In-depth conversation: Are the SDGs relevant anymore? Devex editor Raj Kumar weighs in

Kumar talks with Future of Good’s publisher about global development and aid — does it even work? Are the SDGs achievable? What’s changed since the pandemic began?

Why It Matters

Global inequality is at a high — vaccine inequity is a salient example. As the Global North begins to recover, much of the Global South is still grappling with the pandemic’s social, health, and economic devastation. How NGOs, agencies, and governments engage in global development will be crucial for global recovery.

Raj Kumar published a book about global aid — The Business of Changing the World: How Billionaires, Tech Disrupters, and Social Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Aid Industry — just before a global pandemic changed the way aid is done and the way the world thinks about aid. 

Kumar is also the founding president and editor in chief of Devex, a digital publication that covers humanitarian and international development work globally, which means he’s had a front-row seat to these massive changes — and the ways global inequality has heightened in devastating ways since the pandemic began, too. 

What’s next after the SDGs? How has global aid changed since the pandemic began? And — does aid even work? Future of Good CEO and Publisher Vinod Rajasekaran sat down with Kumar to dive in.

The following conversation has been edited for lengt

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