Presented by the World Bank Group
What happens when you get financiers and government officials together with rockers, religious figures, entrepreneurs, actors, and athletes? An atypical convening in the U.S. capital.
Also in today’s edition: USAID loses a top-ranking official, and the new AI platform that could make writing your next grant a whole lot easier.
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Finance, with flair
As buttoned-up, briefcase-toting ministers waded into the weeds of development finance at last week’s World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., the vibe across town at the intimate, industrial-chic stages of Studio Theatre for the Global Inclusive Growth Summit was a little different.
While the intricacies of finance were still on full display at the summit — as panelists discussed everything from economic data trend lines to investing in drivers of inclusive growth in Africa — the event’s intended atmosphere was more positive, personal, and eclectic.
Musical icon Elton John reflected on his relationship with Ryan White, the boy diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1984 who became a global symbol of confronting AIDS stigma.
“We became friends for life, and at that point, I was using drugs and alcohol,” the rocker said in a video interview. “Being around the White family, my values suddenly came in front of me. … And so six months later, after Ryan passed away, I got sober. And when I got sober, I was determined to give something back and put my energy into doing things for people with HIV and AIDS,” he said, noting that the Elton John AIDS Foundation has so far given out $600 million to people around the world.
Meanwhile, another award-winning musician, Madame Gandhi, performed a pulsating blend of drums, electronic music, and uplifting messaging about “gender liberation and personal power,” as she puts it. Watch the clip here.
Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana talked about using the Vatican’s assets to partner with social impact investors to “change the paradigm” of how the Catholic Church funds its work beyond grants and donations.
And FIFA soccer champ Megan Rapinoe tamped down speculation that she plans to run for political office, though she added the wink-wink caveat that she hasn’t “completely shut the door” on it either.
Watch the entire 2024 Global Inclusive Growth Summit.
Boiling over
But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses at the summit hosted by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and its media partner Devex.
There was palpable exasperation as climate crusader and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley called out the hypocritical monetary policies of high-income countries, my colleague Elissa Miolene reports. Mottley pointed out that low-income countries have been told they can’t print money, yet during the COVID-19 pandemic, high-income countries did so “like it was going out of style.”
“There’s an utter frustration with the doublespeak, and the lack of capacity to see, hear, and feel people,” Mottley said.
She was joined by U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who also expressed the frustrations of lower-income countries struggling to restructure unsustainable debt loads.
“There is nobody saying they’re not going to pay it,” Mohammed said. “But what they need not to do is to have a choiceless choice between paying that debt and saying I can’t spend on education and health. Is there a nation in the developed world that’s going to tell their people they’re not going to pay for education for the next five years?
“We need to ask, at one point, as one humanity, do we actually respond as one humanity?” Mohammed added, shaking her head. “Because right now, we’re losing our moral compass on several grounds.”
Read: ‘Losing our moral compass’ — Mia Mottley and Amina Mohammed talk debt
More from the summit: How can we close the $160 trillion women’s wealth gap?
Seeing the light
Aria Mia Loberti's experiences as a visually impaired person have shaped her unique and powerful voice. As a child, she lobbied her state legislature for educational equality. As an adult, she became the breakout star of the Netflix show “All the Light We Cannot See," and earned her degrees from universities in Rhode Island, London, and Pennsylvania.. And now she’s returned to her activist roots as a UNICEF USA ambassador.
“My parents were the ones who taught me to advocate for myself, which is for me what UNICEF does for children,” Loberti told Elissa at the Global Inclusive Growth Summit. “So it’s a full-circle moment.”
Read: 'All the Light We Cannot See' star Loberti named a UNICEF ambassador
USAID adieu
Big news over at USAID: Its second-in-command is on her way out, my colleague Michael Igoe scoops. Deputy Administrator Paloma Adams Allen plans to leave the agency, according to three sources with knowledge of her decision. Adams Allen oversees the overall management, budgeting, and day-to-day operations of the agency, and serves as USAID’s chief operating officer.
It is a rare reshuffle within USAID Administrator Samantha Power’s politically appointed “front office,” which comes at a time before November’s election when it is typical to see personnel changes in a presidential administration.
Read: USAID deputy administrator to leave agency (Pro)
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Taken for Grant-ed
Artificial intelligence may not be able to singlehandedly write your grant proposal, but it could significantly help you navigate the byzantine, jargon-laden process.
At least that’s the premise of Grant Assistant, an AI platform launched today by two former USAID chiefs of staff William Steiger and Sean Carroll.
The platform promises to help organizations find, write, and refine proposals through a custom language learning model. It can even check and change the proposal’s tone of voice — although it still needs a human touch to bring the proposal to life.
“This is a technology that has tremendous potential to democratize development, expand the partner base of donors like USAID, and empower local organizations,” Steiger tells Elissa.
“I think if tools like [Grant Assistant] aren’t available and used, we’re just going to keep puttering along, where we’re not really connecting the dots or figuring out how to put the best, most relevant ideas into action,” Carroll adds.
Read: AI ventures into grantmaking — and proposal writing may get a lot easier (Pro)
+ Pro members can get the most out of our coverage on how AI is getting integrated into globaldev work.
Armed for (legal) battle
The United Kingdom is still selling weapons to Israel, despite Foreign Secretary David Cameron repeatedly questioning whether its assault on Gaza complies with international humanitarian law — and stating sales must stop if Israel is in breach.
This stance will be tested at the Royal Courts of Justice in London today in a case brought by the Global Legal Action Network organization and Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group.
The U.K.’s staunch support for Israel is being questioned in a second area: its failure to restore funding to UNRWA, the key Gaza aid agency, despite reports that Israel failed to produce evidence to back up its claim of staff involvement in October’s Hamas massacre.
The European Union lifted its funding freeze on March 1, and many other countries have resumed funding, but the U.K. has been silent.
In other news
The U.K. government approved the contentious bill that will relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda, with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promising the first deportation flights will begin within weeks. [Al Jazeera]
The World Bank suspended funding for tourism in southern Tanzania due to allegations of violence and abuse, with one-third of the $150 million budget withheld. [The Guardian]
Egypt is set to receive $400 million over two years from the U.K., bolstering global support following a $57 billion aid package aimed at easing the country's economic crisis. [Bloomberg]
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About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
