The Development Dialogue has been convened regularly by the Global Initiative and several key donor partners since 2013. The initiative brings together leading development and research organizations working on the interconnections between development and organized crime, including international organizations, government departments and independent research institutions in closed-door meetings.

The latest Development Dialogue (12–13 February 2019) focused on how organized crime is linked to conflict and state fragility, and how development interventions impact on organized crime. Sessions revolved around responses to illicit financial flows connected to organized crime, the complex and often paradoxical relationship between crime and development, civil society resilience to criminal governance, and forms of state capture by organized-crime groups.

The discussions, which involved over 80 expert participants, were wide-ranging and expansive, encompassing analysis of criminal dynamics and economies in contexts as diverse as India, Mozambique and Brazil, alongside consideration of the emerging role of technology not only in enabling criminal activity, but also supporting civil-society groups in investigating criminal and corrupt links and holding authorities to account.