One year after USAID’s shutdown, Ethiopian aid workers are still struggling
The fallout from the aid freeze is still rippling through Ethiopia’s humanitarian workforce, with many laid-off workers unemployed.
Photo Credit: ©UNICEF Ethiopia / 2024 / Demissew Bizuwerk / CC BY-NC-ND
US energy assistance for Ukraine stalls as winter bites [Reuters] ↳
U.S. and European officials are growing increasingly worried as hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. energy assistance promised to Ukraine remain unreleased, according to Reuters. As severe winter conditions push the nation's war‑damaged power grid to the brink, authorities fear residents will freeze to death in their own homes if aid is not delivered.
As foreign aid wanes, Haitians look to local solutions for gangs and poverty [The Christian Science Monitor] ↳
Escalating gang violence in Haiti has hampered aid delivery and left many Haitians turning to local solutions in the absence of robust international support. According to The Christian Science Monitor, donors including USAID have reduced assistance amid the volatile security environment, complicating efforts to address poverty and instability across the country.
An ISIS-linked insurgency gains ground as U.S. support disappears in northern Mozambique ↳
The halt of U.S.-supported livelihood, governance, and stabilization programs in Cabo Delgado has widened the vacuum exploited by ISIS-aligned militants, CNN reports. As community development projects, youth employment initiatives, and local conflict-mitigation efforts collapse, insurgents are expanding recruitment and territory — a reversal that underscores how aid cuts can destabilize fragile regions and raise long-term security costs.
Trump cut Nigeria’s aid back in March. Now he wonders why it’s so violent [LA Times] ↳
U.S. cuts to early-warning, stabilization, and police-accountability programs have eroded Nigeria’s ability to prevent violence — unrest now cited to justify harsher security measures, an LA Times contributor writes.
Livelihood program in Uganda collapses after U.S. funding withdrawn [NPR] ↳
In northern Uganda, the U.S. canceled a $15 million program that would have helped refugees start small businesses. Thousands of South Sudanese families have been left with no path to self-reliance beyond emergency aid.
The cuts that bleed: What happens when peace programs go dark
As U.S.-funded initiatives disappear, this peace-building organization says they’re “operating blind” in one of Nigeria’s most fragile regions.
For Syrian refugees, US aid cuts have been devastating [FP] ↳
Syrian families who once counted on U.S.-funded cash and food assistance are now facing hunger and eviction as humanitarian support dries up, Foreign Policy reports.
Foreign aid is mostly gone. It could be replaced with something better [NYT] ↳
The decline of U.S. foreign aid could open space for smarter, locally led models, argues former USAID administrator Raj Shah in this opinion for The New York Times.
The US stopped showing up to disasters. The results are horrifying. [Vox] ↳
America’s retreat from global disaster response has seen humanitarian crises deepen, Vox reports. Countries like Afghanistan and Sudan have struggled to fill the gap once covered by U.S. emergency aid.
In Boko Haram’s birthplace, USAID’s collapse threatens a school for victims of extremism [AP] ↳
A USAID-funded school for children orphaned or displaced by Boko Haram now faces closure after U.S. funding was halted, leaving hundreds of students in limbo.
‘No more food’: In northern Nigeria, US funding cuts bite for aid groups [Al Jazeera] ↳
In northern Nigeria, organizations like the World Food Programme are scaling back aid or completely halting operations, Al Jazeera reports.
Bill Gates: U.S. Aid for Global Health is Saving Lives [WSJ] ↳
Bill Gates argues in The Wall Street Journal that U.S. aid for global health is still saving lives, emphasizing that vaccines and medical support remain among America’s most effective global investments
USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths over the next five years [NBC] ↳
NBC News cites new research predicting that U.S. aid cuts could lead to as many as 14 million deaths over five years. The analysis underscores how deeply intertwined global health systems are with U.S. funding.
Nepal's farmers struggle amid aid cuts [Global Press Journal] ↳
Rural life in Nepal is getting harder. Global Press Journal documents how farmers are struggling to adapt as development programs lose funding.
‘The cartels and clans are ecstatic’: How USAID cuts have emboldened Colombia’s narcos [The Telegraph] ↳
Drug cartels and criminal clans in Colombia are gaining ground as peacebuilding programs collapse. The Telegraph links the resurgence to the loss of USAID support.
A clinic lost funding. A mother lost her life [BBC] ↳
Millions of tons of food sat rotting in warehouses after U.S. funding was withdrawn, according to Reuters. Aid workers say the suspension has left entire regions without supplies.

