Trump’s proposed Gaza takeover denounced as ethnic cleansing
19/2/2025: President Trump has threatened to “seize Gaza,” turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” and move Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Trump’s plan, stating that: “ethnic cleansing is not acceptable in our world.”
Source: Inter Press Service
Global Fund launches $18 billion replenishment in tough environment
18/2/2025: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is seeking $18 billion to continue its lifesaving work, claiming a return of $19 in health and economic benefit for every dollar invested. The Global Fund has been dependent on the US for about 30% of its funding.
Source: Devex
How Zambia seeks to cash in on the global drive for EVs
18/2/2025: Intense Chinese and Western interest in Zambia’s copper resources brings the potential to lift people out of poverty, free the country from debt and meet its development goals. Ensuring local people benefit requires the nation to address its large informal mining economy.
Source: Climate Home News
EU pressed to act on Rwanda-backed atrocities in Eastern DR Congo
17/2/2025: The European Parliament is calling on European Union executives to take action on the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group which is accused of mass displacement, indiscriminate shelling and killings and widespread sexual violence in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Source: Human Rights Watch
North Korea’s unrelenting human rights crisis
17/2/2025: The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a new report alleging that North Korea’s persistent use of forced labor, detention, and torture to maintain totalitarian rule amounts to crimes against humanity. It recommends that the UN Security Council should refer North Korea’s situation to the International Criminal Court.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Judge orders Trump administration to unfreeze existing aid programs
14/2/2025: A US federal judge has ruled that, while the president could order a 90-day review, the administration could not compel USAID staff to stop work or freeze funding for existing programs with contractual obligations. This ruling is a first step toward restoring US foreign assistance programs.
Source: Devex
Sudan has become a devastating humanitarian and displacement crisis
14/2/2025: Recent fighting in Sudan has forced the UN to evacuate Khartoum, just as it is launching a call for record funding of $4.2 billion to support aid operations. Over two thirds of the total population is in need of humanitarian assistance, while over three million people are classified as refugees.
Source: UN News
Thousands of African health workers lose jobs due to US aid freeze
13/2/2025: As USAID’s funding freeze leads to mass layoffs of African health workers - around 54,000 in Kenya alone - experts warn of an escalating crisis in healthcare access. Those affected include professionals working in maternal and child health, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria prevention.
Source: Devex
WHO warns that US funding cuts threaten global health
12/2/2025: The World Health Organization's Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has urged the US Government to reconsider its funding suspension. He points to disruptions to HIV treatment, setbacks in polio eradication and limited resources for responding to mpox epidemics in Africa.
Source: UN News
US pausing of foreign bribery enforcement will harm global governance
11/2/2025: US President Trump has issued an order to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, pending new guidelines. Transparency International warns that this step risks undermining decades of progress in tackling cross border corruption.
Source: Transparency International