Below are articles on development happenings, issues, etc. If you have articles that you believe would be of general interest to the UAA membership, please submit them here:
- “No children are dying on my watch,” Rubio told the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. By Michael Igoe, Devex Newswire, 22 May 2025
- The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration will take over responding to overseas disasters from USAID, despite concerns about its lack of expertise and resources. By Jonathan Landay, Reuters, 21 May 2025
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Power and Natsios attack ‘cowardice’ of Rubio and ‘ignorance’ of DOGE, By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 21 May 2025
- CGD has created a Project Resource Optimization fund to secure private financial support for discontinued AID projects that are deemed especially cost effective. By Rob Rosenbaum, Caitlin Tulloch and Cindy Huang, CGD, May 20, 2025
- Trump’s cuts have forced a reckoning. How the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. foreign aid has exposed a devastating downside in one small African country. By Chico Harlan and Ilan Godfrey, The Washington Post, 18 May 2025
- Former USAID workforce vies for a few State Dept jobs. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 19 May 2025
- Trump administration moves to eliminate USAID, firing remaining employees. by Rebecca Beitsch and Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill – 03/28/25
- MFAN Situation Report: “Local Actors – Critical for Effective International Aid, Hardest Hit by Funding Cuts”, MFAN, 15 May 2025
- MFAN Highlights Key Questions Ahead of Secretary Rubio’s Congressional Testimony Next Week. MFAN, 14 May 2025
- Major USAID for-profit development partner faces 88% loss due to cuts. By Michael Igoe, Devex, 9 May 2025
- The DOGE Yo-Yo: DOGE wants aid organizations to ‘defend the spend’. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 13 May 2025
- Federal workers spoke to reporters after DOGE fired them. Now they face investigation. By Madeleine May and Caitlin Huey-Burns, CBS News, 9 May 2025
- What do Africans really think about the US aid cuts? By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 7 May 2025
- USAID cuts threaten peace in Colombia. By Jorge Valencia, The New York Times, 7 May 2025
- MFAN Statement on Administration’s FY 2026 Budget Request. MFAN, 6 May 2025
- After pregnant USAID workers’ pleas, State Department postpones layoff dates. By Justine McDaniel, The Washington Post, 5 May 2025
- Slim pickings in Trump’s ‘skinny budget’. By Michael Igoe, Devex Newswire, 5 May 2025
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Report on HFAC Session on State Reorganization. Devex, 2 May 2025
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AID cuts impact on health programs. By Jenny Lei Ravelo, Devex, 1 May 2025
- Can Humpty Dumpty be put back together? The Global Fragility Act is falling apart… By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 1 May 2025
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Which AID-funded organizations are still standing? Devex, 30 Apr 2025
- DOGE targets US foreign aid agency created under first Trump administration. By Robbie Gramer and Sophia Cai, Politico, 28 Apr 2025
- MFAN Statement on Possible Closure of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). MFAN, 29 Apr 2025
- Fired U.S.A.I.D. Workers to Keep Government-Issued Phones and Computers. By Karoun Demirjian, Greg Kendall-Ball and Edward Wong, The New York Times, 25 Apr 2025
- WFP to cut up to 30% of staff amid aid shortfall. By Ayenat Mersie, Devex, 25 Apr 2025
- In Memoriam: USAID (1948–2025). By Steven E. Hendrix, Diplomatic Courier, 23 Apr 2025
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HIV Deaths due to AID cuts. Devex, 24 Apr 2025
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MCC on Chopping Block. By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 24 Apr 2025
- USAID went into the woodchipper, and we’re all paying a price. by Jim Kunder, opinion contributor, The Hill, 23 Apr 2025
- What We Hold Onto. Friends of USAID’s Substack, 23 Apr 2025
- State to slash 15% of domestic staff, eliminate 132 offices. By Eric Katz, Government Executive, 22 Apr 2025
- Opinion: What the US administration may not know about foreign aid. By Owen Kirby, Devex, 23 Apr 2025
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On State Reorg, “gutting of development expertise.” By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 23 Apr 2025
- Rubio Announces Major Cuts at State Dept., Accusing It of ‘Radical’ Ideology. By Edward Wong and Michael Crowley, The New York Times, 22 Apr 2025
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USAID’s Global Health Programs – What’s In, What’s Out? By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 22 Apr 2025
- Trump Administration Draft Order Calls for Drastic Overhaul of State Department. By Edward Wong, The New York Times, 20 Apr 2025
- Trump’s Aid Cuts Hit the Hungry in a City of Shellfire and Starvation. By Declan Walsh, The New York Times, 19 Apr 2025
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Another Review of AID Programs. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 18 Apr 2025
- Trump aid cuts rattle the UN’s humanitarian capital. By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 17 Apr 2025
- Two more stories about State/AID Budget and Marocco/Lewin Roles. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 16 Apr 2025
- Trump Administration Memo Proposes Cutting State Department Funding by Nearly Half. By Edward Wong and Karoun Demirjian, The New York Times, April 14, 2025
- Marocco’s Record at AID/State. By Helen Murphey, Devex Newswire, 15 Apr 2025
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Democrats’ Letter opposing legislation eliminating AID. Devex, 14 Apr 2025
- U.S. Slashes Many of the Aid Programs It Had Promised to Keep. By Karoun Demirjian and Edward Wong. The New York Times, April 9, 2025
- Hamilton on Foreign Policy #267: Reform foreign aid; don’t abandon it. By Lee H. Hamilton, Hamilton Lugar School, Indiana University, 9 Apr 2025
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The USAID-State merger – sensible, strategic, or stupid? By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 11 Apr 2025
- USAID foreign officers to be repatriated, local staff fired by Aug. 15. By Sara Jerving, Devex, 9 April 2025
- Foreign Service union representing 18,000 workers sues Trump administration. By Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 8 Apr 2025
- US restores urgent food aid but not in Afghanistan and Yemen, where millions need it. By SAMY MAGDY, RIAZAT BUTT and ELLEN KNICKMEYER, Associated Press, April 9, 2025
- US guts another $1.3B in aid, including emergency food programs. By Helen Murphy, Devex, 9 Apr 2025
- Leaked US State Department data raises more questions than answers. By Raquel Alcega, Devex, 4 Apr 2025
- We Americans are losing our national soul. My View by Victor K. Barbiero, Santa Fe New Mexican, 31 Mar 2025
- The U.S. ends lifesaving food aid for millions. The World Food Program calls it a ‘death sentence.’ By the Associated Press and NBC News, 8 Apr 2025
- This Is Why Conservatives Turned Against Foreign Aid. NYTimes Guest Column by Matthew Schmitz, 7 Apr 2025
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Two AID-related items re Rubio. Devex, 8 Apr 2025
- Chinese Assistance Won’t Replace USAID. That’s the Problem. By Charles Kenny, CGD, 31 Mar 2025
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Some USAID Staff called back to close out programs – “final, final mission”. By Sara Jerving, Devex, 5 Apr 2025
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Aid Organizations Are Getting Back Pay from the Trump Administration, But Aren’t Sure What’s Next. By Helen Huiskes, April 4, 2025
- Trump Administration Fires U.S. Aid Workers in Quake Zone in Myanmar. By Edward Wong and Hannah Beech, The New York Times, 5 Apr 2025
- MFAN Testimony this week for House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State and Related Programs. MFAN, 2 Apr 2025
- A messy data dump clouds US funding picture. By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 4 Apr 2025
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Liz Schrayer Reports, and THE GLOBAL GAB: America Stepping Back, Rivals Stepping In, and Growing Action for International Assistance. USGLC, 3 Apr 2025
- Musk’s Task Force Begins Shutting Down the Wilson Center, a Foreign Policy Research Think Tank. By Aishvarya Kavi and Edward Wong, The New York Times, 3 Apr 2025
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State office to handle food aid and more. Devex Dish, 2 Apr 2025
- Millions of Women Will Lose Access to Contraception as a Result of Trump Aid Cuts. By Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times, 1 Apr 2025
- Breaking down the basics of USAID’s new financial reality. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 1 Apr 2025
Before April 1, 2025
- One AID worker’s fight to honor AID’s Legacy. By Elissa Miolene, Devex, 31 Mar 2025
