Interview series #1: Amitabha Sarkar, Tampere University and United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
As the task force working on the WHO-led reform process prepares its interim report by November, we ask global health experts: Can this process deliver a more equitable global health system?
Launching this week, our three-part interview series explores what meaningful reform would look like, whose voices are shaping the debate and whether countries and communities with less influence will gain greater control over the decisions that affect their health.
With their Annual Meetings in Bangkok approaching, it’s time to take stock of progress. Have the two Bretton Woods Institutions delivered more development finance, strengthened governance and expanded the role of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the international reserve asset that the IMF can create?
The Annual Meetings also offer an opportunity to refocus the World Bank and direct it towards people and places where commercial banks do not operate. There is no shortage of banks on this planet that cater for wealthy countries and people. What is needed is a bank that caters for those left behind by other financial institutions.
What should the IMF and World Bank do to lower the cost of development finance? Ahead of their 2026 Annual Meetings in Bangkok, we bring together perspectives from Africa, Latin America, India and Europe, with proposals for making finance more affordable, addressing unsustainable debt and supporting the clean energy transition.
