Presented by Operation Smile
A major staff shake-up at the World Bank prompts questions — and anxiety.
Also in today’s edition: Former USAID chief of staff Bill Steiger is taking the helm of a large NGO to shepherd it through a “new era.”
Short-term thinking?
The World Bank is not messing around with revamping its workforce. It plans to eliminate all short-term consultants, or STCs, in just over a year, my colleague Adva Saldinger, who’s been on top of the story, reports.
That totals about 22,000 STCs, making up a quarter of the World Bank Group’s workforce. Broadly, the bank uses STCs for two reasons: highly specialized expertise unavailable internally, or repetitive work that keeps operations running. It’s the latter category that has gotten “overblown and overused,” one retired World Bank manager tells Adva.
Sources point to shareholder-imposed hiring limits they say made it hard to bring in full-time staff, particularly at the entry level, leading managers to rely even more on STCs. In the meantime, expectations of the bank mushroomed.
“You want to have the staff deliver the bank’s work programs? I think that’s a commendable goal, but then increase the regular budget of the bank if you want that. This doesn’t seem to be the way to do that,” says Eeshani Kandpal of the Center for Global Development, adding that STCs offered cheaper, more flexible ways to fill staffing gaps.
So what’s next? That’s not completely clear but unsurprisingly, there’s concern about impact. Eliminating STCs will force the bank to “completely reconfigure the way that it prepares projects,” a former STC tells Devex, warning that teams may struggle to maintain quality if they can’t bring in short-term expertise and don’t have enough staff to pick up the work.
The uncertainty is weighing on staff, insiders say. “There’s this pervasive sense of anxiety right now,” the retired manager says. “You just walk into the bank — people are anxious.”
Read: Mounting questions over World Bank’s sweeping consultant purge (Pro)
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Clean Bill of health
William “Bill” Steiger, a polarizing Republican global health insider who wielded significant influence inside USAID during the first Trump administration, has been tapped as the new CEO of Malaria No More.
The move comes as the administration implements its “America First” global health strategy and many organizations are scrambling to keep up (and be included).
Steiger tells my colleague Michael Igoe he’s “really impressed” with the strategy, which stresses self-reliance and private investment, among other tenets.
“It is ultimately not the responsibility of the United States or any donor to be the full and sole funder of health delivery in any other country,” he says.
He knows that means Malaria No More will have to prove itself in this transition period.
“It’s not going to be as easy as just saying that we’re going to ask for X amount every year in the malaria [budget] line. We’ve got to fight for malaria to stay relevant in the conversation,” he says.
Read: Malaria No More taps Trump insider for ‘new era’ of global health
UNHCR you ready
The race for the next U.N. high commissioner for refugees entered its final stage last week, as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres began scheduling interviews with a small slate of some four front-runners, according to multiple sources.
It remains unclear who is still on the list, but sources tell Devex that at least three, and possibly all, of the front-runners are European candidates. That number could expand, however. We are also hearing that the Swedish candidate, former IKEA CEO Jesper Brodin, has made the short list.
The appointment process comes just weeks before the current U.N. high commissioner, Filippo Grandi, is scheduled to step down, ending a two-term, decade-long tenure at the head of the world’s premier refugee agency.
In a farewell address to member states at a Dec. 2 pledging conference, Grandi thanked the donors for their support over the past 10 years, adding: “I hope and trust that the same support will be given to the new high commissioner, who I hope … will be announced soon.”
The race has drawn about 12 candidates from all across the world. Sources say the new high commissioner could be announced by Christmas, though it’s possible the timing could slip beyond that.
ICYMI: IKEA chief Jesper Brodin — 'I am the peacock in the land of penguins'
+ Check out our interviews with other front-runners for the U.N. refugee job.
Oh say Kenya see
The U.S. State Department kick-started its sweeping, high-speed push to sign dozens of bilateral health agreements with a $1.6 billion, five-year deal with Kenya that will see the Kenyan government offer up $850 million in cofinancing.
It aligns with the ethos behind the “America First” global health strategy, which stresses direct country-to-country relationships over funneling money through NGOs, my colleague Sara Jerving writes. The ultimate aim: position countries as customers, as opposed to aid recipients.
During the signing last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was effusive with praise for Kenya, calling it the “perfect partner” to serve as a proof of concept for this new mode of American health assistance.
In contrast, Rubio had harsh words for NGOs.
“Why are we hiring American and international NGOs to go into other countries and run health care systems that are parallel and sometimes in conflict with the health care systems of the host country?” he said. “We are not going to spend billions of dollars funding the NGO industrial complex while close and important partners like Kenya either have no role to play or have very little influence over how health care money is being spent.”
In addition to working more closely with governments, the “America First” strategy hinges on leveraging the private sector and faith-based organizations. This first agreement features a gradual shift of procurement management of health commodities from the U.S. to Kenya, as well as a transition of U.S.-funded frontline worker salaries onto the Kenyan government’s payroll.
“This cooperation framework is quite a departure from the past and will have a lasting impact on health for all,” said Dr. Ouma Oluga of Kenya’s Ministry of Health.
While that change in direction has garnered praise, it’s also sparked concerns that the U.S. will force other governments to be locked into sensitive data-sharing deals; that the agreements are too narrowly focused; and that Africa will lose its leverage as countries negotiate one-on-one with the U.S. versus as a continental bloc.
But Rubio seems to have zero reservations, declaring Kenya “the perfect place to prove that it’s going to work — because it is going to work.”
Read: The US signs first bilateral health deal with Kenya for $1.6 billion
+ Explore our new content series, The future of global health, to delve into the ripple effects of this new era of foreign aid funding on the stability of the global health system — and the search for a new path forward.
Swap meet
Kenya also inked a deal last week with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation for a $1 billion debt-for-food swap that allows the country to reduce part of its external debt in exchange for redirecting the savings into food security programs.
The deal emerged from a meeting between Kenyan President William Ruto and DFC Chief Executive Officer Ben Black, a former private equity executive, my colleague Ayenat Mersie writes.
The announcement marks one of the most prominent efforts by the Trump administration to link U.S. development finance with food security goals in a heavily indebted African economy.
“I do think it’s a pretty big deal,” says Afreen Akhter of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Until now, the Trump administration has basically been focusing in a singular manner on critical minerals, and so, broadening that aperture to other sectors could signal an evolution on how they see the DFC’s role.”
Read: Kenya lands $1B debt-for-food swap with US DFC
+ To keep up to date with the race to remake a more equitable and sustainable global food system, sign up for Devex Dish, a free, Wednesday newsletter.
In other news
The World Bank and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance have unveiled a joint plan to mobilize at least $2 billion over the next five years to bolster global immunization and primary health care systems, as well as vaccine production capacity, particularly in Africa. [Reuters]
Income from Oxfam’s charity shops has fallen by two-thirds over the last three years amid rising costs and dwindling aid budget support. [BBC]
Uganda has stopped providing refugee status for new arrivals from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, citing severe funding shortages due to declining international aid. [The Guardian]
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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.
