OneAID Community Updates
- oneaidcommunity
- Apr 29
- 10 min read
Updated: Apr 29
April 29, 2025
A Note from OneAID Organizers
On April 24-25, members of the OneAID Community Network came together for a two day strategy session on the future of OneAID, the movement to maintain U.S. international assistance, and advancing citizen engagement for a vibrant democracy. It was the first time many of these individuals and groups had met in-person and the energy being together infused in the group was incredible. We first focused on building our sense of community and on celebrating what has been accomplished in three very short (yet long) months. The group then turned to thinking about what comes next and how we continue and sustain the important work that has been done to date by OneAID and dozens of other groups that sprung up in the wake of the dismantling of USAID.
The group coalesced around three pillars of action being taken by the various community actors with OneAID serving as a foundation in support of these pillars by convening, connecting, and being an information hub. The groups within the network each identify as working on one or more of these pillars and are aligning themselves with OneAID so that we are stronger together. The three pillars are:
1) Supporting people and our community
2) Educating Americans on the need for continued, principled U.S. international assistance
3) Advancing citizen engagement for a vibrant democracy
We are excited to build on the momentum of this workshop and to provide greater support to network members to achieve our collective goals in the coming months. As part of this effort for OneAID, we will be pausing the Community Updates next week to revamp and find new ways to share information as we continue to evolve as a movement. The OneAID Organizers, want to say a huge thank you to our information management team for the incredible work on these updates and to you all for reading and using them! We are looking forward to this next phase.
Upcoming Events
⇨ Thursday, May 1, 5:00 - 8:00 pm ET: May Day Solidarity Rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC. Attend with friends, or meet in front of the Ronald Reagan Building at 4:30 pm ET with USAID gear and/or signs to walk together with OneAID Community members to the rally at 5:00 pm ET. Current and former USAID staff, implementing partners, family, and friends are all welcome.
Take Action
⇨ Contact Your Representatives! OneAID proudly supports the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition's ongoing #SaferStronger Weeks of Action for International Assistance. Join us in asking Congress to protect international programs that save lives and make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Your voice matters—take action here!
⇨ Preserve USAID Knowledge! We are supporting efforts to rescue USAID’s public knowledge products through the Knowledge Rescue Collection Tool (Google Form). We invite you to join the LinkedIn group “USAID Knowledge Rescue” to learn more. Thank you for helping to rescue USAID's knowledge!
Key Updates
● Efforts to resume DOGE-cancelled USAID famine prevention work is hampered by the shutdown of USAID and only some necessary contracts for its operations are being resumed.
● DOGE goes after the Peace Corps and the State Department’s refugee bureau is broken apart.
● Rather than create efficiencies and save taxpayer dollars, DOGE will cost Americans an estimated additional $135 billion.
● On April 29, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Department would be ending the Women, Peace and Security initiative, which was originally signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017.
More details below…
Efforts to resume DOGE-cancelled USAID famine prevention work hampered by the shutdown of USAID and only some necessary contracts for its operations being resumed
● In January 2025, DOGE shut down the USAID-managed Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), which has saved over one million lives by providing critical data to decision-makers and serving as an early warning for or indicator of ongoing famine and food insecurity around the world.
○ Created following the famine in Ethiopia in the 1980’s, FEWS NET is one of USAID’s most efficient, data-driven, and impactful programs. It is considered the gold-standard in the sector. Before DOGE shut it down, it published more frequent updates than other global monitoring efforts. As of April 29, at least 170 million people are facing crisis-level or worse food insecurity.
● FEWS NET is trying to resume operations, yet faces challenges putting the pieces back together. To function, FEWS NET was managed by USAID, but relied on data and support from six other entities, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the interagency FEWS NET Decision Support, Data Hub, and Knowledge Base contracts.
● The program is starting to put the pieces back together, and while some contact terminations have been rescinded, FEWS NET cannot operate until the Trump administration resumes agreements and contracts with NOAA, the FEWS NET Data Hub (implemented by the American Institutes for Research) and the FEWS NET Knowledge Base (implemented by Chemonics).
○ The Data Hub houses all of the data, the website, the email accounts, and maps, among other information, which FEWS NET cannot operate without.
● FEWS NET is targeting early May to publish a limited update—the first since DOGE shut the platform down. However, there is currently nowhere to publish it.
DOGE goes after Peace Corps and the State Department’s refugee bureau is broken apart
● DOGE is reportedly planning significant cuts to the Peace Corps. Currently 3,000 American volunteers are serving in 60 countries globally and 970 full-time American employees serve in roles recruiting new volunteers and overseeing their training, health care and security.
