The Impact Feed

The Independent reports that changes to U.S. foreign assistance under the Trump administration have coincided with interruptions in health, contraception, and disease control services in several African countries. With the scale of support significantly reduced, the shape of American foreign assistance and its effect on the world going forward looks very different one year on.

In the wake of the USAID closure, philanthropies are trying to fill some of the gap. NPR follows how one organization is trying to do the most good in the face of major cuts to U.S. foreign assistance.

Health Policy Watch reports that one year after the U.S. government paused foreign aid and cut global health projects, gaps continue to emerge in services such as HIV treatment. These changes were a major shock to global health financing and governance, with models estimating significant deaths and disease spread associated with the funding interruptions.

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.

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.

Bill Gates tells Politico that projected increases in child mortality are closely tied to recent foreign aid cuts by the U.S. and other wealthy countries, following decades of steady progress. While the Trump administration disputes the link, Gates argues the scale and speed of the cuts have had deadly consequences.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace reports that the abrupt reduction in U.S. humanitarian aid has left major gaps in global emergency response systems and strained the ability of the United Nations and partner organizations to meet rising humanitarian needs. The funding shock presents both a crisis and a potential inflection point for reforming the international humanitarian system.

Facing severe funding shortages following U.S. aid cuts, Uganda has stopped granting asylum to new arrivals from Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia, The Guardian reports. The shift leaves thousands in legal limbo, heightens protection risks, and signals how quickly global displacement systems can unravel when donors pull back.

Foreign Policy details how the termination of U.S.-supported HIV programs in Malawi — including testing, treatment literacy, and community adherence networks — has left clinics overwhelmed and patients without care.

The Guardian reports that U.S. funding cuts have shuttered HIV clinics, disrupted PrEP and ART supply chains, and ended community-led outreach across multiple countries. Health workers warn that prevention gains made over two decades are collapsing, with global agencies now projecting a surge in new infections and treatment interruptions that could undo years of progress toward epidemic control.

Cuts to food assistance and the freeze of key U.S. agricultural programs have exacerbated hunger while driving large-scale food waste, The Conversation reports. With fewer resources for distribution networks and labor shortages across the supply chain, farmers are leaving crops unharvested and food is spoiling in storage.

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.

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.

The analysis concludes that the shutdown weakened coordination structures, reduced partner capacity, and led to significant staff losses. Researchers argue that humanitarian systems cannot be paused without lasting damage—and that rebuilding them requires more resources than maintaining them.

New modeling suggests that simultaneous U.S. and European aid drawdowns would erase decades of gains against infectious disease. The findings point to a geopolitical vacuum, with no major donor prepared to offset the scale of withdrawn support.

The research warns that reductions in U.S. TB funding could trigger major spikes in pediatric infections. The projections underscore how cuts undermine global outbreak control and shift long-term treatment costs back onto lower-income countries.

Expired contraceptives show how abruptly pausing U.S. funds can freeze global supply chains midstream. Beyond wasted commodities, the stall drives up procurement costs and disrupts access to family planning programs that depend on predictable U.S. financing, NPR reports.

New domestic spending in Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia signals resilience, but the move also exposes how heavily the region relied on U.S. support, reports The Guardian. Governments are now filling emergency gaps rather than following planned transition timelines, raising questions about sustainability and equity.