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Devex has the exclusive on thousands of layoffs forecast at the World Food Programme.
Also in today’s edition: Climate talk took a back seat at the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings, but — much like climate change itself — it’s still there in the background, despite the prevailing political winds of the moment.
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Ration cuts
The World Food Programme is slashing 25% to 30% of its workforce — up to 6,000 jobs — by next year, according to an all-staff email seen by Devex.
The world’s largest humanitarian organization has been struggling for years, but recent cuts to its funding due to the dismantling of USAID — despite WFP’s work being labeled “lifesaving” — have been the final blow. The U.S., its largest donor, made up 46% of WFP’s 2024 budget. With hunger crises worsening in Sudan, Gaza, and beyond, the timing couldn’t be worse.
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Already, rations have been slashed, sparking protests like those at Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp, my colleague Ayenat Mersie writes. In February, WFP hinted at big changes, announcing plans to shutter its southern Africa bureau and merge it with East Africa’s.
Now it’s official: With projected 2025 funding down 40% from last year, WFP is offering separation packages and bracing for a smaller workforce. “WFP will prioritize its limited resources on vital programs,” a spokesperson tells Ayenat, stressing the need to keep 343 million people fed.
The agency also sounded fresh alarms from Ethiopia and Sudan. Without urgent help, 3.6 million Ethiopians could lose food aid, and famine is looming for hundreds of thousands in Sudan.
Exclusive: WFP to cut up to 30% of staff amid aid shortfall
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Speak softly and carry a big stick
At the World Bank’s Spring Meetings in Washington, climate was notably soft-pedaled — a strategic move as the Trump administration cracks down on climate funding across the board. Officially, the bank says it’s sticking to its climate goals, but it’s leaning into safer topics such as job creation to avoid rattling its biggest shareholder.
The United States, holding 17.5% of the bank’s shares, has veto power. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reassured allies that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank still have “enduring value,” but criticized the institutions for spending too much time on “climate change, gender, and social issues.”
World Bank President Ajay Banga says climate remains at the heart of the bank’s work, pointing to new reforms, lending models, and a 45% climate finance goal. “Climate” is still in the official language, but at last week’s meetings, the bank seemed more focused on mainstreaming it quietly through energy and infrastructure projects.
The bank’s new “all-of-the-above” energy strategy — including nuclear — fits the balancing act. Only one official event even had “climate” in the title, and it was about private investment.
Still, Banga is pushing big changes behind the scenes: country climate and development reports, climate-resilient debt, and expanded private sector lending. The strategy: less talk, more action.
“You are crazy to build roofs back with corrugated roofs after a hurricane, you’re crazy to build a road or a rail that isn’t resistant to drought,” says Kevin Gallagher of Boston University. “But you don’t necessarily need to cloak it in that [climate adaptation language] anymore."
There’s some risk. U.S. fossil fuel advocacy could tempt emerging economies back toward coal and gas. But shifting rhetoric doesn't mean abandoning climate — and as Joe Thwaites of the Natural Resources Defense Council put it: “The labeling is a kind of secondary thing.” What matters is, does it deliver?
Read: Climate goals quietly survive at the World Bank despite Trump tensions
Signals, not surprises
The close of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings is marked by the official statement from its development committee — that’s the 25-member group of ministers of finance or development who help set the institutions’ development policy. My colleague Adva Saldinger breaks it down for Devex readers:
• There was praise for efforts to streamline and speed up operations and increase lending, though they called for even more “operational efficiency and effectiveness.”
• The committee lauded efforts to work as one World Bank Group, enhancing the ability “to achieve impact at scale for all clients, particularly for low-income countries and small states, while recognizing the value of a balanced graduation policy.” The mention of the graduation policy is notable because Bessent called for the bank to better implement graduation policies, including with China.
• There was support for the jobs agenda, including a focus on the private sector and a call for the bank to develop instruments that address key constraints to growth. While the committee congratulated increased efforts to make private capital mobilization a key focus, it pushed for the bank to support infrastructure and human capital investments that help support private sector growth.
• The agreement didn’t shy away from gender: It recognized the bank’s efforts to support women entrepreneurs and noted that the group looks forward to further efforts in line with the bank’s gender strategy.
• It provided a signal on nuclear: This group at least wants the bank to explore further options for increased affordable and reliable energy, including nuclear power — a departure from its past policy, as Adva recently explained.
• On climate, the committee said the bank should support clients in developing solutions to respond to the impact of climate-driven natural disasters and requests for climate mitigation support, including transportation, sustainable food production, and more. It also encouraged investments in adaptation, including sustainable infrastructure and efficient water management, among others.
The statement doesn’t really break new ground, but does provide some signals as to the continued direction of the bank, including in light of the Trump administration.
ICYMI: What’s inside the World Bank’s $38.9 billion pipeline? (Pro)
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Fifty-three’s a crowd
Turns out, 70 really is the new 50 — or, more precisely, the new 53. New IMF data from 41 countries shows that a 70-year-old today has the same cognitive abilities as a 53-year-old in 2000. Good news for the birthday candle industry, but bad news for policymakers.
At the Spring Meetings, experts warned that while people are aging better, governments are dealing with that aging badly. Loli Arribas-Banos of the World Bank pointed out that many countries are facing pension meltdowns and labor shortages, as retirees such as her father live longer and collect pensions for decades.
Countries such as Vietnam are “getting old before they get rich,” while Africa’s elderly population is set to triple by 2050 — a looming problem since many workers there don’t have pensions lined up, Devex Senior Reporter Jenny Lei Ravelo writes.
The prevalence of noncommunicable diseases, such as hypertension, is increasing, straining health systems worldwide. Juan Pablo Uribe of the World Bank says ministers know they need to tackle NCDs, just that “the interventions are very difficult.”
Solutions? Social pensions, affordable care, upskilling seniors for longer working lives — and, if Sir George Alleyne has his way, hiking cigarette taxes. He slammed the global failure to kill off smoking, noting that in many countries, cigarettes cost less today than they did 15 years ago.
“I think it is a collective failure of society that there's still cigarette smoking on Earth,” Alleyne said. Hard to argue with that.
Read: 70 is the new 50 — World Bank raises complexities of tackling aging
In other news
The International Court of Justice today begins its hearings to determine whether Israel's ban on cooperating with UNRWA violates international law, as over 40 countries challenge Israel’s actions amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. [The Guardian]
Saudi Arabia and Qatar announced Sunday that they will pay Syria’s arrears amounting to $15 million to the World Bank. [AP]
Chinese government-linked NGOs are actively participating in U.N. human rights sessions to promote pro-China narratives and undermine criticism of Beijing’s abuses, an investigation reveals. [The Washington Post]
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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.