- Trump’s USAID cuts cripple American response to Myanmar earthquake. By Rebecca Tan, The Washington Post, 31 Mar 2025
- Opinion: USAID can maintain its impact amid a transition to DOS. By an Anonymous former USAID staffer, Devex, 31 Mar 2025
- USAID’s big moving plans and ‘final mission’ for staff. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 31 Mar 2025
- For exiled Tibetans, U.S. funding was always about more than just aid. By Karishma Mehrotra, The Washington Post, 28 Mar 2025
- Trump administration reveals its plans to Congress to ‘abolish’ USAID. By Adva Saldinger and Elissa Miolene, Devex, 28 Mar 2025
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The gutting of U.S.A.I.D. is likely to hinder recovery efforts in Myanmar. By Tim Balk, The New York Times, 29 Mar 2025
- Trump gets it wrong on foreign aid. Column by Jim Bednar in Valley News of West Lebanon, NH, 28 Mar 2025
- On Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and Resilience. By Ambassador Mark A. Green, Wilson Center blog, 5 Mar 2025
- Final Cuts Will Eliminate U.S. Aid Agency in All but Name. By Karoun DemirjianStephanie NolenMichael Crowley and Elizabeth Dias. The New York Times, 28 Mar 2025
- Trump administration moves to formally abolish USAID. By Emily Davies, Abigail Hauslohner, John Hudson and Antonio Olivo, The Washington Post, 28 Mar 2025
- If you have any doubt about the Administration’s overall plan, this is an important article to read. By Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, Substack, 27 Mar 2025
- New Executive Order Targets Your Rights—Here’s What AFSA Is Doing. AFSA, 28 Mar 2025
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ADST Features George Carner’s Oral History: Ending the Locust Plague
- The big USAID to-do list, part two. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 28 Mar 2025
- Which awards are spared — and which aren’t — at USAID. By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 27 Mar 2025
- How to truly improve foreign aid. Editorial Board, The Washington Post, 26 Mar 2025
- Risk of 2,000 new HIV infections a day after US aid freeze, UN says. By Olivia Le Poidevin, Reuters, 24 Mar 2025
- China swoops in to replace Asian USAID projects axed by Trump. By Iain Marlow, Philip J. Heijmans and Bloomberg, Fortune, 26 Mar 2025
- The End of USAID Is an Opportunity for Africa. By Ebenezer Obadare, Foreign Policy, 21 Mar 2025
- U.S. to End Vaccine Funds for Poor Countries. By Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times, 26 Mar 2025
- How to Successfully Merge USAID and the Department of State. By Daniel F. Runde, CSIS, 25 Mar 2025
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Community Spirit to help laid-off aid workers. Devex, 26 Mar 2025
- Civil Society Organisations Face Backlash After Trump, Musk Link USAID Grantees to ‘Terrorism’. By Kerry Cullinan, Health Policy Watch, 25 Mar 2025
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Long waits, waves of calls, website crashes: Social Security is breaking down. By Lisa Rein and Hannah Natanson, The Washington Post, 25 Mar 2025
- Why Social Security is in the worst crisis since its founding in 1935, and what you can do about it. By Robert Reich, Substack, 25 Mar 2025
- An ode to the Demographic and Health Survey Program. By Caren Grown, Brookings, 6 Mar 2025
- USAID in court of public opinion. Devex, 25 Mar 2025, reporting on Foreign aid is an easy political target. But do Americans want it gone? By Ayenat Mersie, Devex, 24 Mar 2025
- PEPFAR expires today, but real test is still to come. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 25 Mar 2025
- Has anyone emerged from USAID’s downfall unscathed? By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 24 Mar 2025
- New Estimates of the USAID Cuts. By Charles Kenny and Justin Sandefur, CGD, 20 Mar 2025
- Marco Rubio is picking politics and Putin over decency and democracy | Opinion by Lynn Northcutt Vega, South Florida Sun Sentinel, 23 Mar 2025 (NOTE: Lynn Vega is a retired USAID Foreign Service Officer. She is a member of UAA, National Security Leaders for America, and the Society for International Development. She is also on the Board of Directors of DACOR, an association of diplomats and other foreign affairs professionals.)
- America’s European allies are trying to pry their unspent money back from USAID. By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, JAMEY KEATEN, MIKE CORDER and VANESSA GERA, Associated Press, 23 Mar 2025
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USAID Ruling May Be Beginning of the End for Musk. By Noah Feldman, Bloomberg, 21 Mar 2025
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Trump aides circulate plan for complete revamp of foreign aid programsTrump aides circulate plan for complete revamp of foreign aid programs. By Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman, Politico, 19 Mar 2025
- American Foreign Assistance Before Trump: How it Worked. By Richard Seifman, Former World Bank Senior Health Advisor and U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer, In Politics & Foreign Affairs, Impakter, 21 Mar 2025
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More Commentary on new AID “Blueprint”. Devex, 21 Mar 2025
- Intriguing proposal seeks major overhaul of US aid. By Helen Murphy, Devex Newswire, 21 Mar 2025
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Foreign Service Nationals: The Oft-Forgotten Backbone of USAID. By Friends of USAID Substack, 20 Mar 2025
- The real-world impacts of the aid freeze, Devex special report, 20 Mar 2025
- Exclusive: Inside the closed-door meeting on USAID’s future. By Elissa Miolene, Devex, 16 Mar 2025
- Memo lays out plan to replace USAID with new humanitarian agency. By Sara Jerving, Devex, 20 Mar 2025
- Peter Marocco out and new faces in at USAID. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 20 Mar 2025
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Two Officials Who Helped Dismantle U.S. Aid Agency Are Named as Its New Leaders. By Karoun Demirjian and Mattathias Schwart, The New York Times, 19 Mar 2025
- Will the world’s next famine go unseen? By Ayenat Mersie, Devex Dish, 19 Mar 2025
- It’s Time to Reimagine Foreign Aid. Opinion by Farah Stockman, in The New York Times, 19 Mar 2025
- Judge finds DOGE’s shutdown of USAID ‘likely’ unconstitutional. By Adva Saldinger //Devex, 19 March 2025
- Don’t Give Up On Aid Just Yet. Blog Post by Lee Crawford, Center for Global Development, 13 Mar 2025
- Musk’s Role in Dismantling Aid Agency Likely Violated Constitution, Judge Finds. Zach Montague The New York Times, 18 Mar 2025
- Judges don’t intervene after the Trump administration says it’s stopped destroying USAID records. By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and JOHN HANNA, Associated Press, 14 Mar 2025
- USAID’s Future: Chaos, Uncertainty, and Maybe Some Lemonade? By Friends of USAID, 17 Mar 2025
- How Many Lives Does U.S. Foreign Aid Save? By Charles Kenny and Justin Sandefur, Center for Global Development, 15 Mar 2025
- What will the future of USAID, or what’s left of it, look like? Exclusive details on one potential scenario. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 17 Mar 2025
- Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True. By Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, 15 Mar 2025
- Hundreds of Thousands Will Die, interview of Atul Gawande in The New Yorker by David Remnick, 15 Mar 2025
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Growing Up U.S.A.I.D. By Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 25 Feb 2025
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Republicans Have a Replacement in Mind for USAID. By Haley Byrd Wilt, Politico, 12 Mar 2025
- The Second Coming—The Dismantling of Six Decades of U.S. Foreign Assistance Investments by Trump and His Vandals. Washington Memo, 10 Mar 2025
- MFAN Issues Recommendations for a New USG Development and Humanitarian Assistance Structure. MFAN, 12 Mar 2025
- Catholic Relief Services lays off staff, cuts programs after USAID shakeup. By Brian Roewe, National Catholic Reporter, 5 Feb 2025
- U.S. Aid Cuts Make Famine More Likely and Easier to Hide. International Crisis Group, 28 Feb 2025
- Trump overstepped his constitutional authority in freezing Congress’ funding for USAID, judge says. By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, AP, 11 Mar 2025
- Faith Sector Urges Congress to Restore Aid Support for Health Programs. Christian Connections for International Health, 12 Mar 2025
- A Brief Look at President Trump’s List of “Appalling” Aid Projects. By Charles Kenny, Center for Global Development, 6 Mar 2025
- USAID employees told to destroy classified documents. By Joseph Gedeon, The Guardian, 11 Mar 2025
- How Trump’s Dismantling of USAID Will Affect Foreign Aid. By Iain Marlow, Bloomberg, 11 Mar 2025
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Latest Ruling from Judge Amir Ali. Devex, 11 Mar 2025
- Sec. of State Rubio says purge of USAID programs complete, 83% of programs gone. By ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press, ABC News. 10 Mar 2025
- USAID Is on the Brink—And This Week Could Decide Its Fate. Friends of USAID, 10 Mar 2025
