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We’re halfway through the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week, and whether you’re into podcasts, live events, or just reading newsletters that showed up in your inbox this morning, Devex has you covered on the important parts.
Also in today’s edition: Words of wisdom (and frustration) from celebrity chef José Andrés, and a startling admission from the World Bank’s leader.
Morning, Joe
UNGA is a platform for bold statements, where world leaders — and celebrities; you’ll see when you scroll down — give speeches to rapturous applause.
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But this year, we really are in crisis, so let’s hope it’s more than talk. Ukraine is expected to take center stage when U.S. President Joe Biden arrives later today, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the floor remotely from the war zone. With much of the world’s problems hanging from that situation, a clear message at UNGA could be vital.
ICYMI: Who’s sending aid to Ukraine?
Ukraine is just one of the issues on the agenda during our two-day Devex event, which kicks off this morning at UNGA. Also on the docket: monkeypox, global health financing, and the Global Fund replenishment today. Watch Devex’s online broadcast of this series of events. Register now.
Can you smell what José is cooking?
If you haven’t already tuned into “UNGA Decoded,” our podcast series bringing you interviews from luminaries all week, listen to the newest episode, in which my colleague Teresa Welsh chats to Spanish chef and humanitarian José Andrés, who began World Central Kitchen in 2010 after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Since then, he’s shown up in numerous disaster areas to help put food on the table of those suffering from calamity.
He explained how food programs might need to spend more to bolster local economies — but that they might be glad they did. He took a bit of a poke, too, at World Food Programme chief David Beasley and the practices of government-run programs such as WFP and USAID.
UNGA Decoded episode two: José Andrés on food as national security
As the week progresses, you can hear our reporters chat with folks like Chelsea Clinton and Rockefeller Foundation’s Rajiv Shah.
ICYMI: Teresa was in Haiti last year investigating the exact issues José raised.
+ Teresa also writes Devex Dish, our free, must-read newsletter about global food system transformation. Sign up and receive the latest edition — which discusses the importance of soil in food security — today.
Inflation? Reduction!
On Monday, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told the Clinton Global Initiative that the Inflation Reduction Act — signed into law by President Biden last month, at which point, Timmermans said, “we in Europe, we were sort of dancing on the table” — could be a tool for fighting climate change around the world as well as stateside. My colleague Omar Mohammed reports that Timmermans encouraged the U.S. to use funding to the private sector to help build infrastructure in Africa.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed similar thoughts, “Instead of deglobalization, I want us to talk about reglobalization, using trade, using this unique opportunity, to deconcentrate supply chains globally.”
Read: Use Inflation Reduction Act to fight climate change abroad, US told at UNGA
Malpass or fail
In less forward-looking climate change news, World Bank President David Malpass really didn’t want to answer a fairly simple question:
Meanwhile, at Concordia’s event on UNGA’s sidelines Monday, Omar reports on Malpass’ warning that global development is “in crisis.”
World Bank president: Global development is in 'crisis’ and 'slowdown may persist’
(Good Will) Hunting for cash
$50 million
—That’s how much Matt Damon — whose most recent role was an uncredited cameo in the fourth “Thor” movie — said at CGI is needed in philanthropic capital to launch the “most ambitious initiative” so far for Water.org, which he co-founded. Already on board to help with the “billion-dollar portfolio of funds that will reach 100 million people in poverty with water and sanitation” is Amazon, which will donate $10 million.
Related: Accessible WASH as a must in humanitarian responses
Also spotted here and there
They may not have Oscars, but while rushing around we saw:
At CGI: Jim Yong Kim, Malpass’ predecessor at the World Bank.
At the Ford Foundation’s People First Community event: Tony Pipa, Kristin Lord, Susan Reichle, Jeremy Hillman, Bidjan Nashat, along with speakers Wendy Kopp, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Darren Walker, Anne-Marie Burgoyne, and Caren Wakoli.
Good governance
And on a slightly more muted note. The U.S. Agency for International Development hosted its flagship event during UNGA — a roundtable that paired reform-minded leaders from a handful of countries with global business representatives eager to see better governance.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power kicked off the discussion by positioning U.S. democracy promotion efforts as part of a global imperative to prove that democratic governments are capable of delivering economic development, health, and stability to their citizens.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu, one of the leaders invited to share lessons from democratic “bright spots,” described how her reform agenda emerged from cracking down on corruption in education and evolved into the construction of an entirely new political party aimed at building an “honest majority.”
Power also stopped this week at “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” to chat about U.S. soft power and why she took the subway to a meeting during UNGA.
+ Devex Pro members can access all our coverage of USAID, including funding insights and quarterly business forecasts. Start your free 15-day trial of Devex Pro to unlock this content.
In other news
More than 200 NGOs have urged world leaders to take decisive action to combat global hunger, as 50 million people face starvation in 45 countries. [Al Jazeera]
Denmark has become the first country to offer compensation for climate-related loss and damage, pledging $13 million to help developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change. [Reuters]
An analysis of social media posts by some of Europe’s leading brands has revealed “rampant greenwashing.” [France 24]
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About the author
Helen Murphy
Helen is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor at Devex, where she edits coverage on global development in the Americas. Based in Colombia, she previously covered war, politics, financial markets, and general news for Reuters, where she headed the bureau, and for Bloomberg in Colombia and Argentina, where she witnessed the financial meltdown. She started her career in London as a reporter for Euromoney Publications before moving to Hong Kong to work for a daily newspaper.
