OneAid

08/20/2026

🇭🇹 When aid disappears, gangs fill the vacuum.

A new investigation from The New Humanitarian and Foreign Policy exposes a devastating consequence of US funding cuts in Haiti: the loss of programs designed to keep children and young people out of armed groups.

Before 2025, US funding accounted for more than 65% of humanitarian aid in Haiti. After the dismantling of USAID, roughly 80% of US-funded programs in Haiti were halted—as armed groups came to control 90% of Port-au-Prince.

The human cost is staggering: 6.4 million Haitians need humanitarian assistance, 1.5 million are internally displaced, and UNICEF says child recruitment into armed groups tripled in 2025, with children now comprising half of Haitian gang members.

Cuts eliminated job training, education, agricultural livelihoods, community mediation, and peacebuilding programs—including a $24 million Haiti Citizen Security Program and a roughly $100,000 proposal to employ young Haitians in livestock production.

Meanwhile, UNICEF’s $257 million humanitarian appeal was 79% unfunded as of June 30.

As one Haitian community leader put it: “Without USAID support, all you have left is the rule of the ganglord.”

This is what happens when investments in opportunity, stability, and prevention disappear: the vacuum doesn’t remain empty.

🔗 Read the full investigation and learn why sustainable peace in Haiti requires addressing the root causes of violence—not simply responding to its consequences: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2026/08/19/us-funding-cuts-fuel-child-recruitment-haitis-armed-groups

Cuts to USAID, which ended some 83% of the agency's programmes worldwide, have severely disrupted violence prevention and family support in Haiti.

08/14/2026

🇳🇵A devastating Associated Press investigation from Nepal puts a human face on the consequences of foreign aid cuts.

After U.S. funding cuts shuttered a five-year, $35 million maternal and child health program in Nepal, more than 100,000 women and girls who had been reached in its first three years lost access to vital outreach and nutrition services. In one district, prenatal visits have fallen by half. In another village, neonatal deaths had dropped to zero by 2024 after the program began—only to return following its cancellation.

The consequences extend far beyond Nepal. The Gates Foundation predicts 2025 could be the first year this century in which child deaths increase, while a Lancet study estimates that U.S. aid cuts could contribute to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under age 5.

These are not abstract numbers. They are mothers, newborns and children whose lives can often be saved through relatively simple, inexpensive interventions—prenatal care, nutrition, trained community health workers and clean birth supplies.

Foreign aid is not charity. It is lifesaving infrastructure. And when that infrastructure disappears, people die.

🔗 Read the AP investigation and see what the numbers mean on the ground in Nepal. https://apnews.com/article/usaid-nepal-maternal-child-death-trump-aid-cuts-43fb5e8aff8a4f65b7f18781455c3f91

The Associated Press has found that the decision by the United States to slash its foreign aid funding last year has increased pregnancy complications and deaths in Nepal.

08/13/2026

The next Support Series will be held on Monday, August 17! Make sure you register below ⬇️

📣 Join us for the last three monthly sessions of "A Support Series for the International Assistance Community" brought to you by OneAID and Somatic Experiencing International

🌎 August 17 at 12pm ET: Beth Cole and Kashi Carasso, Somatic Experiencing Practitioners and International Mental Health Responders on "How to Deepen Our Capacity to Handle Crisis" (Note: This session will include SEP assisted break out groups)

🌏 September 14 at 12pm ET: Glyndie Nickerson, M.A., Ph.D., a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute Faculty Member on "How to Deal with Anger and Resentment"

🌍 October 19 at 12pm ET: Dr. Imke Hansen, PH.D, is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and a scholar of East European History who has worked with survivors of war and persecution and published on experiences of violence for more than 20 years, including many years in Ukraine on "How to Get to "I Can": Empowerment, Agency, and Finding Joy During Crisis"

🔗 Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/SupportSeries

08/13/2026

🇸🇴 Somalia is facing a deepening hunger crisis—and the consequences of humanitarian aid cuts are becoming impossible to ignore.

A new Washington Post report highlights the devastating toll: hospital admissions for severe malnutrition in displacement camps have surged 83% from last year, while 47% of children in camps in Baidoa are malnourished. More than 100 children died at an MSF hospital in the first half of 2026 alone, and nearly 3,000 severely malnourished children required hospital care.

Meanwhile, Somalia’s $852 million UN humanitarian response plan is only 20% funded, and 6 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity, including 1.9 million facing emergency levels of hunger. Nearly 1.88 million children are expected to need treatment for acute malnutrition.

These numbers are not abstract. They represent children whose lives are increasingly at risk as U.S. and other donor support retreats.

The crisis in Somalia is a stark reminder: when lifesaving humanitarian assistance is cut, the consequences don’t disappear—they show up in malnutrition wards, displacement camps and preventable deaths.

Read the full Washington Post report and understand what is happening on the ground: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/08/11/severe-malnutrition-somalia-is-surging-after-us-cuts-aid-groups-say/

“What we are seeing is shocking and far beyond the threshold of an extremely critical emergency,” one humanitarian official said.

08/10/2026

You’re not starting over. You’re bringing everything with you.

