Devex Pro Insider: What comes next for US foreign assistance? Don't ask the experts

I was excited to speak with my colleagues Adva Saldinger, Elissa Miolene, and Michael Igoe for our latest Pro Briefing (if you missed it, you can catch the recap this week). We reflected on the epochal changes to U.S. foreign assistance last year and, more importantly, discussed what’s to come this year. I say more importantly because I think we’re all ready to move on from 2025 and move forward in 2026. The Trump administration and Congress seem ready to do just that as they rush to put their stamp on rebuilding the aid architecture. As we’ve been reporting, the State Department, which absorbed what was left of USAID, has forged ahead with signing bilateral health compacts with African nations as part of its overall strategy to shift financial responsibility onto recipient governments. Meanwhile, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation landed a beefed-up portfolio as part of the administration’s embrace of a “trade, not aid” agenda. Even Congress — largely relegated to the sidelines last year — clinched a $50 billion compromise to fund U.S. foreign assistance. As of this writing, that bill was in limbo, given the furor over the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which has led to two deaths and a congressional showdown over government spending. But it appears the Senate and White House have reached a last-minute deal to pass most of the funding bills, cooling tensions. Of course, don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched in this fraught and fragile political environment, but it does look like the foreign aid compromise will survive.. So it’s clear there’s forward momentum in Washington, D.C., on the aid front. But it begs the question: Where does that leave aid experts, including the thousands of USAID workers summarily fired last year? Will their experience and know-how factor into the rebuilding process? I wondered about that when I came across an open letter written by an impressive parade of former USAID heavyweights that offers specific — and sensible — recommendations for the future of U.S. foreign assistance. But will the party in power — especially MAGA diehards — bother reading it? The signs aren’t encouraging. Michael just wrote a story on how officials in charge of shutting down what remains of USAID are prohibiting the recruitment of anyone with previous USAID experience to help. Seriously, the headline says it all: “USAID bars its own experts from agency closeout jobs.” Former USAID staffers are moving on as well, with some even seeking political office to regain control of the agenda, with or without Republican input. Everyone is racing to have a say in what 21st-century development looks like from the U.S. vantage point. Will the two sides continue to talk past each other, or will they slow down to actually take into account what the other is saying? Based on what we’ve seen this first month of 2026, get ready for a long slog. Bits and pieces Last-minute invite. Sudan has been described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. I’d also describe it as one of the most neglected. But the Trump administration is hosting an event to “catalyze new funding contributions to the UN-led humanitarian response in Sudan” at the newly named Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., according to Africa expert Cameron Hudson, who posted the invite on his X account. The catch? People were given five days’ notice to attend the Feb. 3 fundraiser, which, as Hudson points out, isn’t much time given that donor conferences typically take months to secure pledges. Still, money is money — and Sudan needs it. Devex reached out to U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, one of the headline guests, alongside U.S. Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos, for a reaction. “What we can say on this is that Sudan is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with three out of every four people in need of aid — but funding is dangerously short,” U.N. spokesperson Eri Kaneko told us. “This event is an opportunity to mobilize new resources so support can keep reaching people whose survival depends on it.” Continental outreach. As opposed to last year, in 2026, the Trump administration appears to be significantly ramping up its engagement with Africa. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met with African Union Commission Chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf in Ethiopia on Wednesday to cement a Strategic Investment Working Group with the bloc — an extension of Trump’s focus on private sector-led development over traditional foreign assistance. As such, the group will push U.S. private investment in AU-backed infrastructure projects, enabling trade and “continent-wide digital transformation.” According to the State Department, “As the United States and Africa seek durable, profitable investments to drive economic goals in place of foreign assistance, the SIWG will provide a foundation for strategic economic cooperation that will grow and shape the relationship for years to come.” Keeping the Peace. President Trump appointed a new acting director of the Peace Corps on Friday. Richard Swarttz, who had been serving as the agency’s chief of staff since September 2025, will lead the agency until the president nominates — and the U.S. Senate confirms — a permanent director. Sources tell my colleague Michael Igoe that Swarttz is a likely candidate for that nomination. Swarttz served as the Peace Corps’ chief financial officer during the first Trump administration and led the agency review team for the Peace Corps during the transition period after the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Swarttz