The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) has released a new podcast episode discussing its annual report, Aid Analysis 2026: Aid Under Reconsideration (“Bistånd under omprövning”). In the episode, SweDev Chair Anna Mia Ekström joins EBA Chair Torbjörn Becker and host Númi Östlund for a conversation on the changing realities of global development assistance in an increasingly uncertain world.
Photo: Ritupon Baishya/Unsplash
The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) has released a new podcast episode discussing its annual report, Aid Analysis 2026: Aid Under Reconsideration (“Bistånd under omprövning”). In the episode, SweDev Chair Anna Mia Ekström joins EBA Chair Torbjörn Becker and host Númi Östlund for a conversation on the changing realities of global development assistance in an increasingly uncertain world.
As geopolitical tensions rise, conflicts escalate, and aid budgets shrink, the discussion explores what these shifts mean for the world’s poorest populations, for long-term development cooperation, and for evidence-based aid policy. The episode also highlights the growing importance of research, evaluation, and knowledge generation at a time when resources are becoming more limited and priorities are shifting.
The conversation takes its starting point in EBA’s newly published annual report, which analyses major trends shaping Swedish and international aid. Among the themes discussed are the consequences of declining donor engagement, the shift in political attention from Africa to Europe, and the challenges faced by aid practitioners working in increasingly unpredictable environments such as Uganda.
Anna Mia Ekström, SweDev chair, professor of global health and member of EBA’s expert group, also reflects on the importance of maintaining evidence-based approaches to aid and development cooperation during a period marked by uncertainty and competing global interests.