Acting Together: A New Era of Development Cooperation?

As global crises escalate, Official Development Assistance is facing immense structural pressure, with budgets tightening just as the need for development finance reaches an all-time high. In this episode, we comment the on-going international discussions around the future of development cooperation together with international development experts Iliana Olivié (Real Instituto Elcano/ETTG) and Céline Kauffmann (IDDRI) to examine the shifting dynamics between traditional donors and the Global South. The discussion is moderated by Marianna Lunardini (IAI). The podcast explores a critical tension: while low- and middle-income countries gain greater strategic autonomy and a wider choice of international partners, traditional G7 donors are caught between reviving the trust-building language of the Paris Declaration and leaning into defensive, donor-centric industrial policies.