6 good news stories from 2024

We all know the feeling — you start the year on a wave of optimism, but by the time you reach December, you’re worn down and jaded. The nature of work in global development means you’re often surrounded by difficult news. This year has seen relentless stories of budget cuts, job cuts, and multilateral negotiations yielding limited progress. But it’s important to remember that there is good news out there, too. Amid the doom and gloom, there have been stories to make us smile. As we reach the end of the year, we thought we’d remind you of some of them. Here’s what went well in 2024. 1. Humanitarian needs fell Believe it or not, humanitarian needs fell this year. By late November, humanitarian funding needs for the year stood at $49.6 billion, with 323 million people in need, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA. That’s down from a peak of 363 million people in need at the end of 2023, with funding needs of $56.7 billion at that time. Better yet, OCHA predicts that humanitarian needs will fall again in 2025. Of course, these numbers are still significant. But after almost a decade of steady increases, it’s a relief to see them starting to fall. 2. Some donors restored the faith If you’ve been reading (or writing) the news this year, it feels as though there’s been story after story about aid budget cuts. From the United Kingdom to Germany to France, countries that could once be relied on to fund development efforts have disappointed aid advocates. But some donors defied the trend. Japan’s official development assistance continues to soar, although it’s largely made up of concessional loans. Norway, already the world’s most generous donor as a proportion of its income, increased its ODA spending by nearly 19% compared to 2023. Ireland upped its aid budget by around 8%, and Australia’s is also growing, albeit more modestly. Despite cuts being implemented by many donors, figures released this year by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed that 2023 was still a record year for ODA. We won’t have the overall numbers for 2024 until April. 3. Climate finance reached a record high Climate finance remains far below where it needs to be. But it nonetheless reached a record high of $125 billion in 2023, a huge step up on the year before, according to figures released in September. A new annual target of $300 billion was also agreed at the United Nations’ COP29 climate conference, tripling the previous goal. Is it less than advocates were hoping for? Yes. But is it still a good news story? Yes. At least the numbers are moving in the right direction. 4. There was a landmark G20 The Group of 20 major economies this year was fascinating. Led by Brazil, leaders of the world’s wealthiest countries agreed for the first time to ensure that ultra-rich individuals are effectively taxed — an idea that is often floated as a possible contribution to sustainable development. The terms of the agreement are vague but advocates still see it as a significant breakthrough. The G20 countries also endorsed a plan for multilateral development bank reform, which was described as a “major achievement.” And a new Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty — which aims to connect countries with the policies, partnerships, and resources they need to end hunger — made waves in the food security space. Next year, the G20 will be led by an African country for the first time, with sustainable development issues such as food security and debt reform expected to be high up the agenda once again. 5. The fight against malaria saw some historic achievements There were two historic victories in the fight against malaria this year: Egypt was certified malaria-free after a 100-year effort, and the first malaria vaccines were added to the routine immunization programs of several African countries following successful pilots. Promising research also emerged about an injectable that could be even more effective than those vaccines. While we’re on the topic of mosquito-borne diseases, the World Health Organization also approved a second dengue vaccine this year. It’s particularly welcome news because the first one is mostly useful for people who have had a previous dengue infection and is no longer produced for children. WHO approval of the new vaccine is a significant step forward and means that U.N. agencies can buy it for lower-income countries. 6. We saw some ‘exceptional’ virus control Finally, let’s remember that sometimes no news is good news. A case in point: In September, Rwanda declared that it was experiencing its first outbreak of Marburg, a deadly virus that had the potential to become a major news story. But the outbreak was met with a swift and skillful response. There have so far been 66 cases and 15 deaths — a relatively low fatality rate compared to previous outbreaks. Two patients who were put on life support were also successfully extubated (that is, had their breathing tubes removed) and have now recovered. It is believed to be the first time that Marburg patients have been extubated in Africa. “These patients would have died in previous outbreaks,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention described Rwanda’s management of the outbreak as “exceptional.” At the time of writing, no new cases have been identified since October. If that continues, the outbreak will be declared over on Dec. 22.