U.S. President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy officially kicks off today. The invite list has generated the most intrigue, but as usual, the biggest question is likely accountability.
This is a preview of Newswire
Sign up to this newsletter for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development, in your inbox daily.
Leaders from over 100 countries made the list of invitees to Biden’s big democracy gathering. That gets complicated considering Freedom House only labels 82 countries as “free” in its global index.
One U.S. official watching the internal machinations tells Devex that, for those involved in months of planning, the Summit for Democracy has been more like a “summit of bureaucracy,” as administration officials, agency staff, and civil society leaders all sought to turn a Biden campaign promise into a moment of meaningful action.
The summit is meant to give participating leaders a chance to share commitments related to three key themes: strengthening and defending democracy against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.
Behind the scenes, the collective failure to fully vaccinate the world against COVID-19 threw ambitions for an in-person gathering into disarray, while organizers fell back on a plan to follow up this virtual summit with a “year of action,” according to this deep dive from Politico.
Online shopping
Governments looking for digital technologies that can help improve the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of health care are often overwhelmed by how many options there are. Enter Digital Square, which aims to give countries access to digital health tools that are already operating at scale around the world, Catherine Cheney reports.
Devex Pro: How can digital public goods support a better future for health?
+ Not a Pro subscriber yet? Sign up now to start your 15-day free trial and get access to deeper analysis of the development sector, exclusive digital events, and the world’s largest global development job board.
Between the lines
U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss outlined her international policy vision Wednesday, positioning the country’s development strategy alongside those for trade and investment.
My colleague Will Worley points out that among the topics Truss did not address were: poverty, climate change, food security, corruption, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global public health.
Truss did say that the U.K. will be restoring humanitarian assistance and funding for women and girls to what they were before the extensive foreign aid budget cuts of the last year. That pledge prompted speculation the government might free up funds by announcing a lower contribution to the World Bank’s International Development Association.
Read: Truss’ UK development plan to focus on investment, economic partnerships
+ We have a play-by-play of the U.K.’s controversial aid cuts.
Food drive
The 2021 Nutrition for Growth Summit held in Tokyo this week saw more than $27 billion committed for global nutrition.
My colleague Teresa Welsh, who writes our must-read food systems newsletter Devex Dish, has this roundup of the biggest news from the summit. It’s never easy to separate new money from recycled budget lines, but here are some of the biggest headlines:
• $2.8 billion from Japan for nutrition-related assistance over the next three years.
• Up to $11 billion over three years for nutrition from the U.S. Agency for International Development, subject to congressional appropriations.
• $195 million in financing from Canada for 11 projects.
• No new commitments from the U.K. government, despite having hosted the first N4G in 2013.
Read: Nutrition for Growth garners $27B in commitments
A tale of two billionaires
In a new end-of-year blog post, Bill Gates, whose divorce from Melinda French Gates was finalized earlier this year, calls 2021 “the most unusual and difficult year of my life.” But through it all, Gates says he has remained focused on his foundation’s work, and shares his views about how to solve the world’s biggest challenges. He also predicts the “acute phase of the pandemic” will end sometime in 2022.
Stephanie Beasley has this breakdown of Gates’ biggest priorities for the year ahead.
MacKenzie Scott takes a different approach.
Instead of announcing a list of funding recipients as she did earlier this year, she dedicated her latest public essay to a meditation on why billionaires do not deserve the amount of attention they receive when it comes to philanthropy, goodwill, and generosity.
“Why does one form of compassionate action, one group of beneficiaries, one group of givers have to be more important than the others?” she asks — adding that this is why she has chosen not to share any financial donations she has made since her last public post.
Read: Gates details plan to ramp up pandemic preparedness advocacy in 2022
Inconvenient truth
Heads of state from the European Union and African Union are scheduled to meet in February — but there won’t be enough time between now and then to narrow the COVID-19 vaccination gap between the two continents, EU officials tell Vince Chadwick.
Read: COVID-19 vaccine gap looms over EU-AU summit
In other news
WFP has suspended aid distribution in two towns in northern Ethiopia after its warehouses were looted and staff were intimidated by some locals and elements of Tigrayan forces. [VOA]
Two Malawian ex-cabinet members and a former central bank governor have been arrested over allegations of corruption and fraud, including falsifying documents to mislead the International Monetary Fund. [Thomson Reuters Foundation]
Meg Whitman, who previously served as CEO of software company HP and short-lived streaming platform Quibi, has been named as President Joe Biden's pick as ambassador to Kenya. [Politico]
Despite having tested negative for COVID-19 Tuesday, U.N. chief António Guterres remains in isolation as an extra precaution after coming into contact with a person who has tested positive for the virus. [AP]
Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