○ While Peace Corps staff were told that DOGE is not going to cut volunteers and countries, the staffing impact is going to significantly strain operations and could put the health and safety of volunteers at risk. Peace Corps Volunteers already face significant health and safety risks, serving in remote locations around the world, and cutting the personnel and funding could have major consequences.
● Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced plans to reorganize the State Department last week. Per OneAID sources in the Department, the Trump administration is considering breaking apart the Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)—stripping it of all authorities and funding, and allowing it to retain only 20 time-limited staff dedicated to disaster response.
○ These 20 staff will need to rely on other untrained staff from State Department regional bureaus to support a very limited humanitarian response capability that previously was held by up to 1,400 staff at USAID who rotated on and off various responses, which are often long and intense.
○ USAID is designated as the lead federal agency for international humanitarian assistance—a critical authority the administration has not communicated a plan to redesignate amid its shut down of USAID. If the current approach is pursued, PRM would not have the authority to make decisions about how resources are used or the required staff to manage critical programs, drive policy, or maintain technical capacity, resulting in ineffective and inefficient U.S. response operations and increasing the risks of aid diversion and fraud.
○ PRM will also be ill equipped to coordinate interagency efforts, including with the Department of Defense—a key U.S. interagency partner in certain disaster response contexts.
○ As a result, efforts to provide U.S. international assistance without USAID and within this new structure at State are unlikely to achieve the stated goals of the programs, with the U.S. government offering too little assistance too late.
Rather than create efficiencies and save taxpayer dollars, DOGE will cost Americans an estimated additional $135 billion
● Despite promises made by Elon Musk that DOGE would save U.S. taxpayers up to $2 trillion, DOGE’s “burn it all down” approach, including the “firings, re-hirings, lost productivity and paid leave of thousands of workers”, will instead cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $135 billion this fiscal year.
○ It is estimated DOGE-led firing of an initial 22,000 staff at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will cost about $8.5 billion in revenue in 2026 alone.
○ Partnership for Public Service CEO Max Stier underscored, “not only is Musk vastly overinflating the money he has saved, he is not accounting for the exponentially larger waste that he is creating. He’s inflicted these costs on the American people, who will pay them for many years to come.”
● As Tesla’s quarterly earnings plummeted by 71% this year, Musk recently announced he is stepping back from DOGE after his rapid and potentially illegal overhaul of the U.S. government, leaving everyday Americans to deal with the chaos and harm in his wake.
Pete Hegseth Announces End of Department of Defense WPS Programming on X
● On April 29, Pete Hegseth posted on X that the Department of Defense would be ending its Women, Peace, and Security Program (WPS) claiming that it is a distraction from the warfighting core mission of U.S. troops. This action was taken despite the fact that President Trump originally signed the bipartisan Women, Peace, and Security Act into law in 2017, making the U.S. the first country to codify WPS principles in law.
○ That legislation was co-sponsored by now Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and was drafted and supported by then-Congresswoman (now Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and Representative Jan Schakowsky.
● WPS is a strategic, evidence-based approach rooted in decades of research and military experience showing that inclusive security leads to more stable outcomes and stronger operational effectiveness.
● While it originated with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, it has since been adopted and adapted by bipartisan U.S. policymakers across multiple administrations, both Republican and Democratic.
● Last week, U.S. military leaders reaffirmed their support for WPS at the Third Annual Women, Peace and Security Conference. While led by the U.S. and Japan, representatives from other U.S. security partners attended including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
● Hegseth’s decision to announce the cancellation of WPS is not only illegal, but damaging to national security as WPS directly benefits military operation effectiveness, combat readiness and U.S. leadership and legitimacy.
● Framing WPS as a burden on troops misunderstands its purpose and impact. Troops on the ground have benefited from the insights, training, and access WPS programs have enabled. Strategic inclusion is not political correctness. Rather, it is battlefield pragmatism. Eliminating WPS commitments signals a retreat from a hard-won lesson: that peace and security are strongest when they include all of society.
Current Impacts
American Economy and Jobs
● Confirmed Job Losses: 19,187 Americans have lost their jobs, been furloughed, or placed on administrative leave. 176,818 jobs globally (non-American) have been lost as of April 29, 2025.
○ The World Food Program (WFP) reported it will reduce its workforce by 30% by 2026 as a result of the Trump administration’s shut down of USAID, which was WFP’s largest donor—contributing nearly half of WFP’s annual budget to provide lifesaving aid globally.
