Aid Cuts One Year On: Local Solutions to Indefensible Harm

Over the last year, U.S. foreign assistance cuts—including the Trump administration’s abrupt dismantlement of USAID—have had life-altering consequences for displaced people and the communities supporting them. Programs that kept families fed, protected children, supported survivors of violence, and sustained basic health services have been cut back or cut off. The result has been preventable suffering and deeper instability across humanitarian and refugee settings.

On February 5, Refugees International gathered experts, refugee leaders, and mutual aid leaders to discuss what these cuts have meant in local communities: what they have witnessed firsthand, how they have adapted to keep meeting urgent needs, and what must happen now to reduce harm.

Welcome

Jeremy Konyndyk, President, Refugees International

Moderator

Hardin Lang, Vice President for Programs and Policy, Refugees International

Speakers

Ana María Díez, Co-founder and President, Coalición por Venezuela, alumni fellow, Refugees International

Meaza Gebremedhin, Founder and President, Harambee Collective

Lucky Karim, Founder, Refugee Women for Peace and Justice, and Alumni Fellow, Refugees International

Mustafa Alio, Co-Managing Director, R-SEAT

Rachel Schmidtke, Senior Advocate for Latin America, Refugees International

Abdullahi Boru Halakhe, Senior Advocate for East and Southern Africa, Refugees International

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Featured Image: Twelve-month-old Fatima is held during a malnutrition screening in Aleppo, Syria, as aid cuts force health clinics to close, leaving families dependent on humanitarian assistance with few options, June 2025 (Ed Ram/Getty Images)