Suma Chakrabarti

And he didn't know it was going to be you, but it turns out that you're a good person to answer this question.

So it was Suma Chakrabarti, the former head of DFID and the former head of the European Central Bank for Reconstruction Development.

And his question went something like this.

He said, we need to ask ourselves the question about what really is the role of international civil society in the current moment, based on their performance and delivery and so on.

But sometimes for the very countries that play a key role in determining that system.

Today I'm so pleased to be joined by Sir Suma Chakrabarti, an economist and an international development leader who currently serves as the chair of the board of trustees of ODI, Overseas Development Institute Global, and is a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy, where I'm his colleague.

He previously served as a president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and has held some of the most senior positions in UK public service and international development.

And would it be correct, Suma, I think, to say you hold people know USAID position as the big name right now because of what's happened with the in the u.s so uh suma essentially was leading the british equivalent of uh usaid and brings really very important knowledge to this conversation so suma very very warm welcome But before we go into the details of the subject at hand, I just want to talk about your journey and what first drew you into the world of development and public service and how has your understanding of international solidarity evolved over the years.