Health
● Malaria prevention and response programs remain disrupted, despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio approving a limited waiver for malaria activities. The Trump administration’s shutdown of USAID has significantly affected malaria programs worldwide:
○ Of the 64 World Health Organization (WHO) country offices in malaria-endemic countries that participated in a recent WHO rapid survey, more than half reported moderate or severe disruptions to malaria services.
○ As of early April 2025, almost 30% of planned insecticide treated mosquito net distribution campaigns, designed to reach 425 million people, were off-track or at risk of being delayed due to funding shortages.
○ WHO has warned that recent funding cuts could derail progress in many malaria-endemic countries, putting millions of additional lives at risk. With the dismantling of USAID, malaria could resurge overseas, which could threaten the lives of Americans at home.
● Tuberculosis (TB) prevention and response programs remain disrupted and implementers have faced challenges in getting permission from the Trump administration to resume programming and reported difficulties in getting paid, despite some programs being approved for a limited waiver by Secretary Rubio. The Trump administration’s shutdown of USAID has significantly affected TB programs worldwide and threatens the lives of Americans at home:
○ A recent modeling study found that U.S. TB program cuts could result in as many as 10.7 million new TB cases and 2.2 million additional TB deaths in 26
high-burden countries by 2030. Researchers concluded that the “loss of U.S. funding endangers global TB control.”
○ Another modeling study found that U.S. TB funding cuts could result in almost 69 million additional TB cases and 2.2 million additional TB deaths by 2040.
Humanitarian Assistance
● In a recent survey conducted by the UN, at least 79 million people will no longer be targeted for humanitarian aid by surveyed organizations due to the Trump administration’s funding cuts.
● In Afghanistan, due to the Trump administration foreign aid cuts:
○ Several million people will not receive humanitarian aid in 2025, according to the UN, including:
■ WFP will be forced to reduce coverage, suspending famine prevention interventions and assisting only 1 million out of the 6.2 million planned
for the winter season.
■ 396 nutrition sites have closed, depriving treatment for 80,000 acutely malnourished children, pregnant women and new mothers, threatening to increase mortality rates.
■ 115 gender-based violence service delivery points are suspended affecting 1 million women survivors. Women and girls—already marginalized and among the most vulnerable—stand to be the most affected by the U.S. funding suspension.
■ Protection services for 3.3 million people, including 1.6 million children, can no longer be provided, including case management, psychological support, emergency victim assistance, explosive ordnance risk education, and cash interventions.
■ Around 20% of Education in Emergencies Programs are suspended, affecting approximately 166,000 children.
○ The UN assesses that without increased investment in longer-term
interventions in Afghanistan—and reduced humanitarian assistance—there is a significant risk of a growing number of people falling into need.
■ Humanitarian organizations are experiencing reductions in staffing and localization efforts are hindered. Reduced operational presence will limit aid delivery and dilute protection by presence.
■ There are reputational and staff security risks where humanitarian
partners were forced to suspend operations, causing grievances among local communities or where partners are unable to pay suppliers or complete contracts.
■ Significantly less assistance increases the likelihood that those most in need will resort to negative coping strategies to access food and essential services, such as selling household assets, child labor, and early marriage.
● In northeastern Nigeria, the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts have forced humanitarian partners to suspend activities that prevent and respond to gender-based violence and violence against children in areas exposed to displacement and insecurity—often where they are the only service provider.
Climate and Environment
● The Trump administration eliminated funding for environmental protection and conservation work in dozens of countries, which has forced many programs to shut down and may cause local governments to turn away from conservation.
○ Through the dismantling of USAID, the Trump administration damaged trust built over decades between U.S.-supported conservationist organizations and the local people with whom they work, which is particularly critical for programs that combat wildlife crime—where participants are at serious risk of being harmed by organized crime gangs.
● In Peru, drug gangs running the coca trade in cooperation with Mexican cartels have expanded into illegal mining, especially for gold. The Trump administration cancelled USAID counternarcotics and development programs that were combating illegal mining through environmental and sustainable-development initiatives.
Additional Resources for Information and Messaging
● U.S. Foreign Aid Updates by Foreign Policy for America
● DOGE Cuts by City, State, and Congressional District by Center for American Progress
● The Impact Map provides data on policy, funding, workforce changes, and local effects
● Musk Watch Doge Tracker of what is being cut and who is being impacted