Tread Softly

3/2/2026: The Chief Executive explains why the Foundation’s primary goals, such as eliminating deaths of mothers and children to preventable causes, will be reinforced despite recent setbacks in foreign aid commitments of the US and other governments. The Gates Foundation targets $9 billion per year of funding for human development.

Source: Devex

2/2/2026: Norway has launched a wide-ranging review of its international development policy, aiming to respond to dramatic changes in the world, including aid cuts, and attacks on international collaboration, One of the few remaining European donors to honour longstanding targets for foreign aid, Norway is committed to maintain an ad budget of 1% of gross domestic income.

Source: The New Humanitarian

2/2/2026: An authoritative survey of 23 armed conflicts over the last 18 months has concluded that international law seeking to limit the effects of war is at breaking point, with more than 100,000 civilians killed, while torture and rape are committed with near impunity. The laws of armed conflict were developed extensively after the end of the second world war.

Source: The Guardian

1/2/2026: The New START treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between the US and Russia, has expired, removing the last restraints on an accelerating arms race. A more encouraging milestone relates to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which has been in force for five years as of Jan. 22. Inspired by the land mines and cluster munitions bans, the idea is that as more countries join the TPNW, clinging to these weapons will become less acceptable as the diplomatic and reputational costs of doing so will become greater.

Source: PassBlue

1/2/2026: The Executive Director of Human Rights Watch warns of the end of an era in which governments accepted that state power should be constrained by law, institutions, and a shared baseline of human dignity. For human rights to survive we must build a durable alliance that defends core norms and makes repression costly.

Source: Human Rights Watch

31/1/2026: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the recent elections in Myanmar, saying they have further polarised society and intensified violence instead of providing a credible political pathway. Parties opposed to military rule were banned, and many of their leaders detained.

Source: UN News

29/1/2026: The US State Department has released its latest five-year strategy which includes foreign assistance. Africa is only mentioned once in the 19-page strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals are deemed to be “inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.”

Source: Devex

28/1/2026: A report by Eurodad argues that technical reforms have diverted foreign aid away from poverty reduction and toward the commercial and political priorities of donor countries. For example, donors are now more likely to favour loans over grants, even as many low-income countries face mounting debt distress.

Source: Devex

27/1/2026: The US government's new Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance policy expands the Global Gag Rule to its most extreme version, demonstrating the systematic subordination of scientific evidence and patient needs to ideological objectives.

Source: Medecins Sans Frontieres

27/1/2026: Local data collection is revealing the vast scale of violence inflicted on Iranians during the state’s crackdown. These estimates exceed 30,000, far surpassing official figures. Testimony from medics, morgue and graveyard staff provides evidence of the huge state effort to conceal systematic killing of protesters

Source: The Guardian