UNU-CPR is contributing to key policy discussions during the 2026 IMF–World Bank Spring Meetings, engaging across a series of panels and high-level roundtables focused on global growth, development finance and the future of economic cooperation.
Taking place amid geopolitical fragmentation, rising debt vulnerabilities and shifting economic dynamics, the Spring Meetings provide a critical platform to assess risks and explore reforms to the international financial architecture.
Contributing to real-time policy debates
UNU-CPR experts will offer timely analysis on major policy questions, including implications of the latest World Economic Outlook for global growth, and how “middle powers” are reshaping development cooperation. Through its engagements, the Centre will provide evidence-based insights on how economic trends and geopolitical shifts are influencing development pathways and multilateral responses.
Co-convened with partners – including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES), Reinventing Bretton Woods, the Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center, the United Nations Foundation and AfriCatalyst – the engagements will bring together policymakers, financial experts and practitioners.
Understanding the role of middle powers in development cooperation
At a high-level roundtable on reimagining relations between the Global South and North, co-convened by UNU-CPR, Dr. Nicole Goldin, Head of UNU-CPR’s Equitable Development pillar, will explore whether middle powers can anchor a more stable and equitable global order and assess the coalitional strategies and institutional models needed to navigate a changing geopolitical landscape. Discussions will draw from the insights of a UNU-CPR paper recently published with FES (New York), Understanding Middle Powers in Development Cooperation.
A separate discussion on development finance through a positive economic statecraft lens, led by Dr. Goldin, will examine how development cooperation is adapting to declining traditional aid flows, rising private sector engagement and growing pressure on multilateral institutions. The session will explore how incentive-based tools such as concessional finance, technical assistance and blended finance can be used more strategically to align development, economic and national security priorities.
Addressing sovereign debt, credit ratings and access to finance
UNU-CPR is also co-organizing a roundtable on sovereign debt distress and credit ratings in Africa – convening policymakers, credit rating agencies and financial experts to strengthen understanding of how default risk and recovery are assessed.
Dr. Daniel Cash, senior fellow at UNU-CPR, will be a featured speaker, framing a discussion that will be moderated by Dr. Goldin – on how fiscal reforms, debt restructuring and macroeconomic stabilization are reflected in credit rating methodologies, and how improved engagement between governments and rating agencies can support more transparent and sustainable access to finance. The event responds to growing demand from policymakers for clearer guidance on how creditworthiness is evaluated during periods of economic stress and recovery.
Follow updates on CPR engagements at the spring meetings on LinkedIn.