Following the catastrophic funding drops of 2025, what does the immediate future hold for international development cooperation? This episode investigates the immediate impacts of deep aid cuts on the ground, addressing the driving forces behind fragile public support in donor nations, the severe consequences of funding withdrawals on health sectors, and how the current geopolitical environment is accelerating a shift away from traditional donor-recipient paradigms.
In the first of a three-part bonus series of Global Aid Rethink, hosts Ivica Petrikova (Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London) and Melita Lazell (Associate Professor in Political Economy and Development at the University of Portsmouth) return to examine the stark realities of a changing global aid landscape.
Joining Ivica and Melita for this conversation are Nilima Gulrajani, Principal Research Fellow at ODI Global, and Nafisa Bedri, Global Professor in Gender and Reproductive Health in Africa, currently based at the University of Portsmouth. Together, they explore the devastating real-world outcomes of recent bilateral cuts - particularly concerning maternal and child health in conflict environments like Sudan - and analyse new sovereignty movements like the 'Accra Reset'. The conversation also highlights the critical need to bypass traditional international bureaucracies to fund local organisations directly, cultivate transnational solidarity, and build a more transparent, investment-based model for global development.
This is a Research Podcasts production.
Additional Resources:
Episode credits:
Presenters: Ivica Petrikova, Royal Holloway, University of London and Melita Lazell, Portsmouth University
Guests: Nilima Gulrajani and Nafisa Bedri
Producer: Catherine McDonald, Research Podcasts
Music: MFCC via Pixabay
This podcast was generously funded by the ESRC-funded Royal Holloway Social Science Impact Accelerator
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