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The Trump administration hasn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat for nonprofits, at least those it views as too left-leaning. On the contrary, it seems to be trying to show them the door. So some are looking for an escape hatch.
Also in today’s edition: Authoritarianism is on the move. Can the aid community keep up?
U.S.-based international nonprofits, facing an onslaught of uncertainty and hostility, are scrambling to register sister organizations overseas to fend off a slew of potentially crippling accusations and policies from the White House, Devex contributor Jessica Abrahams writes.
That includes funding cuts, but also reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has considered banning overseas grantmaking, might strip some organizations of their tax-exempt status, or disband groups entirely amid spurious accusations that some are supporting terrorism.
In fact, one Canadian law firm said it had seen a tenfold increase in demand compared to previous years, while a U.K. law firm with expertise in the charity sector said it had seen a fivefold increase in inquiries.
A foreboding example is the announcement from a major U.K.-based grantmaker — the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation — that it would halt funding to U.S.-based organizations because “we are no longer confident in our understanding of the US policy environment for foreign funders of US NGOs,” CIFF said in a statement.
The United Kingdom is one destination that seems to be particularly attractive to U.S.-based nonprofits. U.K. lawyers pointed to drivers such as a desire for organizations to expand their funding bases, geographical advantages to being in the U.K. for those working internationally, and a growing interest among U.S. professionals in moving to Europe.
However, setting up shop abroad is easier said than done. The lawyers Jessica spoke to warned that establishing an entity overseas comes with complications, including potential tax implications and new regulatory burdens. They advised organizations to think carefully about what they are hoping to achieve and whether opening a new entity is necessary to achieve it.
Read: US nonprofits seek refuge abroad (Pro)
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The grip of authoritarianism seems to be tightening around the world — the U.S. being no exception. Civic space is closing. And pro-democracy players are needed now more than ever to pry it back open.
That was the overarching message at the Trust Conference, which took place in the U.K. last week.
One takeaway our Business Editor David Ainsworth got from the conference was the need for the aid community to help newsrooms in exile continue their work, especially when they’re evicted by states where civic freedoms are under attack. Another takeaway? The fight against authoritarianism involves nuanced trade-offs.
Remaining present in a country where an authoritarian regime operates often involves compliance and compromises, presenting a dilemma for international players who do not want to be complicit or place staff at risk.
But it remains vital, Turkish journalist Nevşin Mengü told the conference, because regimes want to continue to have respect on the international stage, and therefore, the role of outside observers such as the United Nations is essential to the process of building democratic systems.
Resilience and patience are key as well. Alsu Kurmasheva, a community journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, had left Russia, but while on a visit to her elderly mother, she was imprisoned for failing to register as a foreign agent.
She warned that regimes typically build up such laws and obstacles gradually to a point where they are happy to silence opposition.
“It doesn’t come in a day,” she said. “It comes after 10 years.”
She stressed the vital role of the international community in helping her to resist, and said that receiving letters from supporters around the world kept her going: “The stamps on the letters were windows to freedom.”
Read: Authoritarianism is rising. How should the aid community respond?
The “America First” philosophy has seeped into every crevice of American life, from tariffs and trade to development and humanitarian assistance — all with international repercussions. That includes global health, where the U.S. was previously the largest donor in the sector. “Was” being the operative word.
Not only did the Trump administration nix USAID and terminate the majority of its programs, it also made significant cuts to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pulled out of the World Health Organization, and cut funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The moves all fall under the ubiquitous banner of “America First,” which underpins the State Department’s new global health strategy. The priorities of the policy include direct contracts with partner countries, collaboration with faith-based organizations and the private sector, and a shift away from the traditional reliance on NGOs. It also paves the way for countries to take greater ownership and pay for their own programs, my colleague Sara Jerving writes.
In a Devex Pro Briefing, Lawrence Gostin of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and Rachel Bonnifield of the Center for Global Development rattled off a litany of questions for the new strategy.
“Is the Trump administration serious? Is there going to be funding behind it? Are they in it at least for a period of time that will assure stability in the transition?” Gostin asked. “All those questions are unknown, and there’s a lot of skepticism.”
But Bonnifield expressed cautious optimism. “I would urge this community instead of being defensive about it — even though it’s hard, even though you have to swallow your ego to some extent — to try and find that positive vision and use our energy to push things as far as possible in that direction,” she said.
Read: The promise and pitfalls of an 'America First' global health strategy (Pro)
ICYMI: Trump’s ‘America First’ global health plan sidelines NGOs
“I’ve believed in Africans taking ownership of our development. I’ve never understood the whole aid quest.”
— Samaila Zubairu, president and CEO, Africa Finance CorporationZubairu says he’s “actually happy” the U.S. aid cuts happened, although some kind of transition would have been nice. Still, the situation is what it is and it’s time to move on, he said recently during a Devex Impact House event on the sidelines of this month’s World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings.
For Zubairu, part of the solution lies not with attracting outside private capital, but with first tapping Africa’s own resources to invest in its development — thereby creating an appealing market for the private sector to then enter and scale.
“I think the biggest barrier we have is our mindset — the fact that we refuse to take ownership … the fact that we think that help is going to come from somewhere. For me, once we can overcome that, and then we take a proper look at what we have, we see that we have quite a bit,” he told me in the Pro Content Studio of our event.
Quite a bit is an understatement. Zubairu estimates the continent holds about $4 trillion of domestic capital pools, in the form of pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, for example.
To tap into those resources, Zubairu said Africa needs “to build institutional execution,” enact policy reforms “that would ensure specific asset allocation for infrastructure,” and focus on “risk innovation to ensure that the savers are comfortable to make the investment.”
It’s all doable, and would show that the continent isn’t just about budding potential.
“We need to find ways to intentionally transform that potential to progress and prosperity for all our people, because there’s so much that Africa can offer to the world,” he said.
Read: It's time to move beyond Africa's potential, says AFC chief
Related: Africa Finance Corporation works to tap hundreds of billions of dollars (Pro)
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The U.N. has urged safe passage for civilians trapped in Sudan’s El Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized the army’s main base, raising fears of mass atrocities in Darfur. [BBC]
Humanity has failed to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and must “change course now” or face “devastating consequences,” warned U.N. chief António Guterres ahead of COP30. [The Guardian]
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