Irwin

Will the next World Food Programme chief answer to Trump? The next WFP chief could help the UN emergency food agency save millions of lives – or walk away from a starving world.

🗣️ Will the next World Food Programme chief answer to Trump? "The next WFP leader could help the UN emergency food agency save millions of lives – or walk away from a starving world." www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2026...

Let’s not pretend the US wants to fund principled humanitarian action The US is trying to redefine humanitarian principles by dictating discrimination. Humanitarians – and other donors – must draw a line.

🗣️ US aid funding policies attack women's choices, trans people, and people of colour: "Let’s not pretend the US wants to fund principled humanitarian action." www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2026...

Is this thing on? 🤔

An atrocity foretold: How the RSF siege of El Fasher turned into genocidal slaughter Communication networks are down but a deluge of shocking videos point to mass killings on a devastating scale.

This – a mix of reporting and reflections on the slaughter unfolding in El Fasher – is tough to read but an essential account in @newhumanitarian.bsky.social

www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/202...

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It is genocide: Humanitarian law must be enforced in Gaza - Institute of Development Studies On 30 May 2025, IDS Honorary Associate and former UN Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths described the situation in Gaza as genocide. Alongside IDS Research Fellow Philip Proudfoot, here he calls for ...

Former UN relief chief Martin Griffiths on genocide in Gaza + implications for humanitarians: "In the face of genocide... the job of enforcing humanitarian law cannot remain detached or siloed from humanitarian action itself," he (co-)writes: www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/it-...

❝Quiet cuts and loud silences: this year’s Pride carries a heavier weight - Geneva Solutions US president Donald Trump’s assault on diversity initiatives has had a silencing effect on many of Geneva’s humanitarian organisations, writes Jamie Munn, the director of the International Council for...

Let this month be a reminder not just of how far we’ve come, but of what we must now defend – openly, actively and without apology.

genevasolutions.news/peace-humani...

Rohingya women coerced to use contraception in Bangladesh refugee camps Many in the overcrowded camps are open to family planning, but coercion and racist treatment by healthcare workers risks squandering that demand.

"I was forced to receive the implant by the doctor.”

Stigmatised for the perception of having too many children, Rohingya women are forced to use contraception in Bangladesh refugee camps: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigatio...

Trump pushes unauthorized migrants to ‘self-deport’ as lawyers raise red flags Trump is touting an “exit bonus” and free flights. Immigration lawyers worry migrants who could qualify to remain legally in the U.S. are being pressured.

IOM being IOM: The Trump administration has hired the International Organization for Migration for its "self-deportation" program. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Gaza militarised aid plan could implicate humanitarians in Israeli war crimes: UN briefing The UN and established NGOs are refusing to participate in an Israeli plan to take over aid distribution in Gaza, but face US pressure to join.

Taking part in Israeli plans to enforce military-controlled aid in Gaza would implicate the 🇺🇳UN in atrocity crimes and genocide risks, an internal UN briefing warns. It may also set a precedent of “total control” likely to be copied by other countries: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2025/05...

Inklings | Ex-WFP boss David Beasley’s new gig UNRWA’s private-sector fundraising, more humanitarian R-words, and David Beasley’s new Fogbow side hustle.

Humanitarian blurred lines: Former WFP chief David Beasley has a new role advising a firm led by ex-military and CIA members. Fogbow was involved in that US military-run Gaza aid pier.

Q: What's the next step here for Fogbow x Beasley in Gaza?

www.thenewhumanitarian.org/newsletter/2...

In Myanmar, a disaster in a war zone means a slow and difficult aid response Local groups are struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster, while the civil war means international efforts have so far proved ineffective.

Once again, Myanmar has fallen off the int'l radar again less than 4 weeks after the worst quake in >100 years hit.

So thank you The New Humanitarian for this piece on what's happening in Sagaing, only 15km from epicentre but where needs are still high.

www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature...

Inklings | Why a reset is not reform Notes on Sudan’s fundraising crossfire, what new development assistance data shows, and yet another humanitarian reset.

🔥 Hot take: Maybe the humanitarian reset is going exactly according to plan. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/newsletter/2...

What if we stopped aid altogether? The future of refugee aid work is that INGOs need to ditch their egos and self-interest, and work honestly and collaboratively with refugee leaders.

"Here’s the uncomfortable truth: If your humanitarian mission dies when the money dries up, it was never a mission, it was a business."

So many strong lines in the piece. @newhumanitarian.bsky.social
www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2025...

