Devex Global VoiceS 2023
Global development’s opinion articles of the year
The year 2023 marked the halfway point of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, a rallying cry for the global development world to turn the 2030 SDG agenda into reality.
Yes, 2023 has seen new and continued challenges, from ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, to the intensifying climate crisis, to the struggle against disease outbreaks.
But 2023 has also seen success: negotiations for an accord that would strengthen the world's ability to respond to future pandemics, progress on the climate reparations discourse with negotiations around a “loss and damage” fund, and the decision by G20 leaders to grant permanent member status to the African Union.
As the media platform for the global development community, we have spent the year publishing solutions-focused articles penned by those who make these successes possible: global health practitioners, food systems experts, development finance economists, humanitarian workers, NGO and development institutions leaders, and more.
Here, in Devex Global Voices 2023, we have gathered predictions for the year ahead in the fields of AI, localization, climate, and more, as well as some of our most read opinion pieces this year.
Read on for some of the most popular insights from global development professionals throughout the year.
Honesty Pern
Opinions Editor
Table of contents
I. Predictions for global development in 2024
II. Top opinion articles in 2023 on:
1. Inclusive Development
2. Sustainable Development Goals
3. Gender Equality
4. Global Health
5. Food Systems
6. Development Finance
Predictions for global development in 2024
How intent for locally led development will turn into practice
“2024 will determine whether locally led development will be the transformative change that it promised or just another series of well intentioned, albeit too-little-too-late incremental fixes.”
The race to lead on AI risks sidelining human rights
“2024 will be a pivotal year for the global control of AI, and it may be the year that human rights come to be central to the global conversation.”
Embrace disruptive solutions for a sustainable food system
“Several new food system innovations will begin the journey to mainstream acceptance.”
The climate finance system must be faster, simpler, locally led
“We must have our financial structures reflect the kind of visionary planning that’s needed to solve a long-term crisis like climate change.”
‘Climate cheating,’ carbon exchanges, and debt swaps in 2024
“Expect to hear more cries of ‘climate cheating’ from developing countries over the next year.”
African businesswomen are transforming African economies
“More and more African governments are being incentivized to provide more funds for women in business.”
3 key interventions for growth in African vaccine manufacturing
“As we stand on the cusp of 2024, the spotlight on African vaccine manufacturing has never been more intense.”
2024 must be the year we go back to the future
“The past has caught up with us. So-called future threats are already here — and the next is just one virus mutation, algorithm, or conflict away. We must get back to the future in 2024.”
Top opinion articles
in 2023 on:
Inclusive Development
Confessions of an angry global south development practitioner
“I refuse to be co-opted into any more discussions 'led' by the so-called global north, trying to figure out how they could change (but without really changing). At a time when inequality, war, conflict and poverty are more prominent across the world than ever, it's time to be the change ourselves, in our own countries.”
Why we’ve stopped using the term ‘sub-Saharan Africa’
“We have been using the phrase [sub-Saharan Africa] for years and it is engrained within the global development sector ... Step back and you will realize that the expression 'sub-Saharan Africa' is subtly aligned to systemic oppression.”
The global south isn’t a billboard, big aid brands
“The splashy display of aid brands is a neocolonial pageant. A throwback to savior attitudes that trample over the agency of global south leadership.”
Sustainable Development Goals
Ending extreme poverty is within reach. We can’t give up
“If the mission is possible, we have the resources, and we know what works, why are we off track, and what should we do to achieve SDG 1? The answer is simple: The global community must double down on doing much more of what we already know works.”
4 ways DFIs can mobilize more private capital for the SDGs
“The SDGs’ environmental, social, and economic outcomes cannot be achieved unless [development finance institutions] use catalytic financing to push the boundaries of where markets can work.”
To fight for the SDGs, it’s time for this rescue plan
“Now is the time to fight for the SDGs. ... First, heads of state and government should recommit to seven years of accelerated, sustained, and transformative action, both nationally and internationally.”
Gender Equality
Feminist foreign policy activism can harm African women
“Telling us that Africans need to include women in peace building, or prioritize ending sexual violence is insensitive, inaccurate, and offensive.”
Global health organizations must extend SRHR policies to staff
“Shifting leave policies to account for aspects of SRHR such as menstrual or menopause leave, rather than ignoring them or bundling them as general sick leave, is a step toward true gender equality.”
Moving past colonial legacies is critical for gender equality
“Net zero deflects from cutting emissions at the source, allows high-income countries to pay to offset emissions via trading schemes without any real accountability, and makes little difference for the girls and women who bear the brunt of the climate crisis.”
Global Health
5 buzzwords global health should sunset in 2023
“There are only so many global health catalytic accelerators that people can remember or fund.”
Climate-driven pandemics are coming. Will we be ready?
“There is no room for the status quo in a world with an increasing frequency of disease outbreaks and emergencies.”
The business case for investing in neglected tropical diseases
“Traditional donor-derived grant funding can no longer be relied on to combat NTDs and reach the global goals we set.”
Food systems
Food systems harm people and planet. Here is how we fix that
“To sustainably transform food systems for people and the planet, a diversity of solutions is required, working on different time horizons, scales, geographic contexts, dimensions, and challenges across the value chain.”
Agroecology must feature boldly in African climate negotiations
“Agroecology demonstrates immense potential to address the interconnected crises of climate, food, health, and social inequality more effectively and efficiently than the prevailing ... solutions imposed on Africa by corporate interests.”
Solidarity is in the danger zone. Can food innovation help?
“As the world’s population continues to grow, the choice right now is between driving innovation, so that farming can be made viable despite heat, drought, and other extreme conditions, or risking starvation for millions.”
Development Finance
5 quick wins to mobilize private capital for development
“We see opportunities for quick wins that can enable multilateral development banks and development finance institutions to increase private capital mobilization while preserving their triple-A ratings, with little or no need for additional capital.”
For blended finance to work, use strategic leverage ratios
“With key institutions like the World Bank and other multilaterals being called to do more with their money, blended finance continues to be a viable solution to mobilize capital in an ever-shifting macroeconomic environment.”
Nature-related disclosure is a milestone for a greener economy
“Having understood the risks and opportunities, companies and financial institutions need other tools that enable them to direct capital away from economic activities that harm nature toward those that heal.”
Production: Patricia Guerrero
Photos by: Marlis Trio Akbar from Unsplash, Cia Pak / UN Photo / CC BY-NC-ND, Suraj Ratna Shakya for USAID / CC BY, Tubagus Andri Maulana from Unsplash, Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz from Pexels and USAID / CC BY-NC
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