- The future of US foreign aid: George Ingram on policy shifts, global fallout, and what comes next. By George Ingram and Junjie Ren, Brookings Center for Sustainable Development, 7 Mar 2025
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Chemonics Contracts with USAID. Devex, 10 Mar 2025
- I Ran USAID When It Was Last Under Attack. Here’s How We Saved It. By J. Brian Atwood, US News & World Report, 6 Mar 2025
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How Foreign Aid Cuts Are Setting the Stage for Disease Outbreaks. By Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times, March 7, 2025
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Military power alone is not enough — international aid is vital to U.S. security. By Generals Anthony Zinni and Laura Richardson, The Hill, 7 Mar 2025
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Defunded Aid Programs Are Asked by Trump Administration to Prove Their Value, on a Scale of 1 to 5. By Stephanie Nolen, New York Times, March 6, 2025
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Marocco on the Hill…and more. Constitutionality challenged. Devex, 7 Mar 2025
- How does the U.S. federal workforce compare with those in other countries? By Bill Chappell, NPR, 6 Mar 2025
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Court Orders USG to Pay by Monday. Devex, 7 Mar 2025
- Starving Gaza Again Doesn’t Serve Israel’s Interest. By Larry Garber, Haaretz, 5 Mar 2025
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Trump’s foreign aid demolition hits major Christian charities. By John Hudson, Missy Ryan and Katharine Houreld, The Washington Post, 6 Mar 2025
- Answering the Call: The Foreign Assistance Review. Commentary by Daniel F. Runde, Richard Crespin, and Thomas Bryja, CSIS, 28 Feb 2025
- The human cost of USAID’s terminated awards. By Jenny Lei Ravelo, Devex CheckUp, 6 Mar 2025
- DOGE’s Foreign Aid Cuts Have Sparked ‘Total Chaos’ Around the World. By Vittoria Elliott, Wired, 4 Mar 2025
- USAID partners fighting to get paid notched a Supreme Court win yesterday. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 6 Mar 2025
- Nicholas Enrich, acting assistant administrator for global health at U.S.A.I.D., spelled out projections for human health following cuts to foreign aid. 4 Mar 2025
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Hundreds of US diplomats join letter to Rubio to protest dismantling of USAID. By Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters, March 5, 2025
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The Messy Aftermath of Trump’s Attack on USAID, Explained. By Iain Marlow Bloomberg, March 5, 2025
- Why USAID Made American Foreign Policy Better. It would seem logical to expand, rather than terminate, many USAID programs. By Chas W. Freeman, Jr., Inkstick, 5 Mar 2025
- Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen. By , CNN, 5 Mar 2025
- Does U.S. Democracy Aid Have a Future? By Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 3 Mar 2025
- USAID employees and partners tell us what they think. By Anna Gawel, Devex, 4 Mar 2025
- Internal Memos: Senior USAID Leaders Warned Trump Appointees of Hundreds of Thousands of Deaths From Closing Agency,
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Awaiting Supreme Court. Devex, 3 Mar 2025
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Senior USAID official ousted after detailing problems providing lifesaving aid. Washington Post, 2 Mar 2025
- Trump and Musk refusing to pay USAID’s bills threatens far more than foreign aid. By Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor, 2 Mar 2025
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The Trump Administration Said These Aid Programs Saved Lives. It Canceled Them Anyway. by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy, Pro Publica, 1 March 2025
- Aid groups present case to Supreme Court as decision looms. By Elissa Miolene , Devex, 28 Feb 2025
Before March 1, 2025
- A USAID Story from Africa and Asia, A Personal View. By Edward H Greeley, Ph.D. Feb. 28, 2025
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U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World. By Stephanie Nolen, New York Times, 27 Feb 2025
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Trump wants to shrink the State Department’s size, reach and focus. By Nahal Toosi, Politico, 27 Feb 2025
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Harsh findings on Trump’s aid freeze kept secret by USAID watchdog. By Lisa Rein and John Hudson, Washington Post, 27 Feb 2025
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Judge blocks Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers. By Salvador Rizzo, The Washington Post, 27 Feb 2025
- Today’s demonstrations at USAID, USA Today, 27 Feb 2025
- Is restoring US global health aid even possible? By Andrew Green, Devex CheckUp, 27 Feb 2025
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Chief Justice Allows U.S. to Continue Freeze on Foreign Aid Payments. By Zach MontagueMichael Crowley and Adam Liptak, New York Times, 26 Feb 2025
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Supreme Court steps in to give Trump a foreign aid reprieve – and more. By HELEN MURPHY, Devex Newswire, 27 Feb 2025
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What Will Become of U.S.A.I.D.’s Funding? A Billionaire’s Son Has Some Ideas. By Matthew Goldstein and Maureen Farrell, New York Times, 26 Feb 2025
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Why Dean Karlan, chief economist of USAID, resigned on Tuesday. By Beth Rooney for NPR, 26 Feb 2025
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Trump administration says it cannot meet court deadline for foreign aid payments. By Brendan Pierson, Reuters, 26 Feb 2025
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Food aid move to USDA? Devex 26 Feb 2025
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Judge reiterates decision that AID contractors must be paid. Devex, 26 Feb 2025
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USAID Staff firing …and more, Devex, 26 Feb 2025
- Judge orders Trump administration to pay millions in USAID funds. By Annie Gowen, The Washington Post, 25 Feb 2025
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Growing Up U.S.A.I.D. By Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, February 25, 2025
- A State Department official told leaders of foreign aid groups that U.S. foreign aid funding was undergoing “radical change,” according to audio obtained by ABC News. 25 Feb 2025
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USAID freeze opens door to Russian influence in Eastern Europe. By GIOVANNA COI and DATO PARULAVA, Politico, 25 Feb 2025
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Why is USAID’s death being met with silence? By MARK WARD , Politico, 25 Feb 2025
- Source: USAID preparing to transfer systems to State Department amid downsizing. By
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According to Marocco, who will stay in new AID? Devex, 25 Feb 2025
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Funding freeze fallout: Tracking furloughs, layoffs, and cuts. By Elissa Miolene, Devex, 25 Feb 2025
- USAID staff start receiving termination letters. By Sara Jerving, Devex, 24 Feb 2025
- The blinding contempt of the DOGE bros. Opinion by Matt Bai, The Washington Post, 24 Feb 2025
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Opinion: Close down USAID and we are all a lot less safe. By Pamela White, Portland Press Herald, 24 Feb 2025
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Two Stories about USAID Demise. Devex, 24 Feb 2025
- Re “One Very Real Problem Lost in the Politics of Aid Cuts: Child Malnutrition,” by Nicholas Kristof (The Point, Opinion, nytimes.com, Feb. 10, 2025)
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Trump to eliminate 2,000 USAID jobs, place most of workforce on leave. By John Hudson and Mariana Alfaro, The Washington Post, 23 Feb 2025
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Hundreds fired at USAID. By Edward Wong and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, New York Times, 22 Feb 2025
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There’s a story in each shard of the shattered USAID. At USAID, Trump’s commissars leave a trail of suffering in their wake. Column by David Ignatius, The Washington Post, February 21, 2025
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The Trump World Order: In the MAGA vision of the national interest, might will make right. By George Packer, The Atlantic, 20 Feb 2025
- Friday Roundup: USAID Legal Decision, & RIF Guidance, AFSA, 21 Feb 2025
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Local USAID workers are “in survival mode.” NPR All things Considered, 21 Feb 2025
- Judge clears path to pull USAID personnel off the job. BY ELLA LEE AND TAYLOR GIORNO, The Hill, 21 Feb 2025
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New email language may shield more USAID communications from public view. By REBECCA HEILWEIL, FedScoop, 20 Feb 2025
- ‘We’re Just Keeping Everybody Alive’: The Damage Done by the U.S.A.I.D. Freeze. Jeremy Konyndyk, The New York Times, 21 Feb 2025
