Devex Pro Insider: Will the World Bank seize this moment or stall?

Tomorrow is the start of the 2025 World Bank and IMF annual meetings in Washington, D.C., and they are shaping up to be a pivotal point for global development. With aid budgets shrinking, debt distress climbing, and geopolitical divisions hardening, the pressure is on the world’s most powerful development finance institutions to prove they can deliver. World Bank President Ajay Banga has put jobs at the top of the agenda. But does that focus mean a shift away from the ambitions of its “evolution roadmap” — which promised bold action on global public goods such as climate change? We’ll be watching how U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House is shaping bank policy, and how that might create tension with other shareholders' objectives. Some reforms have moved forward: faster project approvals, streamlined processes, balance sheet tweaks, and new tools to mobilize private capital. But much of the bank’s new lending capacity remains untapped, and critics say the pace of change has been too slow. The question now is whether the institution can break out of stealth mode and seize this moment. As always, Devex will be on the ground this week with deep coverage — from podcasts and special newsletters to our two-day Devex Impact House @ WB/IMF on Oct. 15-16 — where leaders from the World Bank, U.S. Congress, International Organization for Migration, French Development Agency, Norad, and the Africa Finance Corporation will take on the hard questions: Can these institutions deliver in a polycrisis era? And what course will they chart for global development? Beyond the headlines, key flashpoints to watch include rising debt distress and IMF quota reform, tensions over whether MDBs should stay bold on climate or pivot back to “core” mandates, and whether the World Bank can finally deliver on private capital mobilization at scale. With U.S. pressure reshaping agendas and borrower countries demanding more voice, these meetings may set the tone for the future legitimacy — and relevance — of global finance. Coming up: From U.S. power plays to global migration, tax, and sustainable finance — these are just some of the many themes at Devex Impact House. We’ll be talking to Rep. French Hill on U.S. influence and multilateral reform, and Alice Albright and James Mazzarella on reimagining American leadership in multilateral financing. We also have a panel with Amy Pope to discuss mobility as a driver of economic opportunity, and Ivan Oliveira, Samaila Zubairu, and Dr. Vanessa van den Boogaard will give their thoughts on how to unlock domestic resources for development. Check out the full agenda. Bits and pieces Star power. The Clooney Foundation for Justice just dropped its 2025 Albies lineup. Honorees include Gambian women’s and girls’ rights activist Fatou Baldeh; Guatemalan journalist Jose Rubén Zamora; newspaper editor Marty Baron; and global women’s rights champion Melinda French Gates. Ford Foundation President Darren Walker takes home the lifetime achievement award. Historic health push. Nigeria just kicked off its biggest-ever vaccination drive — aiming to reach 109 million children with measles-rubella, HPV, polio, and other routine shots. Backed by $103 million from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the nationwide push is a “landmark moment for Nigeria and for global health in general,” said Jessica Crawford, senior country manager for Nigeria at Gavi. “Reaching over 100 million children with life-saving vaccines is no small feat, and what makes it truly remarkable is the collaboration behind it.” Saving aid’s legacy. With USAID dismantled, a big risk is losing six decades of research, data, photos, and development stories. The Aid Transition Alliance is racing to preserve it all in a free, searchable database. So far, ATA has gathered nearly 130,000 artifacts and 130 interviews. A system in crisis. Medical Aid for Palestinians said Gaza’s health system is on the brink of collapse, with at least 1,722 health care workers killed in two years — an average of more than two a day, rising to three since March 2025. “The world has failed healthcare workers and humanity in Gaza,” said Fikr Shalltoot, MAP’s Gaza director of programs. Alaa Al-Shurafa, MAP’s medical lead for Shifa Hospital, warned remaining staff are “working in impossible conditions to try and sustain lifesaving care.” MAP is urging urgent international action to protect what remains. The Tory so far. The ONE Campaign has blasted Conservative plans to slash U.K. aid by nearly £7 billion, calling it “anti-Conservative and out of touch.” Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride promised “serious cuts” if elected, but Adrian Lovett, ONE’s U.K. executive director, said: “The numbers don’t add up — there will not be £7 billion there to cut. If it were ever enacted it would cost millions of children’s lives and would also make Britain poorer, weaker and less safe.” Polling shows most Britons want lifesaving aid protected. ONE is urging all parties to reject “short-sighted proposals” and instead restore the U.K.’s global reputation. MFAN service. The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, or MFAN, has landed a major grant from Open Philanthropy to ramp up its bipartisan advocacy on U.S. foreign aid. “MFAN has long championed bipartisan efforts to make U.S. development and humanitarian aid even more impactful, and this support from Open Philanthropy comes at a pivotal moment,” said Tod Preston, MFAN’s executive director. Family plan. At the 2025 Forbes Impact Summit, ICONIQ Impact launched the Women’s Health Co-Lab with founding supporters Melinda French Gates, Jennifer Gates Nassar, Phoebe Gates, and others, aiming to mobilize $100 million for women’s health worldwide. Backed by more than $70 million already raised, the fund will support 22 organizations