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DEVEX NEWSWIRE: GLOBAL PROGRESS STALLS AS UNDP REVEALS GROWING ECONOMIC DIVIDE

The economic chasm between high- and low-income has become even more glaring
since the pandemic and it’s cutting at the very fabric of global progress. Plus,
U.S. DFC chief Scott Nathan in congressional hot seat.

By Helen Murphy // 10 May 2024
Sign up to Devex Newswire today.

While some nations have recovered from the pandemic, many others are stuck with
consistent levels of inequality and an eroding faith in democracy. We look at
the widening gap between high- and low-income countries.


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Also in today’s edition: Could David beat Goliath in the fight to reclaim global
tax rules? U.S. DFC’s Scott Nathan faces Congress, and EU development officials
grapple with aid budget cut fallout.

This is a preview of Newswire
Sign up to this newsletter for an inside look at the biggest stories in global
development, in your inbox daily.

+Upcoming events: We have two exciting Devex Pro events for you next week! On
Monday, May 13, join us for the philanthropy leader roundtable to discuss
revolutionary ideas that are changing the way philanthropy is done. And on
Wednesday, May 15, we’ll be exploring the impacts of the upcoming EU
elections and European donors’ aid cuts.


MIND THE GAP

The chasm between high- and low-income countries isn’t just an economic divide —
it’s cutting at the very fabric of global progress. After two decades of steady
momentum, that progress came to a halt in 2020, according to data released by
the United Nations Development Programme’s latest Human Development Index, a
measurement of life expectancy, education, and income levels across the world.

“Despite our deeply interconnected global societies, we are falling short,” says
UNDP chief Achim Steiner in a press release. “This gridlock carries a
significant human toll.”

Even as the world's 38 most economically powerful nations reported improved
Human Development Index scores, the same cannot be said for 18 of the
lowest-income countries. For nations like Afghanistan, the setback amounts to a
decade's worth of progress lost, writes reporter Elissa Miolene.

The repercussions extend far beyond mere statistics. Entire regions, like Latin
America, are still reeling from the pandemic. Despite rich resources and a
decent democratic process, Latin America grapples with gaping wealth
disparities, a crisis of faith in democracy, and persistent gender inequalities.

“Latin America was the region with the greatest, steepest decline in human
development due to the pandemic,” says Michelle Muschett, United Nations
assistant secretary-general and director of UNDP’s regional bureau for Latin
America and the Caribbean. “At the same time, we’re the region in which the
recovery has been one of the greatest.”

UNDP predicts that the gap will continue widening. In 2022, the report found
high-income countries reached record-high levels of human development — and in
2023, the agency predicts those figures will elevate further.

Read: The world wealth gap has grown post-pandemic — but where has it been
worst? (Pro)

+ Not yet a Devex Pro member? Start your 15-day free trial today to access all
our exclusive news content and events, the world’s largest global development
job board, and the Weekender — a special Sunday newsletter covering our
industry’s big moves for Pro members.


GO WOKE, GO BROKE

Scott Nathan was in the hot seat this week. As head of the U.S. International
Development Finance Corporation, he was grilled during two congressional
hearings aimed at assessing the agency’s budget and efforts to counter China. He
was also warned against taking the agency in a direction that could lose it
bipartisan support.

As the agency, which channels funding into private sector development endeavors,
faces looming reauthorization next year, lawmakers signaled a desire to extend
its mandate sooner, with these hearings serving as a pivotal discussion forum,
writes Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger.



But the White House nominee felt some heat when he was cautioned against
pursuing a “woke agenda” and veering too far away from DFC’s development focus.
As an administration official, it’s kind of a given he would follow President
Joe Biden’s lead, but Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, a Republican, said it jeopardizes
backing from both sides of the aisle.

DFC investments, he said, particularly in upper-middle-income countries, focus
on gender equity, climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience — “landmines”
that would have a detrimental effect on the agency’s support. Díaz-Balart called
it “activism run amok.”

“If you start losing touch with your core mission you’re going to lose
bipartisan support and that would be a real shame,” he warned.

But Nathan also heard considerable vocal backing for DFC on the other side of
the political spectrum, with Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro saying he is worried
about DFC squandering support if it loses its focus on development.

“I believe it is essential that we defend and strengthen the agency's
development mandate. I fear that if this agency simply becomes a bank to execute
the foreign policy priorities of the United States, the bipartisan coalition
that supports the DFC will splinter,” he said at the House Foreign Affairs
Committee hearing.

