News of job losses in the development sector is trickling in as NGOs and contractors prepare for a Trump administration budget, which could reportedly see foreign aid spending slashed by as much as 37 percent.
President Donald Trump’s outline budget, details of which emerged at the end of last month, is calling for massive foreign development assistance cuts, alongside plans to increase defense funding by $54 billion. The U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department stand to lose the most, likely resulting in programs being eliminated and major staff cuts.
Even though bipartisan opposition to the proposed cuts is already mounting and Congress is likely to revise down the cuts, as reported by Devex, the development community is still likely to be hit hard. That has led to nervousness in the sector, which has been accentuated by a series of staff cuts recently announced at National Democratic Institute, Management Sciences for Health, and Inclusive Security, Devex has learned.
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
