The debt crisis is worse than we thought
21/4/2026: A report published by ONE Data concludes that the cost of borrowing for African countries has almost doubled between 2020 and 2024. Some countries have been locked out of capital markets altogether. Attention to the debt crisis has been overtaken by the Iran war and the collapse of USAID.
Source: Devex
Jubilee US chief optimistic Trump administration will tackle debt crisis
21/4/2026: The executive director of the Jubilee USA Network says the White House has an appetite for helping poorer countries restructure their debt. He cites comments by US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent.
Source: Devex
What the latest OECD numbers tell us about the future of aid
10/4/2026: Foreign aid from the world’s wealthiest nations fell by 23% in 2025, according to preliminary data. The destruction of US foreign aid programmes represented three quarters of the global decline.
Source: The New Humanitarian
SDGs financing gap risks reversing decades of progress
9/4/2026: The UN's 2026 Financing for Sustainable Development Report highlights the shortfalls in global commitments. Official Development Assistance dropped by 6 per cent in 2024 and by another 23 per cent the following year. Debt servicing burdens have hit 20-year highs and average tariffs imposed on exports from the world’s Least Developed Countries surged from 9 per cent to 28 per cent in 2025.
Source: UN News
US Congress passes $50 billion foreign affairs bill
3/2/2026: The $50 billion compromise foreign affairs spending bill is now law — even if it took a little longer than expected. Although the total is nearly $20 billion above the president’s budget request, humanitarian assistance funding is roughly 37% lower than the previous year.
Source: Devex
Gates Foundation doubles down on goals in a world weighed down by crisis
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
Top donor Norway launches total aid policy review
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
Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’ redraws US foreign aid map
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
Global aid is leaving the poorest behind
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
This jubilee year must herald a new era of global debt relief
15/12/2025: Every 25 years the Catholic Church celebrates a jubilee, a time marked by forgiveness of debt. The most recent jubilee, in 2000, led to the largest debt forgiveness in modern history, as 36 countries benefited from $76 billion in relief. As the 2025 jubilee year comes to an end, the debt burden of the poorest countries remains stubbornly unsustainable.
Source: Devex