Advocates are cautiously optimistic that the U.S. government will restart funding for global education programs in 2026, after it shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development and transferred remaining foreign aid programs to the State Department. But they advise patience.
Among the reasons to be positive, according to Anna Roberts, director of government relations at the Basic Education Coalition, are job ads posted by the State Department for foreign aid staff, a better-than-expected 2026 appropriations bill from the House of Representatives, and the State Department’s appointment of a special envoy for Best Future Generations to oversee initiatives impacting the well-being of children both in the U.S. and globally.
“We’ll rebuild,” Roberts told Devex. “It’s going to be slow, and it’s going to look different. But we will.”
About the author
Gabriella Jóźwiak@GabriellaJ
Gabriella Jóźwiak is an award-winning journalist based in London. Her work on issues and policies affecting children and young people in developing countries and the U.K. has been published in national newspapers and magazines. Having worked in-house for domestic and international development charities, Jóźwiak has a keen interest in organizational development, and has worked as a journalist in several countries across West Africa and South America.