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Losing influence. By Jeffrey Gettleman, The New York Times, 21 Feb 2025
- IRC cutting thousands of staff after US aid freeze. By Irwin Loy, Policy editor, The New Humanitarian, 19 Feb 2025
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USAID: A Catalyst for Arizona’s Growth & Global Engagement. Letter to the Editor by Michael Doubleday, West Side, Arizona Daily Star, 20 Feb 2025
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Devex Check-up – Global health in freefall amid funding freeze. By ANDREW GREEN, Devex, 20 Feb 2025
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Judge says Trump administration made a ‘mess’ of plans for overseas USAID workers. By KYLE CHENEY, Politico, 19 Feb 2025
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26 AID staff suing Musk in Maryland. Devex, 20 Feb 2025
- PSCs file suit, Out in the cold. Devex, 20 Feb 2025
- US-Africa Policy Should Be Driven by Trade, Not Aid. By Joshua Meservey, Foreign Policy, 11 Feb 2025
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USAID Staff warned – no talk! Devex, 19 Feb 2025
- Gutting USAID Will Have a Monumental Effect on Combating Climate Change. By Jake Bittle, Wired, 8 Feb 2025
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The USAID shutdown is upending livelihoods for nonprofit workers, farmers and other Americans, by Ellen Knickmeyer and Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press, February 18, 2025
- The case for persisting with foreign aid. By Martin Wolf, Financial Times, 11 Feb 2025https://on.ft.com/4k1DYu0
- Majority of Americans believe foreign aid ‘wasted on corruption’, survey finds. By Joe Miller, Financial Times, Feb 2025
- USAID Freeze Hits Trump’s Priorities in Latin America, by Jeronimo and Mizy Clifton, Semafor, 17 Feb 2025
- Letter to the Editor: Why it is a Mistake to Dismantle USAID and Foreign Assistance. by Rebecca Black, Retired Senior Foreign Service Officer and Former Mission Director with USAID, Sandoval Signpost, Sandoval County, New Mexico, 10 Feb 2025
- Trump administration cuts US efforts to support democracy at home and abroad. CNN, 15 Feb. 2025
- With the dismantling of USAID, is the Trump administration defying the constitution? Text of Feb. 16, 2025, CBS 60 Minutes portion focusing on USAID
- Why USAID’s ‘lifesaving’ waivers are a train wreck. By Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 17 Feb 2025
- I Came to Congress to Gut Foreign Aid. I Was Wrong. By Former Congressman Ted Yoho, Time Magazine,
- USAID, America’s Helping Hand, Dies at 64, Letter from Gary Newton to the Editor of Portland Press Herald, a Maine newspaper, 14 Feb 2025
- The travails and triumphs in the battle for US aid, by Anna Gawel, Devex Newswire, 15 Feb 2025
- US shooting itself in the foot by gutting USAID, says former Deputy Administrator James Kunder, interviewed by Christiane Amanpour on CNN, 13 Feb 2025
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Republicans defend USAID in hearing meant to criticize waste. Roll Call, 14 Feb 2025
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Trump’s Dismantling of USAID is Anarchy Masquerading as Efficiency, by Hawaii’s Senator Brian Schatz, Time Magazine, 14 Feb 2025
Senate Dems slam USAID IG’s firing as doing more harm than good on curbing waste, The Hill, Feb. 14, 2025 -
Exclusive: US global disaster response teams unable to deploy following USAID shutdown, sources say. By Maggie Fick, Reuters, February 14, 2025
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Judge Extends Halt on Trump Plan to Dismantle U.S.A.I.D. By Karoun Demirjian and Eileen Sullivan, The New York Times, Feb. 13, 2025
- USAID Kept My Troops Safe in Afghanistan. By Will Selber, TheBulwark, 12 Feb 2025
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Court win for AID’s implementing partners, Devex, 14 Feb 2025
- A judge extends the pause on Trump’s plan to put USAID workers on leave. By Hansi Lo Wang, Newsweek, 13 Feb 2025
- Letter: I worked with USAID during seven presidencies. Killing it will only hurt our farmers and help China. By Kenneth Brill to the American Academy of Diplomacy, February 12, 2025
- Trump and Musk launch mass layoffs at several US federal agencies. By Gloria Oladipo in New York, The Guardian, 13 Feb 2025
- US embassies instructed to prepare for staff reductions: Sources. By Will Steakin, Katherine Faulders, and Shannon K. Kingston, ABC News, February 12, 2025
- New Trump Executive Order Calls for ‘Reform’ to the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. By Michael Crowley, The New York Times, 12 Feb 2025
- Devex CheckUp, Front-line and behind-the-scenes reporting on global health. By Jenny Lei Ravelo, Devex, 13 Feb 2025
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Can USAID Recover? Devex, 13 Feb 2025
- USAID has begun to formally cancel contracts. Devex, 13 Feb 2025
- Trump’s foreign aid freeze forces health clinics in a vulnerable region of Syria to close. By Robert Badendieck and Ghaith Alsayed, Associated Press, 13 Feb 2025
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Mr. President, Foreign Aid Does Put America First, by Nicholas Kristof, Opinion Columnist, New York Times, 12 Feb 2025
- Latest Updates: Executive Order on RIFs. AFSA, 12 Feb 2025
- Trump is closing the curtain on the American century. By David Wallace-Wells, Opinion for The New York Times, 12 Feb 2025
- Congressional Republicans mull plans to gash feds’ pay, benefits and job security. By Erich Wagner, ATARC CITEC 2025, Government Executive, 24 Jan 2025
- Trump Gutting of USAID Moves on to Killing Its Contracts. By Sam Stein, TheBulwark, 11 Feb 2025
- Society for International Development (SID)-US. A Message to Our Community. 12 Feb 2025
- URGENT: White House fires USAID inspector general after warning about funding oversight, official says. By ELLEN KNICKMEYER / February 11, 2025 07:11PM ET / Associated Press, from Bloomberg Government
- Helpful info for government workers under the current circumstances. From the EPA Alumni Network, Feb. 2025
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ACTION ALERT: The fight for USAID isn’t over. Foreign Policy for America, 11 Feb 2025
- Trump administration attempts to roll back America’s international health efforts. American Public Health Association (APHA) Legislative Update on International Health, 10 Feb 2025
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As USAID Retreats, China Pounces, Politico, 11 Feb 2025
- Legal pressure on Trump’s foreign aid freeze ramps up. By Annal Gawel, Devex Newswire, 11 Feb 2025
- Sabotaging the Pax Americana, Trump and Musk are making us distrusted, friendless and weak. Paul Krugman, 10 Feb 2025
- In Breaking USAID, the Trump Administration May Have Broken the Law. by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy, ProPublica, 9 Feb 2025
- The implications of a USAID shutdown. Brookings experts weigh in. The Brookings Institution, 4 Feb 2025
- Visualizing the international reach of U.S. funding cut by Trump. By Cate Brown , Dan Keating and Dylan Moriarty The Washington Post, 9 Feb 2025
- Some Republicans Worried re gutting of USAID, Wall Street Journal, 10 Feb 2025
- The end of foreign aid as we know it. By Colum Lynch, Devex, 6 Feb 2025
- As Fellow Pro-Lifers, We Are Begging Marco Rubio to Save Foreign Aid. Guest Essay by Leah Libresco Sargeant, Matthew Loftus, Kristin M. Collier and Kathryn Jean Lopez, The New York Times, 10 Feb 2025
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Fact-Checking Claims About U.S.A.I.D. Funding, The New York Times, 9 Feb 2025
- Falsehoods Fuel the Right-Wing Crusade Against U.S.A.I.D., The New York Times, 9 Feb 2025
- The World needs USAID, Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post, 9 Feb 2025
- Is USAID being dismantled? Special Edition of The USGLC Global Gab, by Liz Schrayer, 6 Feb 2025
- Suspending PEPFAR: An emergency of our own making. By Doug Fountain, Religion News Service (RNS), 29 Jan 2025
- Is This the End of USAID? By Emily Belz, Christianity Today, 4 Feb 2025
- Alleged USAID Probe Into Starlink Raises Elon Musk Conflict Concerns. By
- Save Foreign Aid. friends of USAID, 9 Feb 2025
- Prebunking Elon Musk’s Super Bowl Propaganda. By Asha Rangappa, The Freedom Academy, 9 Feb 2025
- Trump’s USAID Purge and Foreign Aid Turmoil Spark Global Security Concerns. By Noam Unger, CSIS, 3 Feb 2025
- ‘We Are in Disbelief’: Africa Reels as U.S. Aid Agency Is Dismantled. By Declan Walsh, Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya, The New York Times, Feb. 8, 2025
- Fact-Checking Claims About U.S.A.I.D. Funding. Linda Qiu, The New York Times, 8 Feb 2025, updated 9 Feb 2025
- USAID Workers Brace for the Worst. By Karoun Demirjian and Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times, Feb. 8, 2025, Updated Feb. 9, 2025
- USAID: The Benefits and Upcoming Losses in Numbers, by Dr. Craid Zelizer, from various sources, 9 Feb 2025
- Visualizing the international reach of U.S. funding cut by Trump, by Cate Brown, Dan Keating and Dylan Moriarty, The Washington Post, 9 Feb 2025
- Live Updates from The New York Times, 8 Feb. 2025, a long list of articles about the effects of Trump administration actions.