tackling maternal health, reproductive rights, and gender-based violence. “It is unacceptable that in 2025, women are still fighting the same battles for health and safety,” Phoebe Gates said. “Yet these 22 organizations give us reason to believe change is possible.” Syria’s business. Almost a year after the fall of the Assad-led government, the International Rescue Committee has opened a national office in Damascus, expanding its presence across Syria at a moment when “nearly 17 million people urgently need support,” said Juan Gabriel Wells, IRC Syria country director. With aid budgets shrinking and only 15% of Syria’s humanitarian needs funded, families are struggling with poverty, malnutrition, and shattered infrastructure. IRC has worked in Syria since 2012, delivering health care, protection services, cash assistance, and recovery support. Now, Wells said, “We are committed to working hand-in-hand with our Syrian staff, local partners, and the Syrian authorities to provide life-saving aid … while creating enabling conditions for employment so Syrians can try to rebuild their lives with dignity.” Moving on Gavi has a new chair. The board appointed Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand and UNDP administrator, to take the helm in January 2026 after an eight-month search. “I am honoured to be selected as the next Chair of Gavi,” Clark said, adding she was “excited to play a role in helping it meet its most ambitious goals yet.” She succeeds professor José Manuel Barroso, who steered Gavi through COVID-19, malaria vaccine rollouts, and the return of routine immunization. Gavi’s CEO, Dr. Sania Nishtar, called Clark “a respected global leader” and thanked Barroso for guiding the vaccine alliance through “some of the most challenging times in its history.” Egypt’s former tourism and antiquities minister, Khaled El-Enany, has beaten Édouard Firmin Matoko of the Republic of Congo in the race to become UNESCO‘s next leader by 55 votes to 2. His win goes to UNESCO members for approval on Nov. 6. He takes over as the U.S. prepares to withdraw again — a move that will cut 8% of the agency’s budget. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty cheered the win: “How come a country like Egypt, with its long history, with layers of Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Coptic, Arab, Islamic civilisation, has not led this important organisation? This is not acceptable at all.” But El-Enany also faces critics at home, with conservationists accusing his ministry of failing to protect heritage sites in Cairo and Sinai. Alexandra van der Ploeg is the new vice president for Europe at Tent Partnership for Refugees. Founded in 2016 by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, Tent now has more than 500 major companies helping refugees access local labor markets across the Americas and Europe. The already fragile U.N. plastics treaty talks have been thrown into deeper uncertainty as chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso confirmed he will step down, saying: “There have been some challenges in the process.” His resignation follows criticism over draft texts described by the U.K.’s head of delegation, Emma Hardy, as the “lowest common denominator” and by Ghana as something that would “entrench the status quo for decades to come.” Adding fuel, reports suggest behind-the-scenes pressure from U.N. Environment Programme staff, prompting Vayas Valdivieso to call for greater transparency, stressing: “This is a member [state]-driven negotiation, and I’ve been defending that, and will defend that, until the last day of my chairpersonship.” Christina Dixon, ocean campaign leader at the Environmental Investigation Agency, called the resignation “a stark reminder of the dysfunction that has plagued the plastics treaty negotiations from the beginning.” The U.S. Senate confirmed Benjamin Black to lead the $60 billion International Development Finance Corporation, putting the son of billionaire Leon Black at the helm of an agency central to several of Trump’s major initiatives. Black told lawmakers he wants to pursue bigger Wall Street deals but stressed the agency must “never be crowding out private capital.” He’s also explored opening a New York office to draw in investors and talent. His confirmation came alongside 106 others, including Trump aide Sergio Gor as ambassador to India; former NFL star Herschel Walker as envoy to the Bahamas; Anjani Sinha as ambassador to Singapore; and former Palantir adviser Jacob Helberg as under secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment. Up next The World Health Summit kicks off on Oct. 12 in Berlin, and Devex will be on the ground as a media partner. We’re also hosting an official side event at 4 p.m. on the same day: Who pays for health? Industry’s role in a post-aid era. Drawing on Devex’s front-line reporting from a tumultuous year in global health, this conversation will zero in on how industry can move beyond rhetoric to align with the Accra Compact’s vision and help build sustainable, country-led health systems that last. If you are registered to attend WHS, you can RSVP here to attend our event. The Africa HealthTech Summit, now in its fourth edition and happening on Oct. 13 to 15, brings together everyone from ministers of health and ICT to tech innovators, regulators, investors, and front-line health professionals. Under the theme “Connected Care: Scaling Innovation Towards UHC,” the 2025 summit is diving into how artificial intelligence, cloud, Internet of Things, drones, robotics, and even blockchain can transform health care — strengthening primary care, improving continuity, and expanding access to underserved communities on the path to universal health coverage. 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 executive for the sectoral analysis, Corporación Andina de Fomento Search for more opportunities now.