Global

Humour can be a powerful and non-violent tactic for protesting against authoritarian regimes. It has been used effectively in countries from Serbia to Thailand.

Never heard of “blended finance”? And what does “domestic resource mobilisation” actually mean? With the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) just around the corner, we explain some of the key terms used in development finance.

True and apparent seriousness separate journalism and satire. The task of the latter is to question the conclusions of the former, explains Tim Wolff, publisher of satire magazine Titanic. He predicts: Both are facing an uphill battle.

Around the world, basic services are marketed as fast-track options for an extra charge. This model widens the socio-economic gap, especially in societies with a high poverty rate. Corruption in the respective service providers exacerbates the problem.

Spending more on interest payments than on education or health is normal in many poorer countries today. How international debt policy should change – and why the FfD4 conference is the right place to do so.

The group has been positioning itself as an advocate of the global south. While the changing role of the USA may indeed create room for the bloc to manoeuvre, continued expansion of BRICS+ is creating new challenges.

The largest single donor worldwide has halted its development cooperation: funding for USAID has been frozen for 90 days. These actions by the US president are already costing human lives. The global community must save what it can.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an Indigenous Peoples representative at high-level international conferences. She is convinced that if donor countries cut development and climate funding, they will pay the price in the long term.

International donors are withdrawing, and nationalism has more momentum than multilateralism. What will the consequences be? A look into the future of development financing with Achim Steiner.

At the first D+C Roundtable, we spoke to private sector experts about the opportunities and challenges of private sector involvement in development financing – a topic becoming more important given the current decline in public development financing.