- Don’t Gut USAID: Trump Should Refashion the Foreign Aid Agency, Not Dismantle It. By Andrew Natsios, former USAID Administrator under President Bush, Foreign Affairs, 7 Feb 2025
- Urgent Senate Update: Our Government Belongs to the American People, Not Elon Musk, Senator Chris Van Hollen, 7 Feb 2025
- Devex Newswire–Today’s edition all about USAID, by Anna Gawel, Devex, 8 Feb 2025
- Two Letters from USAID family to NYTimes in today’s edition, 8 Feb 2025
- AFSA Lawsuit and Weekly Roundup. 7 Feb 2025
- Federal judge bars Trump from putting 2,000 additional USAID workers on leave. By Spencer S. Hsu and Missy Ryan. The Washington Post, 7 Feb 2025
- The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending. Analysis by Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, 7 Feb 2025
- Virginia Senators Explain: USAID
- USAID Stop-Work Tracking, State by State Impact
- I Ran U.S.A.I.D. Killing It Is a Win for Autocrats Everywhere. By Samantha Power, The New York Times, Feb. 6, 2025
- If USAID ends, American diplomacy will be the biggest loser, by J. Brian Atwood, opinion contributor, The Hill, 7 Feb 2025
- White House claims about USAID ripped apart by fact-checker: ‘Only one claim was accurate’, by Travis Gettys, RawStory, 7 Feb 2025
- Government workers sue Trump and Rubio over ‘catastrophic’ USAID cuts, by Robert Mackey and agencies, The Guardian, 6 Feb 2025
- Trump gets rid of over 95% of USAID staff, Newswire by Helen Murphy, Devex, 7 Feb 2025
- Trump’s Attack on USAID, from Carnegie, 6 Feb 2025
- Trump Protest LIVE: Hundreds Protest Trump’s Early Administration Policies regarding USAID in Washington, DC, 5 Feb 2025 Here are some still photos of the event.
- CBS – Andrew Natsios, former USAID administrator, again strongly defends USAID, 6 Feb 2025
- Devex CheckUp: Impact on UNFPA etc, including status of PEPFAR, NCD Alliance, by Andrew Green, Devex, 6 Feb 2025
- ‘It’s tectonic:’ U.S. foreign aid freeze deals a blow to research around the globe, by Catherine Offord, Martin Enserink, Science, 6 Feb 2025
- Transcript Shows Rubio Asking U.S.A.I.D. Worker for ‘Trust’ and ‘Patience’, by Michael Crowley, The New York Times, 6 Feb 2025
- Treasury Sought to Freeze Foreign Aid Payments, Emails Show, by Andrew Duehren, Alan Rappeport and Theodore Schleifer, The New York Times, 6 Feb 2025
- Trump, USAID and the Rule of Law, by William A. Galston, The Wall Street Journal, 4 Feb 2025
- Former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios describes global impact of agency’s ‘destruction’, PBS News Hour, 5 Feb 2025
- Response to Foreign Aid Halt by WH Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 5 Feb. 2025
- Why Do We Need USAID? Stephen Colbert Talks to Samantha Power, Fmr. USAID Administrator – YouTube, 10-minute clip, 4 Feb 2025
- Trump’s administration is pulling almost all USAID workers off the job worldwide. By Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee, Associated Press, 5 Feb 2025
- The U.S. aid freeze leaves virtually no corner of the globe untouched. By Helen Murphy, Newswire, 5 Feb 2025
- What Elon Musk Said is a Bold-Faced Lie. Interview of Andrew Natsios, former USAID Administrator under President Bush. By Michael Hirsh, Politico, 4 Feb. 2025
- USAID to put nearly all staff on leave Friday; overseas missions shuttering, CBS News, 4 Feb 2025
- Call to Action – Save USAID, from Andrew Albertson, Foreign Policy for America, 3 Feb. 2025
- Can the President Dissolve USAID by Executive Order? by Tess Bridgeman, Just Security, 1 Feb. 2025
- Trump 2nd term live updates: Marco Rubio made acting administrator of USAID, by Kevin Shalvey, ABC News, 3 Feb 2025
- Overview of President Trump’s Executive Actions on Global Health, by Jennifer Kates, Josh Michaud, Kellie Moss, and Lindsey Dawson, KFF, 31 Jan. 2025
- USAID’s staff clashes and PEPFAR’s partial reprieve. By Anna Gawel, Newswire, 3 Feb 2025
- USAID staffers told to stay out of Washington headquarters after Musk said Trump agreed to close it. Tags: Donald Trump, Washington news, Elon Musk, Associated Press, 3 Feb 2025
- Trump moves to wrest control of USAID as Musk says, ‘We’re shutting it down’ By John Hudson, Ellen Nakashima, Missy Ryan, Mariana Alfaro and Faiz Siddiqui, The Washington Post, 3 Feb 2025
- Trump Is Doing Exactly What He Said He Would. Who Could Have Predicted That? From Paul Krugman, 3 Feb 2025
- Elon Musk says he and Trump are shutting down USAID, by David Ingram, NBC News, 3 Feb 2025
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What is USAID, the government agency targeted by Trump and Elon Musk? by Daniel Wu, The Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2025, 5:40 p.m. EST
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Trump and allies make more moves to wrest control of USAID, The Washington Post, by John Hudson, Ellen Nakashima, Missy Ryan and Mariana Alfaro, February 2, 2025, at 7:37 p.m.
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Episcopalian responds to Trump’s comments on Bishop Budde, Independent Catholic News (ICN), 28 Jan 2025 (Updated Jan 30th, 2025)
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AID Security Officials put on leave, CNN, 2 Feb 2025
- Trump to Order Aid Agency to Be Put Under State Department, Democrats say the move is illegal without congressional approval, Wall Street Journal, 1 Feb 2025
- USAID Website Goes Offline Without Explanation, Associated Press, 1 Feb 2025
- Health Programs Shutter Around the World After Trump Pauses Foreign Aid, by Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times, 1 Feb 2025
- The latest on the US foreign aid crisis, Newswire, by Anna Gawel, Devex, 1 Feb 2025
Before Feb. 1, 2025
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A career official tried to undo Trump’s purge at USAID. He was then purged, too. A dramatic purge and counter-purge at USAID played out in emails obtained by The Washington Post, as Trump’s pause on foreign aid upends humanitarian work around the world. Jan. 30, 2025
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Inside Trump’s purge at the agency that saves millions of lives. USAID has become a testing ground for dismantling government agencies, agency employees tell Vox. By Dylan Matthews, Vox, Jan 30, 2025
- Impact of Freeze. Devex, 30 Jan 2025
- Global Food Aid? Devex, 30 Jan 2025
- Whither PEPFAR? Devex, 30 Jan 2025
- Behind the Chaotic Attempt to Freeze Federal Assistance, by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, 29 Jan 2025
- Devex Dish – More on the Aid Story, by Tania Karas, Devex, 29 Jan 2025
- Rubio backtracks on near-total foreign aid freeze, issues humanitarian waiver, The Washington Post, 28 Jan 2025
- Newswire: The must-read global development newsletter, by Anna Gawel, Devex, 29 Jan 2025
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USAID’s Implementation of the Funding Pause for Foreign Assistance Programs, USAID, 28 Jan 2025
- Stop-Work Order on US Foreign Aid puts China First and America Last, by Michael Schiffer, Just Security, 27 Jan 2025
- Top USAID career staff placed on immediate leave, by Nahal Toosi, Daniel Lippman and Robbie Gramer, Politico, 27 Jan 2025
- Newswire: The must-read global development newsletter, by Anna Gawel, IMF and Devex, 27 Jan 2025.
