This Week in Global Development

In this episode of Global Progress in the AI Era, Nick Allardice explains how GiveDirectly is using AI to deliver faster, more direct aid — from anticipatory cash transfers in Bangladesh to near real-time responses in crisis zones. The conversation explores what it takes to move from theory to practice, and how AI is forcing new trade-offs around speed, targeting, and dignity in humanitarian response.

While HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are declining globally, the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, or EECA, tells a different story. It is now home to one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics, with over 2.1 million people living with the virus. Alarmingly, about 20% are unaware of their status, and nearly half remain without treatment. Since 2010, EECA has become the only region globally where AIDS-related deaths have continued to rise, fueled by systemic challenges like stigma, restrictive laws, and the devastating impact of the war in Ukraine.

In this special episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, sponsored by Gilead Sciences and Elton John AIDS Foundation, Devex Executive Editor and Executive Vice President Kate Warren speaks with Denys Denysenko, Eastern Europe and Central Asia portfolio lead at the Elton John AIDS Foundation, to explore how RADIAN, a transformative partnership between Gilead Sciences and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, is turning the tide. 

Denysenko discusses the power of community-led solutions — from mobile clinics and software that bridges language barriers for refugees to cutting-edge AI tools in Kazakhstan that monitor patient health and prevent treatment interruptions. Discover how these innovative, trust-based models are reaching the most vulnerable communities and offering a roadmap for global health leaders to reverse the trend in this overlooked region.

To hear more, listen to this conversation with Denysenko on This Week in Global Development.

A tale of two continents is unfolding in the global development landscape as Latin America embraces a surge of private investment while Africa grapples with severe economic aftershocks from geopolitical conflict in the Middle East. 

At the recent Inter-American Development Bank meetings, an atmosphere of intense optimism prevailed, fueled by the region's 63% renewable energy matrix and the attendance of over 1,600 private sector leaders. High-impact projects such as the 2,300-mile Bi-Oceanic Corridor, designed to slash trade routes to Asia by 17 days, and the Lac Minerals initiative for lithium processing, signal a robust new era of regional integration and industrial growth.

In stark contrast, many African nations face a deepening crisis as volatility in the Middle East has driven fuel prices up by as much as 77% in cities such as Mogadishu. These inflationary pressures are devastating for informal workers and humanitarian efforts, with the World Food Programme facing skyrocketing insurance costs and delayed shipping routes that bypass the Red Sea. 

With traditional aid from the West decreasing, both regions are increasingly looking toward south-south cooperation and Gulf investments to secure their economic futures.

To dig into these stories, Business Editor David Ainsworth sits down with Devex reporters Jesse Chase-Lubitz and Ayenat Mersie for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

As AI models scale globally, social enterprises are increasingly working with frontier AI labs to test, adapt, and improve the technology in local contexts. This episode explores how those partnerships could determine whether AI reinforces existing inequalities — or helps close them.

This week, we are reporting from the Commission on the Status of Women — the world’s largest gathering on gender equality, which is taking place at the United Nations headquarters in New York. We discuss the key talking points at the conference, including what’s at stake amid a global regression in women’s rights, as well as the conversations taking place on the sidelines of the main summit.  

Staying on the topic of gender equality and the U.N., we also explore the potential merger of two agencies — UN Women and UNFPA — and explore the latest updates on the race for the next U.N. Secretary-General. 

To dig into these stories, and others, Adva Saldinger sits down with Colum Lynch and Elissa Miolene for the latest episode of our weekly podcast series.

Sign up to the Devex Newswire and our other newsletters.