Co-authored by Miski Abdi, Lydia Darby, Oliver Fiala & Jazz Mann.
Bringing you the Global Systems Reform team's latest insights and reflections on the issues shaping the world today and affecting children globally, sharing our takes on what we've read or written.
What we’re reading
Lydia
This article speaks to the power of local action and solidarity in helping to grow citizens’ 'muscle' in caring, which helps that dimension for acting internationally too. It's a "more is more" approach to things and requires that mindset.
This author from Larger Us spotlights Kirsty McNeill's argument from her first speech as Development Minister that far from trading off against each other, local belonging (in this case: someone fighting to save a local community hub with a bouncy dancefloor) and global solidarity are actually points on the same spectrum.
Our capacity to care for strangers and act in solidarity is a muscle that grows with use. Flexing that muscle locally means greater collective strength. Gordon Brown's new book has a similar message, that stronger civic ties make people less lonely and more trusting, meaning acting for the common good both nationally and internationally is easier and more likely.
At UNGA, Andy Burnham told a story about some Mancunians standing up to slavery in the USA. The key message was that: “people with little power used it to help those with none on the other side of the world”, and “the best change is change like that, bottom-up change led by people”.
Jazz
A question we all continue to grapple with is how we build consensus, commitment and solidarity around tackling shared global challenges. ‘All for one and one for all’, if you will. Building consensus is, of course, only half the challenge. How we deliver on that is another. This is the subject of ODI’s latest blog and research on “Where donors stand.”
As ODI highlights, despite widespread recognition of the need for cooperation, the narratives surrounding Official Development Assistance (ODA) are key in shaping how, why and where countries channel their resources.
ODI's research examines 29 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors, data from 2017-2024 and 27 variables across aid, foreign policy engagement and policy statements, to understand where support, friction and opportunities for collective action lie.
Three foundational narratives emerge: solidarity (altruistic responsibility), supranationalism (addressing cross-border challenges collectively) and nation-centred (advancing national interests).
No single narrative dominates. Though most donors actually gravitate towards solidarity and supranationalism. What surprised me was that nation-centred narratives were less dominant than the political discourse in the UK might suggest.
Solidarity emerges as a strong ‘north star’ for 21 countries, offering a strategic, shared-interest basis for reframing cooperation and building coalitions among like-minded donors. Cooperation is emerging not just as a framing for ODA, but as a political choice. For us, it reinforces our own research and insights, whilst also empowering the belief that nations can still be guided by the desire to work together to advance justice.
Miski
"What comes next for the global south and multilateral order" is a fascinating article that left me wondering whether the current multilateral order is worth saving at all.
Institutions like the United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank lack broad representation, remaining predominantly anchored to global North structures. The author argues this has left the multilateral order facing a legitimacy crisis due to "decades of structural exclusion, Global North double standards, and institutional inertia." The evidence is hard to ignore! For example, Africa has been subject to 80% of UN Security Council resolutions over the last decade yet has no permanent voice.
So, what's the alternative? I believe the multilateral system is worth fighting for, but change lies in democratising these institutions, alongside efforts to provide access and a platform to the commonly omitted voices.
It is vital that children, especially those facing the brunt of the climate crisis and conflict, are heard as part of the wave of reform currently being undertaken through the UN80 initiative, the UN’s system-wide reform effort, and in the discourse surrounding global health and global education architecture.
Oliver
Over the last 30 years, services for children have expanded hugely: primary school enrolment is now nearly universal, and far more children can reach a health facility when they fall ill. Yet quality often falls short: far too many children are in school but not learning or reach clinics that lack the medicines and equipment they need.
A new VoxDev literature review by Ferraz and colleagues argues that this gap is political. Politicians often favour visible benefits they can claim credit for, such as cash transfers or roads, over learning and quality of care. Voters tend to punish outright corruption but rarely reward better schools or health facilities.
Who governs also matters. For instance, electing more women to office was found to reduce neonatal mortality and expand immunisation. And cash transfers, besides being one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty, also strengthen accountability: they make families less dependent on political favours and more free to act on their own preferences.
There is much more in the review. For us, it is an important reminder to ask not only what works, but in what political context it works. And it shows why we need to keep service quality visible and build lasting support for it.
