Rethinking Global Aid

As countries dramatically cut foreign aid spending, The Independent has launched a new project to investigate the impact on the developing world. We will report on the repercussions for maternal health and the climate crisis and interrogate what the future holds. The project receives funding from the Gates Foundation. All of the journalism is editorially independent.

<p>Hadja, a pregnant mother of three, is worried without her HIV medication the virus will transmit to her unborn baby</p>

Bel TrewSpecial Report

Inside the devastating impact of Trump's aid cuts on the Aids pandemic

WHO warns Trump cuts put millions of HIV patients at risk

Trump’s cuts to foreign aid will cause 4 million Aids deaths by 2030

<p>Foreign aid cuts mean the government will likely be forced to scale back programmes across global education, family planning, water and food aid. </p>

‘Savage’ UK cuts will deprive 55m people of aid around the world

<p>Annette was raped on her way to school three years ago and gave birth at 15</p>

The deadly truth as family planning slashed in Trump’s global aid cuts

Trump’s deadline to review US aid cuts has passed – so what now?

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Why USAID is such a critical piece of the global climate aid puzzle

<p>A Somali child looks out from her family's makeshift home in Maslah camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)</p>

Who funds global aid – and where do the billions of dollars go?

Africa Aid Freeze PEPFAR

I’m an HIV doctor – we should be very afraid of cuts to Aids funding

<p>British foreign secretary David Lammy meets patients in a malnutrition centre in Adre, Chad near the border with South Sudan where thousands of refugees have been crossing. Mr Lammy visited on January 24 before the government announced cuts to the UK foreign aid budget</p>

Foreign aid is how countries show their character to the world

<p>Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has slashed the aid budget to fund a dramatic increase in defence spending (Frank Augstein/PA)</p>

Making the most defenceless people pay for UK defence is reprehensible

<p>The Kariba Dam hydroelectric plant, whose record low waters prompted Zambia and Zimbabwe to propose new coal-fired power stations</p>

Drought fuels demand for new coal power stations

<p>Protesters gather at a rally supporting the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), near the US Capitol, Washington, DC, on 5 February 2025</p>

Trump’s aid cuts deny a million women a week access to contraception

<p>Demonstrators protest against cuts to American foreign aid spending, in Washington DC, Feb. 26, 2025 (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)</p>

Reproductive health thrown into ‘chaos’ after Trump aid freeze

<p>Anneliese Dodds has resigned as minister for international development over the prime minister’s bid to cut the foreign aid budget to increase defence spending (Lucy North/PA)</p>

Anneliese Dodds had to resign over cutting aid to the world’s poorest

<p>Donald Trump has ordered aid cuts to projects designed to tackle the climate crisis</p>

The world is experiencing record heat – and it’s about to get worse