Devex Pro Insider: Hello 2026. What can we expect from you?

After the whirling dervish that was 2025, predicting what will happen in 2026 isn’t for the faint of heart. Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar still takes a stab at it each year (did I just give my boss a backhanded compliment?). His annual predictions piece will be out later this week, so keep an eye out for that. I took my own stab at it as well during the latest episode of our podcast, This week in global development, which you can check out here. OK, self-promotion aside, the “what to expect in [choose your year]” analyses are an annual rite of passage for media outfits, but this year, the crystal ball is muddier than ever thanks to an unpredictable U.S. president who thrives on that very unpredictability. So it’s important to at least have some semblance of preparation for what lies ahead. It’s especially important for the development community because throughout 2025, it was a frequent and visible target for this administration. After all, USAID remains the only agency in the entire U.S. government that was completely eliminated. So my prediction is that a running theme in 2026 will be, unsurprisingly, organizations chasing the money trail to make up for the evaporation of tens of billions of dollars. Raj’s prediction is that this trail will lead to the private sector, multilateral development banks, philanthropies, and other sources of funding. I agree — not out of deference, but because the rationale makes sense. It’s only natural for people to turn toward the avenues that have both previously funded development and that have the potential to do so again on a greater scale. But how reliable will these avenues be? Here’s where we diverge somewhat, especially on the role of philanthropy. Raj challenges the widely accepted orthodoxy that philanthropy can’t plug the financial gap left by traditional bilateral donors, pointing out that today’s crop of billionaires is sitting on trillions of dollars — and that some already give more than small countries. Plus, the rich keep getting richer, and a new generation of billionaires will soon come into their own. All of that is true, but it doesn’t guarantee that these billionaires will part with their billions. I do think those who already generously open up their pocketbooks will likely recognize the urgency of the moment and crack them open even more. But up-and-coming billionaires? There’s no way of telling how philanthropic they’ll be, and I have my doubts they’ll be generous enough to even begin to replace the loss of traditional aid. In terms of foreign assistance cuts, Raj predicts we haven’t hit rock bottom. I believe we’re only just beginning the long road of reimagining global development after the epochal shift that was 2025 — a reimagining that will stretch long past 2026. His advice for the sector? Stay in the game. Keep pushing and don’t give up. My advice? Stay open-minded. Change can hurt, but so can the status quo. Of course, only time will tell which predictions become reality. But for now, it’s the best we can do to brace ourselves for the year ahead. Best wishes for that year ahead, Anna Gawel Managing Editor Bits and pieces State cracks down. The U.S. State Department is flexing its muscles. Not to the same degree that President Donald Trump did militarily with Venezuela, but other places and people are also feeling the sting of U.S. soft power. It added seven countries to the list of six whose passport holders are required to post bonds of up to $15,000 when applying to enter the U.S. All but two are in Africa. Meanwhile, the department slapped visa restrictions on “agents of the global censorship-industrial complex.” These “radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “The Trump administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.” So who are these radical agents and activists, you might ask? Five Europeans whose job is to, ostensibly, make sure the internet is safe. That includes Thierry Breton, the European Commission’s former top technology regulator, described by the State Department as the “mastermind” of a landmark piece of legislation that, according to the European Union, “empowers citizens by strengthening the protection of their fundamental rights online and giving them greater control and more choices when they navigate online platforms and search engines.” So are these masterminds of censorship or stewards of safety? As with so much now in U.S.-Europe relations, the person to blame is in the eye of the beholder. Defense vs. development. The numbers are perhaps unsurprising but still pretty stark. According to a fact sheet recently released by the United Nations, the $2.7 trillion allocated in 2024 to global military spending amounted to $334 for every person on the planet. For perspective, that’s the size of the entire GDP of all African countries; 750 times the 2024 U.N. regular budget; and almost 13 times the ODA provided by the OECD in 2024. On the flip side, for just $230 billion to $280 billion annually, or around 10% of the $2.7 trillion spent on militaries last year, the world could eliminate the extreme poverty gap globally. Record growth. There’s plenty of professional moving around this month (see the section below), but we thought we’d highlight two in particular. Iftikhar Shaheen became the new CEO of U.K.