODI board member

Related resources

• Walk Free
• Local Women's Handicrafts
• Africa Fashion Futures: Creative economies, global networks and local development
• African Fashion Futures podcast
• Intertwined: Fashion, Textile and Heritage in Nigeria exhibition at King's College London, 2022 and African Leadership Centre, Nairobi
• Ikpe E, England, L., and Comunian, R. (Forthcoming). Fashion designers as lead firms from below: creative economy, state capitalism and internationalisation in Lagos and Nairobi. Competition and Change.