also has connections with influential White House personnel, according to Michael. He was the chief financial officer for the Republican Party of Florida for more than a decade. Some of Trump’s closest advisers and allies — including his chief of staff Susie Wiles — come from Florida Republican politics. Close Peace Corps watchers tell Michael that the appointment bodes well for the agency. “Richard has relationships in the administration, and he is really dedicated to the Peace Corps,” says Glenn Blumhorst, former head of the National Peace Corps Association. The person who had been serving as acting director, Paul Shea, will transition to senior adviser. Speaking out. Jean Van Wetter, CEO of the Belgian agency for international cooperation Enabel, is wading into the debate over the killing of two U.S. citizens during recent immigration protests in Minnesota, sticking his neck out by commenting on the internal affairs of another nation — and a powerful one at that. “But as a leader, I feel I can’t stay silent about what’s unfolding in the United States right now, as the impact goes broader that [sic] the US alone and influences global norms,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “In the past few days, two separate ICE operations resulted in civilian deaths. What has deeply concerned me is that the highest authorities of the country publicly labeled the individuals killed as ‘terrorists’, without presenting evidence or referencing an active investigation,” he said. “When the highest authorities in a state make definitive, high‑stakes accusations before facts are established, it undermines due process and erodes public trust. And when this happens in a country whose institutions influence global standards, the ripple effects matter far beyond its borders.” He added, “Democracies don’t weaken in a single moment. They weaken when extraordinary claims are made without substantiation.” From canned to candidate. Earlier, I mentioned former USAID staffers running for U.S. government positions. A new one has thrown her hat into the ring: Alicia Contreras-Donello, a 20-year veteran of the agency, is running for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates. “Contreras-Donello has worked across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia on economic development, humanitarian response, and inclusive growth,” her announcement states. “As a working mother in Montgomery County and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, she is running on education, healthcare and safety, workforce development, and economic stability for all.” Dubious assertion. While some laid-off U.S. government workers have moved on to new opportunities, many have not. Yet Trump recently declared that the nearly 300,000 federal workers shed from the payroll should be happy to have left “boring” jobs in favor of higher paychecks, Government Executive reported. “We cut millions of people from the federal payroll—I don’t like doing that, but the good news is I don’t feel badly because now they’re getting private sector jobs and they’re getting some times twice as much money, three times as much money,” he told reporters. “They’re getting factory jobs; they’re getting much better jobs and much higher pay.” Ominous math. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio famously told Congress last year that no one has died because of the U.S. aid cuts. An array of sources, such as UCLA and the Center for Global Development, begged to differ, citing deaths potentially in the hundreds of thousands and even millions. Now, Democrats in Congress want answers. All House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats — backed by former USAID Administrator Samantha Power — have introduced the Evan Anzoo Memorial Act “to create a formal U.S. government account of the hundreds of thousands of deaths resulting from the Trump Administration’s dismantling of USAID and its lifesaving programs,” according to a press release. The legislation is named after a 5-year-old boy born with HIV, whom Democrats say was “kept alive through American health aid. After the Trump Administration cut off USAID programs overnight, Evan lost access to his HIV medication and died shortly after,” they alleged, citing various statistics of millions of deaths. “Secretary Rubio came before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and lied to America when he claimed ‘no one has died from Trump’s USAID shuttering. That was a bold-faced lie — but if Republicans are so confident in his answer, they should support my legislation to have Congress’s watchdog issue an independent and formal review of how many people have died as a result of this evil policy,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California. Trans expansion. Barbra Wangare, executive director of EATHAN — East Africa Trans Health & Advocacy Network, announced it is expanding, adding its first trans-led organization from the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Trans people are struggling all across Africa and we are one of the few networks in the continent making a difference - no matter how small it may seem to some,” she wrote. In memoriam The Ifakara Health Institute announced the death of Dr. Prosper Chaki, director of resource mobilization and stakeholder engagement, who passed away on Jan. 24. “Dr. Chaki’s decades of work in malaria research, community-based vector control, and mentorship of young scientists leave a lasting legacy,” the Tanzania-based institute wrote. Dr. William H. Foege, a world-renowned public health figure, died on Jan. 24 at the age of 89. He is best known for orchestrating the successful global effort that eradicated smallpox, “which saved and improved the lives