Foreign Aid

Latest

Governance
A chart titled “Health Funding from Major Donors,” shows changes in development assistance for health over 1990–2025, from Australia, Japan, South Korea, France, United Kingdom, and the United States. All countries experienced a sharp increase in funding during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a significant decline. The United States was the largest donor, peaking around $24B, followed by the UK (peak $5.7B) and France ($3.3B). Japan, Australia, and South Korea contributed smaller amounts.

The State of Global Health Funding: August 2025

by Allison Krugman

Six months after cuts to foreign aid, mostly by the United States, a new global health landscape is taking shape

Governance
Patients with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) wear masks while awaiting consultation at a clinic in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 23, 2010.

Africa's Tuberculosis Funding Crisis: Moving Beyond External Saviors

by Christopher Kalila

Recent foreign aid cuts have exposed the need for domestic responses to maintain progress against the fatal disease

A world map titled "Mapping the World’s Zero-Dose Children" shows the proportion of children in 2023 who had never received a single vaccine dose. Countries are shaded in a gradient from light blue (15%) to dark red (59%) to indicate the percentage of unvaccinated children. Somalia is labeled, noting it had the greatest proportion of unvaccinated children in 2023. Other countries with high proportions include Haiti and Papua New Guinea. Map by CFR/Allison Krugman, source: IHME.
Governance

Tracking Vaccination Coverage Shortfalls

by Allison Krugman

A new study on global immunization coverage shows declining uptake for key vaccines

A vendor writes as she stands in a legal pharmacy, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on October 16, 2018.
Trade

Africa's Shift From Aid Dependency

by Muhammad Ali Pate, Philippe Duneton

The future of African health systems will be driven by domestic investment and demand for regionally made drugs

U.S. Air Force servicemen unload humanitarian aid from a U.S. military cargo plane at Tbilisi airport, in Tbilisi, Georgia, on August 14, 2008.
Governance

U.S. Soft Power: Next Steps After the Foreign Aid Withdrawal

by Stephanie Psaki

A former White House official on the future of advancing strategic interests while saving lives and growing economies

A health worker sprays disinfectants a train as a measure against the COVID-19, in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 19, 2020.
Governance

As Foreign Aid Lags, Regional Health Agencies Come to the Fore

by Nelson Aghogho Evaborhene, Afifah Rahman-Shepherd

Regional organizations are well positioned to harmonize disease surveillance systems and serve as hubs for knowledge

A Ugandan woman living with HIV/AIDS waits to receive antiretroviral drugs from the Infectious Disease Institute, in Kampala, Uganda, on November 30, 2006.
Governance

Life With Less PEPFAR: The First 100 Days in Tanzania and Uganda

by Emily Bass

Stories on the ground support and contradict media narratives about what the HIV program has lost

A horizontal bar chart titled "Chinese Development Assistance to Gavi Transition Countries." The chart lists twelve countries with corresponding aid amounts in descending order: Bangladesh ($19.6B), Lao People's Democratic Republic ($18.2B), Kenya ($11B), Nigeria ($10.5B), Ghana ($7.3B), Papua New Guinea ($6.9B), Congo ($6.8B), Ivory Coast ($6.8B), Djibouti ($1.9B), Solomon Islands ($99M), and Sao Tome and Principe ($37M). Country flags are shown next to each name. The source is Think Global Health.
Trade

U.S. Retreat from Gavi Cedes Influence to China's Vaccine Suppliers

by Prashant Yadav, Chloe Searchinger

The loss of U.S. funding could leave Gavi with three options to downsize its operations

Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi arrives for the inauguration of Namibia's first female President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, in Windhoek, Namibia, on March 21, 2025.
Governance

Africa's Quiet Response to U.S. Realignment of Foreign Aid

by Michelle D. Gavin

Characterizing the end of U.S. aid as a catalyst allows African politicians to emphasize their readiness for a new era

Alice Okwirry, 50, a widow living with HIV/AIDS, walks near her house, in Kianda village, Nairobi, Kenya, on February 28, 2025.
Governance

Small Global Health Investments, Big Benefits for the United States

by Kashef Ijaz

The Carter Center's experience highlights how global health assistance advances U.S. national interests

A bar chart titled 'Disaster in Democratic Republic of Congo' displaying fatalities related to conflict from April 2024 to January 2025. The chart differentiates between M23-involved fatalities and other conflict-related fatalities. A significant spike in fatalities is marked in late January 2025, corresponding to the seizure of Goma by M23 rebels on January 26, 2025. The source is 'Think Global Health.
Poverty

DRC in Crisis: The Human Cost of U.S. Aid Cuts Amid the M23 Rebellion

by Allison Krugman

Aid workers and health experts recount the growing humanitarian crisis amid conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro shakes hands with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela February 20, 2024.
Governance

Russian Cooperation With Venezuela Integrates Health

by Julio S. Castro Méndez, Victoria E. Castro Trujillo

Russian-Venezuelan relations now involve the health sector, a bid to expand Moscow's influence in Latin America

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the opening of multifunctional medical center for the Russian Defense Ministry, via video link.
Governance

A New Era for Russian Foreign Policy on Global Health

by Nataliya Shok

Russia has altered its approach to global health amid the war in Ukraine and geopolitical rivalry with the West

U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris waves supporters as she arrives for a campaign drive-in rally at Palm Beach State College in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., October 31, 2020
Governance

Kamala Harris's Global Health and Foreign Aid Record

by Chloe Searchinger, Anil Cacodcar

If Harris wins, the Israel-Hamas War and the U.S. southern border are likely to shape her priorities for global aid