This month, the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) almost simultaneously released reports on development finance. The OECD’s  data on official development assistance (ODA) for 2025 revealed a dramatic 23.1 percent decline in a single year – the largest drop the world has ever seen. While the UN’s  Financing Sustainable Development Report 2026 explores whether other sources of finance might fill this growing development funding gap.  The