Controversial take - well structured digital nomad visas buffeted by strong housing policies are an acceptable counterpoint to highly skilled worker visas that have been skimming off the best trained and most qualified workers from the global majority for generations.

Ethics in the closing of a humanitarian project - Salud everywhere Ethics in the closing of a humanitarian project helps prevent harm and legitimizes us in our imperative to alleviate suffering.

In the first quarter of 2025, hundreds of cooperation and humanitarian aid projects came to a sudden end. How can ethics be ensured in the closure of a humanitarian project, even when it occurs unexpectedly? #humanitarianethics

The data streams that underpin humanitarian response are about to collapse Famine warning, needs assessments, health data: Humanitarian action will be groping in the dark if vital data sources are allowed to crumble.

We enter a data desert: the USG shutters key collecting/analytic efforts like FEWSNET, terminates efforts to improve data-reinforced decision making.

The data streams that underpin humanitarian response are about to collapse: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2025... (@newhumanitarian.bsky.social)

Humanitarian aid’s extreme donor dependency problem in five charts A closer look at the numbers shows the perils of donor concentration, and why a wider donor base means more funding.

Humanitarian aid’s extreme donor dependency problem in five charts - superb bit of number crunching by @odi.global's Mike Pearson www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/202... (@newhumanitarian.bsky.social)

everyone seeing how when you takeaway the DEI the planes start falling out of the sky

Why reforming humanitarianism isn't enough | First Person The New Humanitarian · Episode

Does reading make your eyes hurt? On the TNH podcast feed, @tammam.bsky.social reads his essay, "Why reform isn’t enough," accompanied by a soothing score. open.spotify.com/episode/2hs7...

Inklings | Who’s erasing DEI from their websites? What Trump’s envoys say about aid funding, who’s bridging the gap, and who’s not complying in advance.

“Who we are”: The International Rescue Committee and others are wiping DEI-related content from their websites. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/newsletter/2...

IRC cutting thousands of staff after US aid freeze Layoffs and furloughs spread as humanitarians grapple with the fallout from Trump’s attempted dismantling of US foreign aid.

For now, IRC may be reining in expectations: “IRC will remain a vital resource... smaller than five years ago but double the size of 10 years ago," Miliband wrote in a Valentine’s Day💔 staff email. "I am just so sorry at the price to be paid to get there." www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2025/02...

WFP warns staff on spending, orders ‘comprehensive review’: internal email Aid groups prepare for donor cuts: The world’s best-funded aid organisation says it can’t be ‘business as usual’.

Going into FY2025, IRC was predicting sustained yearly income of $1.5 billion – even as other organisations cut costs and underwent painful restructuring months earlier. eg WFP, a year before: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2023/10...

IRC cuts staff amid budget shortfall Critics have expressed anger at the high salaries paid to the aid organisation’s leadership team, particularly to CEO David Miliband.

The IRC was already weathering a fiscal crisis and staff cuts driven by poor budgeting and forecasting, rising costs, and lower-than-expected revenue. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2024/08...

IRC’s US funding for FY2025: $650 million, or about 42% of its budget (since revised).

The share of US funding at a few other NGOs with US financial statements in 2023: Save the Children (54%), CARE (37%), Catholic Relief Services (35%), Mercy Corps (41%).

IRC leadership board will also take a 20% pay cut. CEO David Miliband’s salary (+benefits) was about $1.2 million in 2022 – one of the highest in the sector. Its top 10 earners that year notched about $5.3 million in total compensation.

IRC cutting thousands of staff after US aid freeze Layoffs and furloughs spread as humanitarians grapple with the fallout from Trump’s attempted dismantling of US foreign aid.

The International Rescue Committee is laying off and furloughing thousands of staff – one organisation among many amid Trump’s aid freeze. A few notes:
www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2025/02...

Inklings | Thoughts on aid dependency amid the Trump chaos Aid worker attacks, political and donor headwinds, and reflections on dependency from an NGO head who once relied on aid.

🗣️ “We keep fixing that hole, but the water pressure keeps building.”

Thoughts on aid dependency and reforms amid the Trump chaos, from an NGO head who once relied on aid: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/newsletter/2...

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How local humanitarian groups are navigating the US aid freeze havoc Stopgaps, new funders, and long-term vision: Pressure grows on grassroots aid to chart a path forward amid Trump’s sudden cuts.

🗣️ “A big wake-up call." Frontline local aid groups are scrambling to move forward after Trump’s US aid freeze – keenly aware that emergencies are deepening in their backyards, and that help is not on the way. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature...