Agrégateur de flux

As governments increasingly prioritise national interests, security concerns and geopolitical competition over collective global responsibilities, traditional development finance mechanisms are being weakened, repurposed or redirected towards advancing narrow strategic objectives. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development projects a 23 per cent decline in official development assistance (ODA) between 2024 and 2025 (OECD, 2026). This reduction not only has immediate consequences for the lives and livelihood of millions of people in low-income countries (LICs) who depend on external assistance, but also creates uncertainty for partner countries, disrupts long-term development planning, and undermines the legitimacy and effectiveness of development cooperation. At the same time, development finance needs have risen sharply and continue to rise due to the climate crisis, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and rising food and energy prices. Together, these pressures have contributed to a projected USD 6.4 trillion financing gap for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 (OECD, 2025a). Against this backdrop, mobilising greater volumes of private capital aligned with the SDGs has become increasingly important (on the need for the European Union to become more adept at facilitating private investment, see the contribution by Keijzer & Furness in this volume). In particular, blended finance has frequently been promoted as one key instrument to achieve this objective (on domestic revenue mobilisation as another key approach, see the contribution by Sen & von Haldenwang in this volume). However, despite growing attention from policy-makers and development institutions, the scale of blended finance has remained well below expectations and so far made only a limited contribution to closing the SDG financing gap. Although transaction volumes increased from USD 11.5 billion in 2020 to USD 18.3 billion in 2024, they remain small relative to the estimated USD 4 trillion annual SDG financing gap (Convergence, 2025; OECD, 2025a). As such, the Sevilla Commitment (UNCTAD, 2025) calls for scaling up private capital mobilisation through blended finance and a broader use of risk-sharing instruments. This chapter discusses the benefits and limits of blended finance as well as reforms that are needed at different levels to scale up blended finance and enhance its development impact.

As governments increasingly prioritise national interests, security concerns and geopolitical competition over collective global responsibilities, traditional development finance mechanisms are being weakened, repurposed or redirected towards advancing narrow strategic objectives. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development projects a 23 per cent decline in official development assistance (ODA) between 2024 and 2025 (OECD, 2026). This reduction not only has immediate consequences for the lives and livelihood of millions of people in low-income countries (LICs) who depend on external assistance, but also creates uncertainty for partner countries, disrupts long-term development planning, and undermines the legitimacy and effectiveness of development cooperation. At the same time, development finance needs have risen sharply and continue to rise due to the climate crisis, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and rising food and energy prices. Together, these pressures have contributed to a projected USD 6.4 trillion financing gap for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 (OECD, 2025a). Against this backdrop, mobilising greater volumes of private capital aligned with the SDGs has become increasingly important (on the need for the European Union to become more adept at facilitating private investment, see the contribution by Keijzer & Furness in this volume). In particular, blended finance has frequently been promoted as one key instrument to achieve this objective (on domestic revenue mobilisation as another key approach, see the contribution by Sen & von Haldenwang in this volume). However, despite growing attention from policy-makers and development institutions, the scale of blended finance has remained well below expectations and so far made only a limited contribution to closing the SDG financing gap. Although transaction volumes increased from USD 11.5 billion in 2020 to USD 18.3 billion in 2024, they remain small relative to the estimated USD 4 trillion annual SDG financing gap (Convergence, 2025; OECD, 2025a). As such, the Sevilla Commitment (UNCTAD, 2025) calls for scaling up private capital mobilisation through blended finance and a broader use of risk-sharing instruments. This chapter discusses the benefits and limits of blended finance as well as reforms that are needed at different levels to scale up blended finance and enhance its development impact.

The Security Service of Ukraine, along with the Unmanned Systems Forces, Special Operations Forces and the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, as well as other units of the Defence Forces, struck the Kapotnya oil refinery in Moscow, located just 15 km from the kremlin.

There was no letup in fighting between Russia and Ukraine on September 20, as voters in Russia cast ballots on the final day of parliamentary elections from which a political party calling for peace was excluded.

A state media program aired on Saturday night labeled the J-35A stealth fighter with the codename Yunlong (Cloud Dragon/Loong). A Chinese military expert said this appears to be the first official confirmation of the fighter's codename, which reflects both its capabilities and Chinese cultural symbolism. China's proactive release of its own codenames for warplanes in recent years signals a new emphasis on commanding naming discourse, a shift from passive acceptance to active shaping, the expert said.

Russia is building its own version of Starlink -- Elon Musk's constellation of satellites in low-earth orbit that can provide fast Internet access anywhere in the world.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) welcomes the leadership of the United States in convening the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting on Accelerating Collective Action to Defeat Ebola, to be held on 23 September 2026 in New York, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.

Ebola vaccination was expanded Saturday to Ituri Province, the epicenter of the outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with more than 3,700 people having received the Ervebo vaccine in the country, Xinhua reported.

US President Donald Trump on September 20 said Yemen's Houthi rebels have agreed not to attack US-linked sites, even as the Iran-allied militant group intensifies its fight against US ally Saudi Arabia, a Fox News reporter quoted the president as saying.

Yemen's Houthi group said Saturday that it had launched large-scale attacks targeting the Saudi capital Riyadh and Yanbu, a major industrial and energy hub on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, marking a major escalation in the confrontation between the two sides.

The Iranian Army has intercepted an advanced Orbiter reconnaissance drone over the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a series of American unmanned aircraft brought down by the country's armed forces during the war.

The advisor to the chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), hailing the resilience of the Iranian people and Armed Forces against foreign aggressors, says US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and their supporters will face the same fate as former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Iran's central military command has warned the United States and its regional allies that any new action against Iran would trigger "continuous, effective and painful" attacks targeting US bases and interests across the region.

Iran believes the war or negotiations dilemma is false because one should both fight and negotiate, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement.

Iran's Statistical Center said the country's economy contracted by more than 10 percent during the Middle East war, which began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iranian military and economic sites.

Several elements affiliated with terrorist groups acting as mercenaries for the American-Zionist enemy have been killed or arrested in three provinces across Iran. They were planning assassination operations and sabotage of vital infrastructure.

New York Army National Guard Soldiers from the 369th Division Sustainment Brigade qualified on machine guns, mastered sling-load operations and moved military vehicles by highway and cargo aircraft during their annual Operation Sustain Thunder training.

Japan, the US and South Korea are preparing a memorandum on Arctic maritime cooperation and expanded energy supplies, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday. The Japanese newspaper framed the initiative as an effort to strengthen the three countries' economic security amid what it described as intensifying competition with China and Russia over Arctic shipping routes and resources.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is forming an "AI Force" and will announce an "AI Czar" in the near future.

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