What happens when a humanitarian becomes an entrepreneur?

In our latest OneAID Guest Blog, Diloro Normatova, former USAID Humanitarian Assistance Officer and founder of ORO Sweets, reflects on career transition, rediscovering purpose, and finding a new way to build community—one dessert at a time. 🍰

Her story is a powerful reminder that the skills we gain through humanitarian work—leading through uncertainty, building trust, managing complexity, and bringing people together—don’t disappear when the job ends.

Sometimes, they simply find a new purpose.

👉 Read “From Humanitarian to Host: Finding Purpose Around the Table” on the OneAID website:

Visit the post for more.

08/10/2026

⚕️PEPFAR has saved more than 25 million lives. Is the new “America First Global Health Strategy” putting those gains at risk?

A new analysis from The Brookings Institution examines how the Trump administration’s restructuring of U.S. global health assistance could fundamentally change how PEPFAR operates—and potentially undermine more than two decades of progress.

The stakes are significant: PEPFAR had supported treatment for 21 million people, prevented 7.8 million babies from acquiring HIV, and strengthened health systems and pandemic preparedness—all at a cost of less than 0.08% of total U.S. federal spending in FY2024. Yet HIV-related spending fell 34% in FY2025 amid funding disruptions, while global HIV testing declined 22%.

The new strategy’s emphasis on country ownership and stronger national health systems addresses legitimate shortcomings of the traditional model. But the authors warn that conditional funding, demanding co-financing requirements, data-sharing provisions, and the use of health assistance as leverage for unrelated geopolitical objectives could jeopardize access to lifesaving treatment and hard-won public health gains.

The article offers a path forward: release already-appropriated PEPFAR funds, preserve effective local delivery channels for hard-to-reach populations, increase transparency around country agreements, and establish safeguards around fiscal demands, sensitive health data, and geopolitical conditionality.

PEPFAR has long demonstrated what sustained, bipartisan U.S. leadership in global health can accomplish. The question now is how to reform the program without sacrificing the progress that made it one of the world’s most successful global health initiatives.

🔗 Read the full analysis: “The new ‘America First Global Health Strategy’ could erode years of progress under PEPFAR”: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-new-america-first-global-health-strategy-could-erode-years-of-progress-under-pepfar/

The authors unpack the impacts the new "America First Global Health Strategy" will have when it comes to HIV/AIDS mitigation in African countries.

08/04/2026

From the OneAID-affiliated Colorado Tuesday Group:

Join us next Tuesday for a special Tuesday Group conversation with career strategist Cassell Humphrey, whose practical insights on hiring, leadership, and career transitions have reached more than 40,000 professionals. As today’s job market becomes increasingly challenging for experienced mid-career professionals, Cassell will explore the latest hiring trends, discuss the biases shaping today’s market, and share actionable strategies for communicating your value and navigating your career with confidence. Stay afterward for our monthly Global Colorado social mixer at Ratio Beerworks to continue the conversation and strengthen our community.

📅 Tuesday, August 11 at 4-5pm MT
📍 In person: Posner Center (Boardroom) (recommended!)
💻 Online: Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84128077545?pwd=LzYHWJYGYbr1GVl8iikisxJntZsEqW.1&jst=2

08/04/2026

08/04/2026

📣 Join us for the last three monthly sessions of "A Support Series for the International Assistance Community" brought to you by OneAID and Somatic Experiencing International

🌎 August 17 at 12pm ET: Beth Cole and Kashi Carasso, Somatic Experiencing Practitioners and International Mental Health Responders on "How to Deepen Our Capacity to Handle Crisis" (Note: This session will include SEP assisted break out groups)

🌏 September 14 at 12pm ET: Glyndie Nickerson, M.A., Ph.D., a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute Faculty Member on "How to Deal with Anger and Resentment"

🌍 October 19 at 12pm ET: Dr. Imke Hansen, PH.D, is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and a scholar of East European History who has worked with survivors of war and persecution and published on experiences of violence for more than 20 years, including many years in Ukraine on "How to Get to "I Can": Empowerment, Agency, and Finding Joy During Crisis"

🔗 Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/SupportSeries

08/04/2026

OneAID's Summer 2026 Newsletter is here!

In just six months, this volunteer-powered community has:

🫂 Brought together more than 2,000 people through events, trainings, and discussions.
📊 Helped elevate the first university-backed study on the impacts of USAID's dismantling to national audiences.
🌎 Supported community-led events across the U.S. and the UK through our Ambassador Mini Grant Program.
💼 Expanded career transition, wellness, and storytelling initiatives to strengthen and connect our community.

But this is just the beginning.

The future of U.S. foreign assistance won't be shaped only in Washington—it will be shaped in communities across the country, one conversation at a time.

📲 Read our Summer Newsletter to see what we've accomplished together, what's next for OneAID, and how you can get involved by joining a state group, becoming a OneAID Ambassador, attending an event, or supporting our work: https://tinyurl.com/OneAIDSummer2026

📬 Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss future updates, opportunities, and ways to take action: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-EqO2upt5YBgnWNC8s6-n5PSh0wYQ5Rk6wK5GNiHHz06POA/viewform

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