- U.S. President Donald Trump put all U.S. foreign aid programs on ice. By Anna Gawel, Devex, 25 Jan 2025
- What does the 90 day pause mean? Devex, 22 Jan 2025]
Before Jan. 20, 2025
- I’ve seen government reform work, but only with experienced civil servants, by J. Brian Atwood, opinion contributor – The Hill, 01/18/25 10:00 AM ET.
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America’s Global Health Edge: How USAID Is Redefining The Way To Secure A Healthier World, by Atul Gawande, USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, January 8, 2025
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DEVEX – Conversation with Samantha Power, 14 Jan 2025. A balancing act — that’s what Samantha Power has performed for the past three and a half years as head of USAID, which receives criticism for everything from not taking enough risk to not using taxpayer funds wisely enough. You can watch and listen to the interview on YouTube here.
- The Biden administration’s shameful weaponization of food aid, by David A. Atwood, Mondoweiss, 9 Jan 2025
- MFAN would like to wish you Happy Holidays and take this opportunity to share an update on our coalition’s work since our last update in June. MFAN, 19 Dec 2024.
- Bill Steiger on how AID will change, Devex, 12 Dec 2024
- AID and Growth, Devex, 11 Dec 2024
- “2024 Election Analysis: Top Takeaways” by USGLC, 9 Nov 2024
- “A World in Crisis: Examining the USAID humanitarian response system,” Andrew Natsios, The Wilson Quarterly, Fall 2024.
- “Migrant Labor and Economic Assistance,” by Mark G. Wentling, American Diplomacy, November 2024
- “USAID: A Critical National Security Tool.” Steven E. Hendrix, The Foreign Service Journal, October 2024.
- “The Price of Power America’s chief humanitarian official rose to fame by speaking out against atrocities. Now she’s trapped by one.” By Jonathan Guyer, Foreign Affairs, 4 Oct 2024.
- Brookings Commentary, “Locally led and globally informed: Key themes on localization,” by George Ingram, 20 Sep 2024
- Brookings Commentary, “What is US Foreign Assistance?”, by George Ingram, 12 Sep 2024
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USAID role in fostering regional cooperation on the Mekong, Rebecca Root, Devex, 20 Sep 2024
- MFAN applauds the Senate’s FY25 State-Foreign Operations Bill for protecting vital funding and advancing aid effectiveness, MFAN, Sept. 12, 2024
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DACOR’s New Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Luncheon Group Looks to the Future by Reflecting on the Past, By Lynn Northcutt Vega, Ambassador Frank Almaguer and Ambassador Luigi Einaudi, Sept. 11, 2024
- Sustained Poverty Reduction via Inclusive Agricultural and Rural Development: Laying the Foundation for a Call to Action, by David D. Bathrick, et. al., June 2, 2023, www.academia.edu (davidbathrick@gmail.com)
- What’s Causing Widespread Lead Exposure in Developing Countries? By Rachel Bonnifield and Rory Todd, August 05, 2024, Center for Global Development
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Ukraine Shows How US Foreign Aid Can Deliver, Blog Post by Charles Kenny, July 24, 2024, Center for Global Development
- MFAN Spotlights Recent Activities on Foreign Aid Reform. MFAN, July 9, 2024.
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MFAN Statement on the House’s FY25 State-Foreign Operations Bill. This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels, and Ritu Sharma. June 20, 2024, (WASHINGTON)
- Devex, Humanitarian System at Crossroad, May 31, 2024
- A New Era at CGD with Dr. Rachel Glennerster, by Lawrence H. Summers, Center for Global Development, May 13, 2024
- Reinvigorating the American Development Toolkit, Robert M. Gates Gobal Policy Center (GGPC), May 14, 2024
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USGLC Head Liz Schrayer Reflects on forces that helped pass the national security funding bill, May 11, 2024
- Managing Missions during Crises: An Agency-wide webinar on In-Country Transitions: Leadership and Management in Response to Sudden Context Changes, April 3, 2024.
- USAID Administrator Samantha Power testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs as it Holds a Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2025 USAID Budget Request, CQ Congressional Transcripts, April 9, 2024
- MFAN’s Analysis of the Final Fiscal Year 2024 State-Foreign Operations Bill, MFAN, April 9, 2024
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MFAN Applauds OMB’s Release of Reforms to Simplify Federal Grantmaking Rules and Strengthen Locally Led Development, MFAN, April 4, 2024
- Congress can’t get anything done. Except on foreign aid, Vox, by Dylan Matthews, March 24, 2024
- MFAN Applauds Congressional Action on Bipartisan Legislation to Advance Locally Led Development, MFAN, March 20, 2024
- Constrained Funding for Growing Challenges Threatens America’s Ability to Protect National Interests: Analysis of the Administration’s FY25 International Affairs Budget Request, USGLC, March 13, 2024
- InterAction developed Aid Delivers to educate members of Congress and the public on the fundamental principles and operations of international development, humanitarian action, and U.S. foreign assistance programs. Explore its guide to understand the basics of these programs, see the positive outcomes they have achieved, and learn about hot topics for the 118th U.S. Congress.
- USAID can’t go it alone on localization. Localization is one of the most enduring policy objectives for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Patrick Fine discusses how resilient—and illusive—this policy objective is for the agency. Brookings, February 5, 2024
- ‘Too big to fail,” How USAID’s $9.5B supply chain vision unraveled, Michael Igoe, Ben Stockton, and Misbah Khan, DEVEX, Nov. 9, 2023
- Over 1,000 USAID officials call for Gaza ceasefire in letter, Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis, Reuters, Nov. 10, 2023
- Another bureau for USAID, Devex, Oct. 20, 2023. USAID’s new Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance began operating on Sept. 12, 2023.
- Will the World Bank Choose Climate Change Over Poverty? By Bjorn Lomborg, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 6, 2023, 6:10 pm ET. A new G-20 report calls for raising $3 trillion and spending only a fraction of it to help the poor.
- A USAID Localization Model Finally Emerges, by Justin Fugle, The Brookings Institution, 10/6/2023. PEPFAR’s budget flowing directly through the CDC to local organizations and governments reached fully 67% by 2012!
- USAID Administrator Samantha Power Visits Ukraine with New Commitments, USAID Strategic Communications, 7/28/2023. Administrator Power traveled to Ukraine to reaffirm the United States’ strong commitment to stand with Ukraine.
A $6 Billion China-Built Railway Is on the Move with a Vast New Network Down the Track. China’s decade-old Belt and Road Initiative has been in retreat in many countries, but in Laos, it is alive and kicking. Felix Soloman, Wall Street Journal, 19 July 2023. - “Deep budget cuts in House State-Foreign Operations bill will undermine aid effectiveness,” MFAN, 18 July 2023. MFAN is very concerned large budget cuts in House FY24 State-Foreign Operations Bill will undermine aid effectiveness.
- “The Old Consensus on U.S. Foreign Policy is Dead,” by Fareed Zakaria in The Washington Post, 15 July 2023, about his interview with President Biden. “…for the first time since the World War II era, the basic issue of America’s engagement with the world is becoming a partisan issue.”
- “USAID’s Policy Framework,” by George Ingram and Susan Reichle, Brookings Center for Sustainable Development, 6/15/2023. On May 3, 2023, the Brookings Center for Sustainable Development hosted a public event on the recently released USAID Policy Framework. USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman presented the highlights, followed by a panel representing USAID and civil society discussing specific aspects of the framework.
- The June 2023 newsletter from Global Peace Services USA contains two articles of interest: 1) “Putin Attacks Ukraine’s Culture,” by Dr. Robert Muscat, GPS Board Member, explores the subject of cultural destruction, an instrument widely employed by aggressors. 2) “Indigenous Residential Schools in Canada and the United States: Uncovering the Truth and Pursuing Healing and Reconciliation,” by John Eriksson, President of GPS USA, begins with a comparison of the 19th and 20th century experiences of Canada and the United States in implementing a strategy designed to forcibly separate Indigenous children from their families and to relocate them in distant Indigenous residential or boarding schools in order to expunge their traditional languages and values and coercively assimilate them with European languages (English or French) and values. The strategy was often reinforced by harsh and abusive punishment for any deviation by students or parents from the decreed approach. The physical, mental, and emotional impacts of the strategy on Indigenous children and their families have been severe, long-lasting and intergenerational.
