Humanitarian data: the deeper damage wrought by US cuts
25/3/2025: From household health surveys on the ground to satellite images taken from space, the vast information networks that inform the humanitarian system are teetering on the brink of “collapse” as a result of the US government budget cuts.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Decades of progress in reducing child deaths under threat
25/3/2025: Since 2000, child deaths have dropped by more than half and stillbirths by over a third, fuelled by sustained investments in child survival worldwide. Decades of progress are now at risk as major donors have announced or indicated significant funding cuts to aid ahead.
Source: World Health Organization
Has USAID spending been cut by less than we thought?
24/3/2025: Figures from the Center for Global Development, based on leaked lists of terminated and retained programs, place USAID spending cuts at around 34% — way lower than estimates based just on the number of canceled programs.
Source: Devex
DR Congo crisis deepens as funding cuts hit humanitarian aid
21/3/2025: Critical funding gaps are severely hampering humanitarian efforts in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, pushing an already dire humanitarian situation closer to catastrophe. In and around the city of Goma in North Kivu, sites that were previously home to 400,000 internally displaced people have all been destroyed.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Funding cuts bring worldwide disruptions in tuberculosis services
20/3/2025: The World Health Organization is calling for urgent investment of resources to protect tuberculosis (TB) care. Reports reveal that severe disruptions in the TB response are seen across several of the highest-burden countries following recent funding cuts.
Source: World Health Organization
Peru: veto ‘anti-NGO’ law
20/3/2025: Human Rights Watch has called on Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to veto a bill approved by Congress that would severely restrict the work of independent journalists and civil society organizations. The bill’s vague language would, in practice, allow the government to arbitrarily penalize groups that criticize its policies.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Civil Society: the last line of defence in a world of crises
20/3/2025: In a world of compounding crises that threaten the foundations of human rights and democratic freedoms, civil society continues to prove its immense value, according to the 14th annual State of Civil Society Report publshed by Civicus.
Source: Inter Press Service
Israel ends ceasefire in Gaza as strikes resume
20/3/2025: On March 18, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched an attack on the Gaza Strip, effectively terminating the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement. This comes after a pause in ceasefire operations when Israel continued its blockade on humanitarian aid in the enclave and demanded the release of additional hostages.
Source: Inter Press Service
UN Refugee Agency braces for thousands of job cuts
20/3/2025: The head of the UN Refugee Agency has warned staff that he is contemplating cuts of as many as 5,000 to 6,000 workers, primarily the result of “financial uncertainty” wrought by the US foreign aid freeze. The move comes as a number of UN agencies are bracing for deep cuts.
Source: Devex
Chilling verdict against Greenpeace sets damaging precedent
20/3/2025: A US jury in North Dakota has ordered Greenpeace to pay at least $660m to the fossil fuel company Energy Transfer for the actions of protesters opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016 and 2017. Amnesty International has warned that the verdict has severe implications for Indigenous Peoples, and other climate activists who tirelessly work to protect human rights.
Source: Amnesty International