-based Islamic Relief Worldwide, one of the world’s largest faith-based humanitarian organizations working across 39 countries. It reached record levels of income and spending in 2024, largely driven by escalating humanitarian crises in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, and Afghanistan, my colleague Jesse Chase-Lubitz writes, noting that total expenditure hit £303.8 million ($410 million), up from £235 million in 2023. Shaheen previously worked in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, serving as a country director in Somalia for DT Global, and has held roles in Winrock International, Norwegian Refugee Council, and Plan International. He also served as country director for Islamic Relief Worldwide in Somalia back in 2009. “His return represents a homecoming to an organisation whose values and mission he knows intimately, having helped shape its regional strategy,” the organization said in a press release. Vocal criticism. Tirana Hassan formally began her role as CEO of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières-USA. In 2025, she left as executive director of Human Rights Watch after holding the position since 2022. Hassan, who began her career as a social worker, first worked with Doctors Without Borders in Somalia in 2007, where she was a humanitarian affairs officer. “Amid growing challenges, MSF continues to deliver lifesaving medical care where it’s most needed—whether it is in Gaza, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, or wherever communities are facing the world’s most complex humanitarian crises,” she said on LinkedIn. Challenging indeed. MSF is among 37 humanitarian groups in a standoff with Israel over access to Gaza. The groups have refused to hand over details about their local staff working in the war-ravaged enclave for fear it would put them in danger. Israel says it is trying to weed out members of militia groups. MSF, which has been staunchly vocal in its criticism of Israel, is among the most prominent of the aid groups that could be denied entry, with some 1,100 Palestinian MSF staffers in Gaza, according to The Wall Street Journal. In her LinkedIn post, Hassan said MSF “has the courage to speak out about the abuses our teams and the communities we work with witness and experience.” Moving on Richard Amenyah is starting a new position as representative and multicountry director for Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan at UNAIDS. Darren Back has been appointed president of The Pfizer Foundation. “As I step into this role, I’m deeply thankful to Caroline Roan for her invaluable leadership and guidance as past President of The Pfizer Foundation for nearly two decades,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “These are big shoes to fill, and I’ve had the privilege of working alongside incredible colleagues and partners over the last 15 years, seeing how collaboration and innovation can transform lives.” Priscilla Gomes takes a new role as associate regional donor relations officer at the UN Refugee Agency. Allison Greenberg joins The Rockefeller Foundation as director of reimagining humanitarian nutrition security. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has appointed Doug Hoelscher as minister-counselor at the International Food and Agriculture Organizations in Rome, Italy. Hoelscher previously held roles as CEO and chair of the America First Transition Project at the America First Policy Institute. Arif Husain, the World Food Programme’s chief economist, has retired after more than two decades with organization. Professor Anuradha Joshi has been appointed the new director of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the U.K. She takes over from professor Peter Taylor and will lead IDS as it marks its 60th anniversary in 2026. Daniel Kull has become the new director for development partnerships and program delivery for the World Meteorological Organization. Deepmala Mahla is moving on from CARE after seven years and joining SOS Children’s Villages International as the organization’s chief operating officer. Mahla formerly served as CARE’s chief humanitarian officer, before which she worked as the NGO’s vice president of humanitarian affairs and its Asia regional director. Mahla told Devex the role at SOS feels like “a natural next chapter” for the humanitarian, noting that she will be supporting programs, teams, and partnerships dedicated to children’s rights and well-being across the world. “This move places me closer to the responsibility of shaping decisions that affect children’s lives every day — at global scale,” Mahla said. Her last day at CARE was on Jan. 5, and she steps into her new role at SOS on Feb. 1. Dr. John Ngengasong formally took up the role of executive director for higher education, collaboratives, and strategic initiatives at the Mastercard Foundation after serving as U.S. global AIDS coordinator under the Biden administration. “Enabling dignified and fulfilling work for 30 million young Africans by 2030 is an aspiration that speaks to the very heart of inclusive development – African youths are the future of the global workforce,” he wrote of the Mastercard Foundation. Elisa Roma is starting a new position as senior manager of country health systems at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Abebe Aemro Selassie is retiring as director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund on May 1. “As Director of AFR since 2016, Abe has guided the department through a period of profound change and challenge,” said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. “He oversaw the Fund’s engagement with 45 countries across sub-Saharan Africa responding to surging program demand while adapting to the region’s evolving needs during a historically challenging time—from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing period of high inflation to major shifts in global trade policies.” Job of the week Your Devex Pro membership includes access to the world’s largest global development job board. Here’s the latest opportunity: senior director, humanitarian advocacy at CARE. Search for more opportunities now.