A pan-African HIV vaccine trial originally set to begin with substantial U.S. funding was thrown into jeopardy last year when foreign aid was abruptly cut. According to NPR, even amid those setbacks and a reduced scope, the downsized trial has now started enrolling participants, offering cautious hope that advancing vaccine research.

As USAID funding disappears, NGOs are downsizing, shifting power to local partners, and pursuing mergers and new funding models to survive, according to The Conversation.

One year after the disruptions to U.S. development aid, the dependence of Jordan’s economy and public services on U.S. support have been laid bare. The National reports on slowing progress in education, health care, infrastructure, and employment.

Recent cuts to U.S. foreign assistance will worsen global climate vulnerability, not just humanitarian suffering, according to Foreign Affairs. Reduced development and resilience funding increases long-term climate risk for both vulnerable nations and global stability more broadly.

In DRC, clinicians report increases in uterine ruptures, maternal deaths, and untreated cervical cancer as women delay care due to new fees and longer travel distances. In Madagascar, the termination of a USAID-supported maternal health program — previously credited with halving maternal and neonatal mortality in target regions — has led to sharp declines in referrals and facility-based deliveries.

Sources: Physicians for Human Rights, MSH

In Rwanda, the termination of the USAID-funded Ireme Project halted scholarships for 500 midwifery students, cutting off care for an estimated 250,000–500,000 women in the first year alone. In Afghanistan, a USAID program mentoring 9,000 maternal and newborn health workers was terminated, ending hands-on training in one of the world’s most dangerous places to give birth.

Source: MSH

In Afghanistan, women report traveling long distances to Kabul or Charikar after village clinics closed, often unable to afford transport or fees. In Uganda, the termination of community health programs has left millions of households without a local point of contact for prenatal and delivery care.

Source: CARE

The dismantling of USAID has shuttered agricultural research labs and destabilized international crop science, with consequences likely to emerge decades from now. Scientists warn today’s cuts could fuel future food shortages and price spikes.

Essential health efforts have been hobbled in many low- and middle-income nations, leaving care gaps and forcing governments to explore new funding strategies, reports Think Global Health.

After U.S. aid cuts disrupted malaria treatment in northern Cameroon, clinics ran short of lifesaving drugs and unpaid health workers struggled to fill the gaps. The New York Times investigates how quickly progress against malaria can unravel when supply chains and frontline care are broken.

Sharp cuts to U.S. foreign aid for the World Food Programme have left refugees at the Kakuma camp in Kenya severely malnourished, with pregnant women facing life-threatening complications, reports ProPublica. Many families must choose between returning to starvation outside the hospital or staying indefinitely to access basic meals.

NPR reports that years of progress against neglected tropical diseases — driven largely by U.S.-backed mass drug distribution and surveillance programs — are now at risk as funding cuts disrupt treatment campaigns.

With USAID programs gutted, conservative groups are advancing new aid frameworks that sideline sexual and reproductive health. Advocates warn this shift could deepen contraceptive shortages and raise the risk of unsafe abortions, The Guardian reports.

ProPublica investigates impacts after the Trump administration cut off food from the third-largest refugee camp in the world. Thousands of families faced impossible choices as their children starved. Here, the authors follow the story of Rose Natabo, who works tirelessly to keep her children alive even amid deep food insecurity caused by the cuts.

ProPublica traces how abrupt U.S. policy decisions, including aid freezes and program terminations, triggered food shortages across fragile regions, compounding conflict and displacement. Internal documents and interviews show the crisis was widely anticipated but allowed to unfold anyway.

Reductions to humanitarian aid in Rohingya refugee camps have stripped away protection services, leaving children more vulnerable to trafficking, forced labor, and early marriage, reports the AP.

ProPublica reveals how U.S. officials marked major aid cuts even as warnings mounted about disease outbreaks. In the weeks that followed, cholera spread in vulnerable communities, underscoring the deadly consequences of dismantling public health systems mid-crisis.