- UAA requests your support for a U.S. commemorative coin recognizing the centennial of the U.S. Foreign Service, UAA Board, 20 May 2023
- The Effort to Transform the Aid Business, The Economist, 6 May 2023, pp. 22-23. USAID is changing the way it tries to do good in the world.
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Coming to Grips with Poverty in Africa, Mark G. Wentling, American Diplomacy, May 2023. Reducing poverty has been at the heart of U.S. foreign assistance in dozens of low-income countries for more than a half-century. Despite U.S. foreign policy objectives, much work, and hundreds of billions of assistance dollars expended, the poorest of the poor have not advanced. While some low-income countries have made some small progress, after decades of aid most are still in the bottom ranks of absolute poverty. All the countries in the Least Developed Country (LDC) category have more poor people than ever before.
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Sheila Young, Ph.D., has published two research articles (1) on how “Critical thinking activities in Florida undergraduate biology classes improves comprehension of climate change” (Journal of Biological Education, January 2021) and (2) on “Climate adaptation and risk preparedness in Florida’s East Coast cities: views of municipal leaders,” (Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, October 2022). She also completed a podcast on the same topic for Air University on June 2022. Dr. Young is a retired USAID Foreign Service Officer who served as an Environment Officer in Honduras, an Economic Growth Officer in Azerbaijan, and a Senior Program Officer in Sri Lanka, Iraq, and Mozambique. Prior to the Foreign Service, she was an Energy Specialist with the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory in Albany, Oregon; a Marketing Specialist with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in Washington, DC, and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania, West Africa.
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AID Releases A&A Strategy, Omar Mohammed, Devex, 3/13/2023. You’d be forgiven if your eyes initially glossed over the term “acquisition and assistance strategy,” an anodyne description for something that wields tremendous power at the world’s largest aid agency. More commonly (and wisely) referred to as the A&A strategy, it will drive how USAID spends 85% of its multibillion-dollar budget — and it’s finally been released to the public after a long wait. The strategy lays out three priorities: bolstering the workforce, cutting red tape, and making it easier for new organizations to partner with USAID. USAID Administrator Samantha Power described the agency’s workforce as “depleted” at the strategy’s launch, vowing to go on a hiring spree to help overtaxed employees. The agency also said it will try to cut the amount of time it takes to process contracts worth more than $25 million, and it even floated the idea of using artificial intelligence to speed up paperwork. Perhaps most importantly, A&A will be instrumental in realizing Power’s localization agenda amid increasing doubts that USAID can hit its target of diverting 25% of spending toward local organizations by 2025.
- Top 7 Takeaways from the Administration’s Latest Budget for International Affairs, USGLC, 3/10/2023. With global instability continuing to find its way to America’s shores, the Administration’s budget request calls for strengthened resources to “renew and revitalize U.S. leadership in the world, tackle global challenges, and ensure our foreign policy delivers for the American people.” The request for the next fiscal year (FY24) includes $70.6 billion in what is known as “discretionary non-emergency” funding for the International Affairs Budget, which is 14% above the current level. Similar to last year, the Administration recognizes the rising threats and proposes funding increases across a wide range of programs and accounts, from humanitarian assistance to climate change to global health.
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As China steps up humanitarian aid to the Pacific, can the US keep up? by Jason Steinhauer, DEVEX, 2/22/2023. “Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief [have been] an effective tool with which Beijing is trying to reshape external perceptions,” wrote scholar Gregory Coutaz in a 2019 journal article. “China, like many other countries,” Coutaz wrote, “seeks to advance its international agenda through humanitarian efforts.” The depths and strategy of these efforts — which began while the United States and its allies were heavily engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan — went largely unappreciated by the U.S. for many years. Now, the United States and its allies are playing catch up.
Resilience must drive USAID’s programs–Illustrations from Afghanistan, by George Ingram and Naheed Sarabi, Future Development blog, Center for Sustainable Development, 2/14/2023. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has under review a draft revision of its 2012 resilience policy for fragile and conflict environments. As reported in the OECD’s “States of Fragility 2022,” fragility has been rising in recent years and is present across a diversity of country contexts. Of the 60 countries identified as fragile, 23 are low-income, and 33 are middle-income. Approximately half of the more than 100 countries in which USAID operates are on the list, highlighting that resilience should be at the core of the agency’s operating procedures. -
How Democracy Can Win: The Right Way to Counter Autocracy, by Samanatha Power, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development, Foreign Affairs, 2/16/2023. When U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the United States had just witnessed four of the most turbulent years in recent memory, culminating in the failed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Without a doubt, American democracy had been shown to be far more fragile than it was when Biden left the vice presidency in 2017.
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What will happen to foreign aid in US Congress in 2023?, by Adva Saldinger, Devex, 3 Feb. 2023. The U.S. Congress this year is likely to share something in common with the roads of Nairobi, Bogota, and New Delhi: gridlock. But even amid the chaos, you’re normally headed somewhere, and for lawmakers, that’s likely a combination of more oversight and a focus on only the most critical global development-related legislation.
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7 numbers to watch in 2023, by Liz Schrayer, USGLC, 27 Jan 2023. I’ve been reading the multitude of global risk reports released at the beginning of this year, and you won’t be surprised that each of the numbers below will dramatically impact global stability – which directly impacts American stability here at home. The big question is how America and our allies respond in addressing the stories behind each of these numbers, as the answer will affect the economic and security interests of every American family.
- An Ode to Congressional Staffers, Letter to the Editor, Washington Post, by Desaic Myers, 23 Jan. 2023. There are many reasons to mourn the retirement of Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) from the Senate: the loss of his wisdom, experience, vision, ethics and commitment to human rights. Paul Kane’s Jan. 15 @PKCapitol news column, “From Watergate to Jan. 6, Leahy spanned the nation’s constitutional crises,” highlighted another: Mr. Leahy’s relationship with his remarkably loyal staff, many with him for decades. As he goes, so will his staff. We will miss them. One example: Tim Rieser….
- MFAN Applauds Final Fiscal Year 2023 State-Foreign Operations Bill, by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels and Tessie San Martin, 22 December 2022. On December 20, congressional leaders released the final bill text and report for the conference agreement on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill. The agreement provides a total funding level of $59.7 billion, a $3.6 billion increase increase compared to the FY22 (non-emergency) enacted level. In addition, the omnibus FY23 bill also includes $16.6 billion in emergency humanitarian, economic, and security assistance funding for Ukraine, countries affected by the situation in Ukraine, and other assistance to vulnerable populations and communities.
- What’s in the US budget for foreign aid? Devex, by Adva Saldinger, 21 December 2022. After six years of flat funding levels and reliance on emergency appropriations to fill critical global development needs, the U.S. Congress is finally close to approving an increase for foreign affairs funding that would see more for global health, innovation, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. The negotiated omnibus bill released by lawmakers on Tuesday includes a roughly 6% increase for the foreign affairs budget for fiscal 2023.
- Opinion: US staff in high-threat environments need mental health support. Devex, by Beth Cole, Gregg Martin, 20 December 2022. As the 117th U.S. Senate session comes to a close it is time to set up and fund an appropriate and comprehensive mental health treatment system for the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Department personnel serving in high-threat environments. To not do so is to fail staff and their families, and ultimately, those communities they are serving the world over.
- DevExplains: Why the outdated law that created USAID is so hard to fix. By Michael Igoe, 9 December 2022. In 1961, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, the film West Side Story was released, Roger Maris broke the single-season home run record in baseball, and then-United States President John F. Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act, creating the U.S. Agency for International Development. A lot has changed in the 60 years since. Billionaires are launching into orbit on their own rockets, Maris’ record has been broken and re-broken, and there’s even a remake of West Side Story. But the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 still holds sway as the law that authorizes U.S. government foreign aid programs.
- Rethinking the Constraints to Localization of Foreign Aid, by Patrick Fine, Brookings, Future Development, December 1, 2022. The Biden administration has made localization—generally defined as shifting contracts and grants from U.S. organizations to local non-governmental organizations—a centerpiece of its foreign assistance policy. However, Patrick Fine argues that achieving a more ambitious localization vision will remain out of reach until USAID builds the organizational capacity to work with local organizations.
