This is another edition of Inklings, where we explore how aid works in the wilds of Geneva, on the front lines of emergency response, or in the dark corners of online punditry.
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Today: What Trump’s envoys say about aid funding, who’s bridging the gap, and who’s not complying in advance.
On the radar|
“Who we are”: The International Rescue Committee is wiping DEI-related content from its website, in an apparent reaction to US President Donald Trump’s executive orders that scapegoat non-white and other communities, and that target policies promoting equity and inclusion. The IRC’s “Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion” page appears to have been taken offline as of 30 January – 10 days after Trump signed off on a slew of orders. The original link now redirects to the IRC’s homepage. Other key documents also appear to be stripped: a GEDI action plan (G=gender), annual diversity progress reports dating back several years, and a DEI strategy document and summary. Previously, the DEI page was prominently featured under the “Who we are” menu on the IRC homepage. Internet archiving tools show this was cut out by 30 January.
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Obeying in advance: The IRC is not the only aid organisation clicking on the eraser tool or watching their words. The UN’s migration agency, IOM, has done a similar scrub, Devex reported. Trump messengers have brought anti-diversity and anti-trans messages to UN agencies, while a World Food Programme official advised colleagues to “avoid controversial language”, Reuters reported. And beyond aid, there’s a long list of US companies that have been cutting DEI language and commitments. This includes tech firms whose bosses have grown cozy with Trump, from OpenAI to Meta.
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What the IRC says: We posed a few questions about the thinking behind removing DEI references and balancing donor orders with principles. The emailed reply: “The IRC is actively assessing the impact the recent executive orders have on our programmes and operations around the world. Guided by our humanitarian principles, the IRC is making good faith, informed interpretations of these new developments to determine where internal responses are needed and ensure continuous compliance with our donors as new information emerges.”
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Obeying in advance, redux: Part of the power of Trump’s executive orders is their vagueness – whether it be for aid freezes, humanitarian exemptions, or DEI. It leaves aid decision-makers (and legal teams) to guess. With the threat of legal repercussions hanging overhead, many have chosen the route of extreme caution: complying in advance.
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Not everyone: Among the big companies apparently choosing not to scrub DEI, according to Forbes: Costco, Cisco, Deutsche Bank, the board of Apple, and the NFL. Question: Which aid organisations are explicitly deciding not to comply?
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And yet: The backlash began long before Trump re-took office, of course. Disillusioned DEI practitioners (and staff serving unpaid on diversity committees) know this well. It says something that aid organisations are so quick to scrub basic diversity language from their histories. But it’s also reasonable to question how meaningful the commitments were in the first place.
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Not entirely unrelated: The IRC is no stranger to conspicuous website scrubbing. Last year, a high-traffic explainer page on Gaza was changed to dim the focus on Palestinian deaths and soft-pedal language on Israel, we reported. Incidentally, that page was updated and renamed (again) in January. Gone is a conspicuous reference to “co-mingling” as a cause of Palestinian deaths; gone, as well, are all references to “Palestine”.
Who’s stepping up: Frontline aid movements are turning to philanthropies to fund what conventional donors won't. It’s a trend that has been simmering for a while, but here’s a timely example: NEAR, the network of civil society groups in the Global South, will use its Change Fund to try and provide short-term funding for members hit by the US aid freeze. The Change Fund got off the ground with cash from the Hilton Foundation. A pervasive question over the last month has been: Who will step in to help? There’s no single answer for a global crisis. But for grassroots organisations, the most accurate one may be: “ourselves”.
What Trump’s US emissaries are saying: Is this moment the end of aid, a turning point, or simply a rough squall to be weathered? Some are counting on the storm to pass – that things will change, yes, but that the US under Trump isn’t checking out entirely. That school of thought might read into recent statements like this one, apparently made by the US delegation before the WFP’s current executive board meeting: ”We will continue to donate generously when calamity strikes and people are in need.” The statement, posted to the website of the US mission to Rome (where WFP is based), calls on other donors to “quickly scale up desperately needed life-saving food assistance in places like, Gaza, Syria, Sudan, Lebanon, and Haiti”. It also rails against “gender ideology”, DEI, and climate change.
Acronymage|
GFCF: If this is a moment of change, then what comes next? Independent researcher Themrise Khan recently published this report (supported by the Global Fund for Community Foundations) that asks Global South organisations how they picture an alternative ecosystem for development and humanitarianism.
ICVA: The NGO network has updated its tally of US aid freeze impacts, as reported by its global membership. A few examples: HIV-positive children dropping out of treatment, closed feeding centres for malnourished people, and shuttered water and sanitation programmes.
NEAR: Similarly, the aforementioned NEAR reports that 83% of its members have had programmes paused, affecting some 13.5 million people.
End quote|
UN relief chief Tom Fletcher, a noted believer in quiet diplomacy, had this to say before helping to launch a $6 billion appeal for the humanitarian responses in Sudan and the region:
“I think a lot of us are probably sat here thinking, is the UN humanitarian system really launching its biggest-ever Sudan humanitarian appeal at a moment when the conversation is understandably about aid cuts and aid freezes, and the toughest potential environment for humanitarian work in our living working memory?”
I mean, we weren’t not thinking that.
Incidentally, Sudan’s volunteer aid networks, known as emergency response rooms, are among those hit by the Trump aid squeeze.
Mutual aid has been a trendy talking point for many humanitarians, including Fletcher. But the UN-backed response plan isn’t exactly overflowing with mentions of mutual aid and ERRs (we found one in a quick skim).
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