At a moment of fiscal constraint and growing geopolitical fragmentation, international development is being reshaped in real time. This episode of Think Change explores the shift from aid to investment and the growing emphasis on partnerships across governments, development finance institutions, philanthropy, and the private sector.

Recorded alongside the Global Partnerships Conference, we bring together four of the conference chairs to answer the following question: are we seeing a meaningful transformation in how global development cooperation works, or a repackaging of existing approaches under tighter constraints?

With the UK increasingly positioning itself as “thinking like an investor, not a donor,” the conversation also explores what this shift signals politically – about the future direction of development policy, the role of the state, and who ultimately shapes development priorities.

From mobilising private capital at scale to aligning climate and development goals in frontier markets, the conversation unpacks what it will take to deliver impact in an era defined as much by constraint as by ambition.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Kate Hampton, CEO, The Children's Investment Fund Foundation
• Leslie Maasdorp, CEO, British International Investment (BII)
• Melinda Bohannon, Director General – Global Issues, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• Maropene Ramokgopa, Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Republic of South Africa

Related resources

• Centre for Private Finance in Development (ODI Global)
  
  
• What’s really “in it” for private investors in emerging markets? (Think Change podcast, ODI Global)
  
  
• Five ways European governments can support greater private capital mobilisation to low- and middle-income countries (Expert comment, ODI Global)

Recorded at the Women Deliver conference, this episode of Think Change – produced in partnership with GWL Voices – sets out the stakes for gender equality and multilateralism at a moment of deep geopolitical strain, and asks what the race for the next UN Secretary-General reveals about both.

Recent rollbacks on gender rights and climate action are not isolated. They are part of a broader political project that mobilises “traditional values” and divisive narratives to hold onto power, weaken accountability and challenge universal rights.

These dynamics are playing out not only within states, but inside multilateral institutions themselves – and they are already shaping the race for the next UN Secretary-General.

As the selection process begins, the question is not only who leads the UN, but what kind of leadership is politically possible. Campaigns like 1 for 8 Billion, supported by ODI Global, are calling for a more transparent, inclusive and merit-based process, and for Member States to nominate women candidates.

But this is not a neutral contest. It is a deeply political one.

We are already seeing how gender is being weaponised within it, with opposition to candidates framed through ideological lines, including attacks on candidates who support rights-based positions on abortion and women’s autonomy.

In this episode, we explore how these dynamics are playing out and whether feminist leadership offers not just a normative vision, but a practical strategy for rebuilding legitimacy, resisting backlash and making multilateralism work in a more contested world.

The video recording of this episode is now available on our website and on YouTube.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• Cristina Gallach, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
• Kate Gilmore, Former UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

Related resources

• Inside the global backlash (Resources hub, ODI Global)
• Advancing gender rights at the Human Rights Council in times of backlash (Report, ODI Global)
• How women's movements lead demands for democracy in the face of backlash and politicised religion (Report, ODI Global)

For years, food systems transformation has been guided by shared global visions, grounded in the idea that sustainable food production and consumption are essential to a resilient, healthy and equitable future. But progress has stalled – and in some places it’s even gone into reverse.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), around 673 million people faced hunger in 2024. More than 2.3 billion experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, and 2.6 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet.

As global cooperation fragments and geopolitical tensions reshape national priorities, food systems are increasingly governed less by shared global visions such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and more by power, security, trade and finance.

In this episode of Think Change, senior leaders examine what this shift means for the future of food systems governance, exploring who shapes the rules, how competing political priorities are redefining cooperation, and what choices will determine resilience, equity and sustainability in the decade ahead.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, President & CEO, the ONE Campaign
• Maryam Rezaei, Food systems lead, Research Fellow, ODI Global
• Anna Taylor, CEO, The Food Foundation

Related resources

• Five forces reshaping food systems in 2026 (Expert comment, ODI Global)
• Politics, power, and the slow march to just agrifood systems (Expert comment, ODI Global)
• Healthy islands and islanders: towards a new paradigm for integrating climate change, food security and nutrition in Small Island Developing States (Policy brief, ODI Global)