Commentary

We present some estimates for lives saved by US assistance worldwide, with illustrative estimates by recipient country. Our core estimates are for deaths prevented from HIV/AIDS, vaccine-preventable illnesses covered by Gavi, tuberculosis, malaria, and emergency/humanitarian relief. We suggest the n...

The bottom line: we estimate the cancelled awards represent somewhere over 34 percent of USAID programming. And notably, “life-saving” program areas like maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis are not spared from major cuts. But there’s a lot of guesswork in those estimates.

From March 3-5, over two dozen nonprofits and funders working at the intersection of AI and development convened in Bengaluru to kick off the AI for Global Development Accelerator. The initiative, which is a collaboration between the Agency Fund, OpenAI, and experts at the Center for Global Developm...

Headlines on aid and global development are grim right now. The decimation of USAID has been swiftly followed by major cuts announced in the UK, and smaller cuts planned from a raft of European donors. Many of these aid cuts will lead to people dying. CGD Non-Resident Fellow Ken Opalo writes “this i...

Would a steep cut to the UK’s aid budget in 2027, rather than a gradual reduction, better preserve flexibility, protect international commitments, and minimise project disruptions?

Check out Charles Kenny's opinion piece featured in The New York Times.

With the US pulling back from development assistance, the UK cutting the aid budget to fund an increase in defense spending, and many traditional donors giving less and less to poorer countries, Germany must decide whether to follow suit—or stand firm in its commitment to global solidarity and to ta...