Devex Pro Weekender: Taylor Swift thwarts global health meet, and USAID's new bureau head

Sonali Korde was sworn in last week as the new head of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. It comes after her predecessor Sarah Charles said she was “tired” as she stepped down from the role last year, with the bureau overseeing unprecedented amounts of funding and humanitarian response operations. USAID Administrator Samantha Power briefly acknowledged the challenges during Korde’s swearing-in ceremony, describing the bureau as one that has been “overstretched for so long, that has really difficult human workforce challenges, by virtue of hiring mechanisms and by virtue of just the toll it takes to work on crisis after crisis.” Korde has been at USAID for nearly two decades, most recently leading the U.S. efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But she’s human too and, like Charles, is not indefatigable. There was a point when she was working on the Ebola response when she felt she could not keep going, Power recounted. She took a night off to go to a party, only to be taken aside by an acquaintance and told: “Get your shit together, Sonali, do your duty to your country.” Apparently, she took these words to heart and revisits them every time she feels like quitting. Coming up: Make sure to sign up for our roundtable with Black leaders in global development, happening on Wednesday! Some exciting news: Devex is officially on Telegram and WhatsApp! Join our Telegram and WhatsApp channels to receive updates on the latest global development news directly to your mobile device. Also in today’s edition: The latest meeting on the pandemic treaty, how Taylor Swift postponed a global health conference, and PAHO’s new innovation chief. Jessica Abrahams Editor, Devex Pro Bits and pieces Swift retreat. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene had to switch the dates of their annual meeting, which is due to take place in New Orleans, because of a Taylor Swift concert happening in the city at the same time. "Her performance is expected to bring close to 250,000 “Swifties” (Taylor Swift fans) to the city, creating challenges for transportation and restaurants—and resulting in a shortage of available hotel rooms and higher costs for the rooms still available," the organization wrote in a blog. The meeting will now be held from Nov. 13 to 17. Oscar bravo. It’s not very often that a global development leader gets involved in the Oscars. But there’s a first for everything. Before his days in government, Atul Gawande — now assistant administrator for global health at USAID — served as executive producer of a movie called “To Kill A Tiger,” which was many years in the making and was eventually released in 2022. It follows a family in India as they struggle to get justice for their 13-year-old daughter, the survivor of a brutal sexual assault, directed by Indian-Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja. The film has now been nominated for best documentary film at the Oscars. “We were rejected by every streamer and distributor — [it’s] the only film on the shortlist without a distributor. We self-financed the theatrical opening. … And now here we are,” Gawande wrote in an email to supporters. The ceremony is in just under a month’s time, so watch this space. Finn finished. The European Union commissioner responsible for development policy, Jutta Urpilainen, will bow out of the Brussels arena next year. Urpilainen, who recently took leave to run unsuccessfully for president of Finland, told Helsingin Sanomat that with her diplomat husband’s role in Brussels ending too the family would return home, adding that she wanted to see her primary school-aged children each day. Urpilainen said she would not run for the European Parliament, and she had little chance of staying on as commissioner. Her political rivals, the National Coalition Party, took power last year and will no doubt be keen to choose their own candidate to join the European Commission. Ex X. The Ford Foundation is abandoning X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Messages were sent from the foundation’s as well as from its president Darren Walker’s accounts Friday with a list of other social media platforms where it would remain active, including Threads, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube accounts, as well as their foundation newsletter and website. “We have seen an overall reduction in our growth and engagement on X and we made the strategic decision to focus our efforts on other platforms,” a Ford Foundation spokesperson told my colleague Stephanie Beasley. Many X users have been unhappy with their experience on the platform since it was bought more than a year ago by billionaire Elon Musk, who until recently was the world’s richest man. ✉️ Do you have insights into any of this week’s bits and pieces? Let me know by replying to this email. Join us The Devex U.S. Global Leadership Series returns in 2024, presenting live discussions with U.S. lawmakers on global development policy. The next installment is on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 1:30 p.m. ET, and will feature Arkansas Rep. French Hill, vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who will be speaking to Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger. If you are interested in attending in person in Washington, D.C., request an invite. You can also register to watch the event live via Zoom. Up next Pandemic treaty. The 8th meeting of the intergovernmental negotiating body on the pandemic agreement begins this week and runs for 12 days. This is the second to the last scheduled meeting of the INB, and the longest to date, signaling just how close the process is to the deadline. Meanwhile, the Pandemic Action Network is holding consultations in Geneva for civil society organizations to share their perspective. Feb. 19-Mar. 1. Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development. This invite-only event in Bangkok, hosted by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, will bring regional governments together to discuss the challenges of — and solutions to — “eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises.” Feb. 20-23. Gender equality in Afghanistan. ODI and Afghan NGO DROPS will present their latest research to help governments and development groups understand the impact of the Taliban takeover on the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan, and how to respond. Feb. 22. China and the global south. A two-day conference from the Atlantic Council will explore China’s changing relationship with the global south, its role in development, and how to ensure its engagement serves the interests of lower-income countries. Feb. 21-22. Hot jobs Your Devex Pro membership includes access to the world’s largest global development job board. Check out some of the latest executive-level openings. • Foundation executive Vice President and Managing Director, Internet Society Foundation (remote). • Chief Information Security Officer, World Food Programme (Italy). • Associate Director, Acumen (India). Find more high-level opportunities on the job board by filtering for experience level, location, sector, contract type, and more. Moving on Nigar Arparadarai, an Azerbaijani member of Parliament, has been appointed as the high-level climate champion for the COP 29 presidency. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has appointed Burkhard Kübel-Sorger as its new vice president and chief financial officer. Judit Rius Sanjuan has joined PAHO as director of the new Department on Innovation and Access to Health Technologies. Geeta Batra will be the new director of the independent evaluation office at the Global Environment Facility. WaterAid UK has appointed Syed Abdul Muntakim as executive director of finance and strategic planning. He previously worked as interim director of finance at Farm Africa, a British NGO operating in East Africa. The Ford Foundation has announced that Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg will join the organization as a senior fellow to support initiatives to increase the number of Black women in senior roles. Did we miss one? Is there a change on the horizon? Let us know at devexpro@devex.com.