Tag: Development cooperation

By Peter Taylor

The re-election of President Trump in January 2025 led to an immediate freeze on all international development funding from USAID, the largest international aid donor. As highlighted in this recent publication, this freeze caused rapid and devastating effects on humanitarian and development programs worldwide, including halted efforts to prevent the spread of HIV and Mpox, shutdowns of women’s health providers, and suspension of water and sanitation projects. The sudden withdrawal undermined trust and severed long-standing partnerships critical for equitable global development research and cooperation.

By Stephan Klingebiel and Andy Sumner / Development and Development Policy in the Trump Era Series

The global system of development cooperation is in a state of flux. In a new policy brief we discuss how and why the very foundations of international aid and development are being shaken by geopolitical shifts, contested norms, and institutional upheaval. The brief argues that the crisis is not a mere cyclical downturn, or nor is it only about money, but a fundamental reordering of the global development landscape. In short, a “tipping point” in the sense of a dramatic moment when incremental changes coalesce into a transformative shift, for better or worse, is in the offing. We ask what might come next.