Read: DFC chief faces congressional scrutiny on its 'woke agenda,' direction

ICYMI: The future of the US International Development Finance Corporation


WILL GOLIATH GET A BLOODY NOSE?

It is a battle between David and Goliath, writes Devex U.K. Correspondent Rob
Merrick — the bid to wrestle control of global tax rules from the world’s
wealthiest nations — Goliath, obviously — and end corporate tax-dodging that
swipes billions of dollars from lower-income countries. And yet, perhaps, David
is winning?

In a historic vote, the United Nations has stepped into the fray, snatching
discussion from the clutches of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development, long mocked as an exclusive "rich man's club." The move signals a
real shift away from the decadeslong dominance of financial powerhouses in New
York, London, Frankfurt, and Tokyo, which have historically dictated tax
policies to the detriment of the global community, critics say.

But now a framework for a new order is expected by August — covering
controversies such as corporate tax evasion, ill-gotten gains hidden in tax
havens, and how to tax the super-rich — with the hard road of negotiations to
follow, subject to the approval of the U.N. General Assembly, probably in
November.

No one believes it will be easy, writes Rob, but the mere fact it is happening
is a victory and maybe a surprise, given the outright opposition of the United
States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Japan. Goliath will not be
happy!

Read: The global south loses $47B a year to tax abuse. That may soon
change (Pro)

+ For more insider brief on development finance, sign up for Devex Invested, our
free, Tuesday newsletter on business, finance, and the SDGs.




DEATH BY A HUNDRED MILLION CUTS

Development officials from the European Union's 27 member states wrapped the
first of their biannual meetings in Brussels this week, Devex Senior Reporter
Vince Chadwick tells me. Ukraine and Gaza led the agenda, but many officials
came instead wanting to know how the European Commission intends to implement
the recent €2 billion cut to the foreign aid budget signed off by European heads
of government in February.

According to our sources, Jutta Urpilainen, the outgoing EU commissioner for
development, told the meeting that the only fair way to implement the cuts would
be pro-rata, with each region affected equally according to its overall share of
the pie. But there’s a fight brewing with the department in charge of countries
in the EU neighborhood, whose commissioner, Hungarian Olivér Várhelyi, is not
keen on taking any cut at all. That would leave areas like sub-Saharan Africa to
absorb more of the pain.

The other question is which countries Urpilainen's department will seek to
insulate from the worst reductions?

With the Brussels bubble still reverberating from a recently leaked briefing
paper portraying aid as a means to pursue the EU's "economic interest" overseas,
some fear that fragile countries or those with nonfriendly governments unable to
receive budget support or participate in the EU's Global Gateway investment
strategy will be first to receive less.

Member states have called for a debate based on the proposed “decommitments” and
Urpilainen is likely to finalize her proposed numbers around the middle of May,
ahead of a decision of the entire college of commissioners not long after that.

ICYMI: 'Dangerous' moment for aid policy as EU braces for far-right surge (Pro)

Related: How to read Europe's future development vision (Pro)

+ Listen: Tune in to the latest episode of our weekly podcast series where
Devex’s Raj Kumar, Anna Gawel, and Sara Jerving discuss how the upcoming
European parliamentary elections could affect the EU aid budget and other top
global development stories from this week.


IN OTHER NEWS

China’s government issued a five-year biosafety certificate for two gene-edited
wheat and corn varieties, advancing efforts to raise output and improve food
security. [Bloomberg]

UNICEF, along with partners like DINEPA, provided 2.6 million liters of safe
water across 20 sites in Port-au-Prince, aiding over 30,000 individuals
displaced by gang violence in Haiti. [UN News]

The U.N. humanitarian agency launched an appeal for $430 million to aid the most
vulnerable in Zimbabwe, where nearly half its population is in urgent need of
food and water after experiencing the worst drought in four decades. [AP News]

Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global
development.

 * Banking & Finance
 * Economic Development
 * Trade & Policy
 * United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
 * U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
 * European Union

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR


 * HELEN MURPHY
   
   Helen is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor at Devex, where she
   edits coverage on global development in the Americas. Based in Colombia, she
   previously covered war, politics, financial markets, and general news for
   Reuters, where she headed the bureau, and for Bloomberg in Colombia and
   Argentina, where she witnessed the financial meltdown. She started her career
   in London as a reporter for Euromoney Publications before moving to Hong Kong
   to work for a daily newspaper.


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