of millions of people,” wrote the Task Force for Global Health, which Foege cofounded, in a press release. The organization notes that while working as an epidemiologist in Nigeria, Foege devised the successful “ring vaccination” strategy to stop the spread of smallpox, and later, as head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Smallpox Eradication Program, he led the global effort that successfully eradicated the disease by 1980. As The New York Times put it, the eradication is considered “one of the world’s greatest public health triumphs.” Wellcome announced the death of professor Richard Hynes, who served as a Wellcome governor from 2007 to 2016. “Richard was an extraordinary scientist whose pioneering discoveries transformed our understanding of how cells interact with one another and the world around them,” the charity wrote. “His work laid the foundations for modern cell‑adhesion biology, shaping decades of progress in cancer, developmental biology, immunology and beyond.” The food security and agricultural science communities are mourning the death of a “giant in the field.” Pedro Sánchez died on Jan. 12 in Florida at the age of 85. Sánchez held research and programmatic roles from Florida to the Philippines with a focus on improving soil and alleviating food insecurity. His legacy includes millions of acres of land made arable by his bold approaches to agriculture — and the lives saved as a result — as well as more than doubling food production in 12 African countries. “Pedro Sánchez was a scientist of rare vision and deep humanity,” Mashal Husain, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, said in a statement. “He understood that research matters most when it reaches farmers’ fields, restores dignity and creates lasting opportunities for communities that have been overlooked for far too long.” Moving on Cecile Aptel is leaving the United Nations after 23 years of service, including posts in human rights and disarmament research. “I have witnessed both the fragility and the resilience of international norms. I have seen how individuals (often those working far from the spotlight) can bend the arc of institutions toward accountability and innovation. I have learned that progress, however incremental, is always the result of courage paired with persistence,” she wrote. Namukolo Covic has become head of the CGIAR Liaison Office for Africa. “African national and continental goals are well aligned with CGIAR’s vision of transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis,” she wrote. Kristin Dadey has become director of the executive office at the International Organization for Migration. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation announced Selam Demissie as its new regional managing director in Kenya during U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau’s visit to the region. DFC said the hiring “reflects Kenya’s role as a strategic partner and regional anchor for advancing U.S. economic engagement across East Africa.” The Asian Development Bank has appointed Bruce Dunn as head of its Office of Safeguards, where he will lead implementation of ADB’s new environmental and social framework. Spring Gombe has been elected to serve on the Global Health Council’s 2026-2028 board of directors. Charles Kakaire has become a social and behavior change specialist for immunization in the global health practice at UNICEF. Julián Miglierini, who worked for BBC News for 20 years, will soon start a role as head of media in Rome for the World Food Programme, “a UN organization I've long admired and that I consider myself lucky to join at such a crucial moment,” he wrote. Sazini Mojapelo has been appointed chief executive officer of Village Enterprise, the organization’s first Africa-based CEO. She will begin on Feb. 17. Mojapelo, who previously worked at the International Finance Corporation, brings “an invaluable combination of global development, corporate, and nonprofit sector experience to Village Enterprise’s mission to lift families out of extreme poverty through entrepreneurship, innovation, and collective action,” the organization wrote in a press release. “The leadership transition reflects Village Enterprise’s belief in the power of locally driven solutions to end extreme poverty in rural Africa. With 94% of its staff based in Africa, Village Enterprise’s leadership will now be closer to the communities it serves.” She succeeds Dianne Calvi, who is stepping down as CEO after 15 years. Hermela Muluneh, a graduate of New York University, has become a program associate for Mission 300, a joint program between the World Bank and African Development Bank to provide electricity to 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. Cecilia Ragazzi has become head of energy and environment at NORCAP, part of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Reena Shukla, a former health director with USAID, is starting a new position as director of cancer care impact and strategic initiatives at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Rositsa Todorova has taken on the role of chief of staff at UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya. Adam Tousley, formerly of USAID, has joined the Solarium Group, “a strategic advisory and leadership development consultancy that helps organizations navigate global complexity, drawing on decades of frontline experience across diplomacy, defense, and development to deliver practical, ethical solutions where the margin for error is thin.” Rebecca Wexler has joined The Rockefeller Foundation as deputy chief of staff. Job of the week Your Devex Pro membership includes access to the world’s largest global development job board. 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