"In 2025, the administration of US President Donald Trump ordered the US Agency for International Development to be closed; this year, it withdrew the country from 66 international organizations. Other Western nations that are plagued with high levels of debt and pressure to prioritize domestic challenges have slashed their foreign aid, too. According to projections, official development assistance dropped by 9-17% in 2025, amounting to some US$55 billion."
"Meanwhile, conflicts are intensifying amid rising geopolitical tensions, in places as diverse as Gaza, Iran, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine. The UN reports that 305 million people in conflict zones need urgent humanitarian aid; more than 123 million have been forcibly displaced, facing malnutrition and lack of shelter. The cost of rebuilding cities in Gaza and the West Bank has been put at $53 billion; in Syria, that number is at least $250 billion."
"The unravelling of the aid industry must force a reset of the nexus between peace and economic development. The international-development model has changed little in eight decades. In 1949, at his inaugural address as US president, Harry Truman introduced a linear concept of development - in which countries progress from 'under-developed' to 'developed' - and recognized that poverty was a "threat" to both less- and more-prosperous areas."
Global conflict reached record levels in 2024 with 61 active conflicts across 36 countries, while international aid fell sharply. Official development assistance is projected to drop 9-17% in 2025 to about US$55 billion after a 9% fall in 2024. The US ordered closure of USAID and withdrew from 66 international organizations; Western nations under debt pressure have cut foreign aid and multilateral institutions have enacted restructurings and layoffs. Conflicts in Gaza, Iran, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine intensified; the UN reports 305 million people need urgent aid and over 123 million are forcibly displaced, with reconstruction costs reaching tens to hundreds of billions of dollars.
Read at Nature
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]