- Contractors Say USAID Forcing Them into New Jobs with Fewer Benefits, by Michael Igoe, Devex, November 9, 2022. Contractors working inside the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Global Health, or GH, allege that the agency’s leadership approved moving them from one government contractor to another that is planning significant cuts to their benefits. They say these changes were not done transparently — and that a large portion of USAID’s global health workforce is now being forced to quickly accept them if they want to keep their jobs.
- Debunking Myths About Foreign Aid, Harvard Political Review, by Henry Wu, November 2, 2022. Foreign aid is an often-cited example of public misperception of U.S. government operations. A 2015 Kaiser Family Foundation survey asked Americans what percentage of the U.S. budget they thought went toward foreign aid. While the average estimate among respondents was 31%, the actual amount is a mere 1%.
- USAID responds to humanitarian spending, staffing concerns by Michael Igoe, Devex, October 26, 2022). The U.S. Agency for International Development has responded to U.S. lawmakers’ concerns about its ability to deliver record amounts of humanitarian aid to address the global food crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a letter on Oct. 19, Jodi Herman, USAID’s assistant administrator for legislative and public affairs, outlined how the agency has spent billions of dollars from emergency funding packages provided by the Congress, while working to shore up a short-staffed humanitarian workforce.
- “They are preparing for war,” by K.K. Otteson (The Washington Post, March 8, 2022). Prof. Barbara F. Walter, political science professor at the University of California at San Diego and the author of How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them, explains the two factors that have been found to explain fragility in the sense of likelihood of armed insurgencies.
- “The New Global Context for Development,” by J. Brian Atwood (The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Spring/Summer 2022, Volume XXVIII, Issue II). “…transnational issues and the global economic outlook are now overwhelming local development progress. … we must comprehend how global challenges relate to a development policy perspective. Then, we can employ development diplomacy to achieve the coordination needed to define the solutions and scale up the effort to meet the threat that these issues represent.”
- “How Americans Think About Trade: Winners, Losers, and the Psychology of Globalization“ by Diana C. Mutz (Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania), in Foreign Affairs, July 30, 2021: 9 pages. Surveys show that Americans think about government-to-government commercial treaties in anthropomorphic terms of human interaction. “Willingness to [sign agreements] with a country, as with another individual, depends on trust. … The more similar to the United States a given country is — whether in terms of religion, language, standard of living, form of government, or culture — the more positively Americans will evaluate it as a potential trade partner.” This article is interesting for what it may mean for UAA’s public outreach. (June 28, 2022)
- “Do Americans know who their diplomats are? Or what they do?“ by Michael S. Pollard and Charles P. Ries, in The Hill. The authors, from RAND, report on a survey of U.S. residents about State Department diplomacy, finding that the respondents have “limited understanding” but are “generally favorable.” The article includes a link to the full report. (June 18, 2022)
- “The abortion debate is weakening an already strained American democracy“ by J. Brian Atwood, in The Hill, May 9, 2022.
- Democracy in Africa is Like a Flashlight without Batteries by Mark G. Wentling, in American Diplomacy, May 4, 2022.
- The Power Of Partnerships Start here (by Skoll World Forum, April 7, 2022) — Dear Partners, We invite you to listen to a discussion featuring USAID Administrator Power with NPR’s Scott Simon at the Skoll Foundation’s 2022 Skoll World Forum. During the conversation she reflects on events happening around the world, along with her vision for working with more local organizations. You can also read the transcript of the interview here.
- The US Foreign Affairs budget and what comes next (by Devex, Adva Saldinger, March 14, 2022). Last week, the U.S. Congress passed a budget bill with an unexpectedly small increase to the foreign affairs budget and without any supplemental funding for the global response to COVID-19.
- Funding requests on the Hill for Ukraine and Covid response (by Devex, March 7, 2022). It’s a big week for Ukraine funding. The U.S. Congress, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund are set to consider major assistance packages for the country, while U.S. President Joe Biden’s funding proposal for the global COVID-19 response has left some experts thoroughly underwhelmed.
- UN allocates $20M from CERF to humanitarian response in Ukraine (by UNOCHA, February 24, 2022) — The United Nations today allocated US$20 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to immediately scale up life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection to civilians in Ukraine following the recent increase in hostilities. The funds will support emergency operations along the contact line in the eastern oblasts of Donetska and Luhanska and in other areas of the country. For further information, please contact:In New York, Jaspreet Kindra, kindra@un.org, + 1 929 273 8109
In Geneva, Jens Laerke, laerke@un.org, +41 79 472 9750 - World Development Report 2022 (World Bank, February 15, 2022) — The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the largest global economic crisis in more than a century. In 2020, economic activity contracted in 90 percent of countries, the world economy shrank by about 3 percent, and global poverty increased for the first time in a generation. Governments enacted a swift and encompassing policy response that alleviated the worst immediate economic impacts of the crisis. However, the government response also exacerbated a number of economic fragilities. World Development Report 2022: Finance for an Equitable Recovery examines the central role of finance in the economic recovery from the pandemic. It highlights the consequences of the crisis most likely to affect emerging economies, and advocates a set of policies to mitigate the interconnected financial risks stemming from the pandemic and stern economies toward a sustainable and equitable recovery.
- “Localisation only pays lip service to fixing aid’s colonial legacy“ (The New Humanitarian by Maha Shuayb in Beirut, February 8, 2022) —“Localisation” has become a ubiquitous term among humanitarians in recent years, used to refer to putting more power and funding in the hands of “local responders”. The term is simple, it feels good, and is a convenient response to increasing calls for the aid sector to decolonise. But instead of shaking the whole temple of power, which is what a sincere attempt at decolonisation requires, the international sector attempts a gentler approach, tip-toeing around the heart of the issue: the deep-rooted racism and ongoing legacies of colonialism.
- Senior director for global health security leaving the NSC ( Devex by Erin Banco, 02/08/2022) — One of U.S. President Joe Biden’s top global health officials is leaving the administration. News broke Tuesday that Beth Cameron, the National Security Council senior director for global health security and biodefense, will step down this month. Cameron is one of the architects of the Global Health Security Agenda and a key adviser on global pandemic preparedness. She will reportedly be replaced by Raj Panjabi, currentlythe global health malaria coordinator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. The shake-up comes as the Biden administration is looking to secure funding from Congress for a major scale up of a USAID-led initiative to increase global vaccine uptake — particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The shake-up comes as the Biden administration is looking to secure funding from Congress for a major scale up of a USAID-led initiative to increase global vaccine uptak — particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
- MFAN Applauds USAID Local Capacity Development Policy (MFAN, February 7, 2022) — This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs Lester Munson, Larry Nowels, and Tessie San Martin. The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) commends USAID for its draft Local Capacity Development (LCD) Policy, released for public comment on Dec. 8, 2021.
- USAID Distributes Aid To Prevent Corruption in Indonesia (Tempo, Source United States/Indonesia Society Daily Bulletin, January 27, 2021) — The United States through USAID announced on Monday a $9.9 million program to help Indonesia prevent corruption by boosting civic engagement and promoting integrity in public and private sectors.
- Women who reached USAID’s top ranks allege gender pay discrimination (Devex by Michael Igoe, January 24, 2022) —A group of women who have served at the highest level of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s foreign service has been waging a five-year legal battle with the agency over what they argue is gender-based pay discrimination. The women leading the case say that they were hired by USAID decades ago at salaries lower than those of many of their male peers. While they were promoted quickly through the agency’s foreign service ranks, their pay increases never corrected for starting salaries that consistently placed them at the lower end of their compensation brackets — something they only realized after reaching the pinnacle of their careers.
- USAID Contractors denounce Agency’s betrayal of thousands of Afghans who carried out its mission (The Intercept.com, January 23, 2022) — For two decades, the agency has been the face of U.S. reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. To tens of thousands of Afghans employed on USAID projects, it was the agency they had believed in and worked for, often at enormous personal risk, that ultimately betrayed them.
- Review Essay of the Enduring Struggle with Historian Mary Jane Maxwell (www.wbynamics.com)-– Does international development work and how? Is it worth it and why? These are the perennial development questions John Norris addresses in his book, The Enduring Struggle: The History of the U.S. Agency for International Development and America’s Uneasy Transformation of the World.