State Department refugee office to assume USAID’s disaster aid role, says cable

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – The State Department office that handles refugee issues and works to cut illegal migration will lead the U.S. response to overseas disasters, according to excerpts from an internal department cable, a role for which experts say it lacks the knowhow and personnel. The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, known … [Read more…]

Institute of Peace reclaims its headquarters after court win over Musk’s cost-cutting team

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Institute of Peace retook control of its headquarters Wednesday, two days after a federal judge said the firing of its board and employees by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was illegal. The institute’s acting president, George Moose, entered the organization’s headquarters with private security and the institute’s outside attorney … [Read more…]

‘We have to try lifting ourselves’: USAID workers fired months ago are still scrambling for jobs

They were among the first of the federal employees to lose their jobs, and months later, laid off workers for the U.S. Agency for International Development are still struggling to regain their footing. Wayan Vota, who spent decades improving technology across developing countries, created a Substack site to help his former colleagues search for new … [Read more…]

Zimbabwean arrested in U.S. for defrauding USAID project

A Zimbabwean national, Ruth Chisina Mufute, has been arrested by special agents from the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Inspector General (USAID OIG) on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with a nearly decade-long scheme that allegedly defrauded a USAID-funded project of approximately $240,000. Mufute, a former … [Read more…]

Impact of USAID Withdrawal on Global Education and Skills Development

The dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has created an unprecedented crisis in global education and skills development, with far-reaching consequences for access, equity, and the quality of learning worldwide. This report, commissioned by the European Training Foundation (ETF), examines the implications of USAID’s funding withdrawal through four key lenses: funding … [Read more…]

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC): Trump kills US agency funding Africa infrastructure

President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday ordered the closure of a US agency that invested billions in African and other developing countries’ infrastructure in return for good governance, effectively ceding ground to China. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will immediately exit projects around the world, from building roads to modernizing electricity grids, likely leaving the … [Read more…]