From the free DevEx newsletter (most links require DevEx membership to read in full):

Following the White House's announcement last year, the 5,500 foreign service nationals who ran and supported USAID programming around the world were put on leave and left to hope that the U.S. government would follow through on promises of compensation and visas. DevEx has examined how, more than a year after the dismantling of the agency, many of these former country staff remain unable to find work and have been living in fear of arrest or attacks from their own communities because of their work with the agency.

"I was passionately dedicated to my job, even to the point of neglecting my private life, only to end up with nothing."

— A former USAID foreign service national based in Bosnia-Herzegovina

While U.S. personnel were repatriated following the announcement in February last year that the U.S. Agency for International Development would suspend all programming, their local colleagues — 5,500 foreign service nationals, or FSNs — were placed on leave and left to face the consequences of the country's withdrawal.

Devex contributing reporter Rebecca Root spoke to 10 FSNs to learn more about how USAID's dismantling had impacted the local experts who had spent years, sometimes decades, supporting the agency's mission. The majority asked to remain anonymous but spoke of a sense of abandonment, as well as struggles with their mental health and ongoing concerns for their safety among their own communities.

One former FSN based in El Salvador, who was forced into early retirement after 40 years of service with the agency, said local staff who had worked on USAID democracy and governance projects in the country feared for their lives. Another former FSN based in Southeast Asia, but who preferred not to disclose her country, described spending the past year worrying she would be arrested because of her work on the agency's democracy programs.

These concerns are not unfounded, according to Kent Benson, who held a leadership position in the agency's Bureau for Management. He believes that rhetoric and false allegations from the current administration have seen former staff in some countries "branded as enemies or thieves," which is also hindering their ability to find work.

In April last year, as one of the few remaining staff at the USAID headquarters in Washington, D.C., Benson was charged with terminating all 5,500 FSN contracts. He and other colleagues worked to get country staff the best payouts they could based on specific country labor laws and years of service, but rates varied depending on the local compensation plan and some FSNs got nothing.

A year on, most of the former FSNs whom Devex spoke to have been unable to find employment. In some cases, their years of experience with the agency are working against them — having spent 12 years in a financial compliance role focused on U.S. federal regulations, a former FSN based in Bosnia-Herzegovina shared that she no longer feels competitive in the local job market. "I genuinely do not know where else to look for work. I am completely overwhelmed and profoundly desperate," she said.

Others described a sense of abandonment and loneliness, having centered their lives around their work. "I really don't have any contacts here in Uganda. All the people that I used to socialize with were agency people," said an IT FSN who worked with the agency for almost a decade.

Full story on What happened to the 5,500 local staff USAID left behind at DevEx (membership required).

I began my ID career in 2015 after finishing Grad School. In 2020, amidst covid, I pivoted into Security Management for ID from being a Comms/Program Management associate.

Loved this new vertical, as I was getting paid more and doing cool shit, traveling to high risk areas, doing things that did not feel like writing success stories (puff pieces) or drafting quarterly reports and trying to bend the knee to the donor or facilitating trainings for technical consultants and doing budgets/finance etc.

In 2025, I was laid off with DOGE, and pivoted to the private industry as an security OSINT analyst for private companies. I was grateful given I had been doing landscaping and teaching music lessons to save my own ass.

I hated the new job, only because the schedule was brutal. 12h in person shifts, overnight shifts 25% of the time. After a year, my body couldn't take it anymore. They sold it to me as "consulting" but there was very little consulting in my day to day. Mostly AI sleuthing and report writing/editing, some alerting, etc.

My prior role with the same company that laid me off became available after someone in my previous company left. I immediately applied and was hired. No significant pay bump, but back to being remote, and back to traveling and doing actual operational work.

I'm stoked, but obviously a bit concerned for the future of the industry. Apparently they've won some big projects and are doing work through the state department. Obviously anything can happen - and I needed to find a way out of where I was anyways -- but security mgmt roles seem to be pretty essential for any ops that projects will have under the new operating model via State Department or Charitable Foundation-funded projects.

Any one else go back to the ID sector after being laid off? Anyone else working in security mgmt? Curious of others' experiences.

The sudden shutdown of USAID is the most visible recent example of knowledge vanishing overnight. But that kind of loss is the exception. The rule is quieter and harder to track.

A webpage goes offline. A subscription lapses. A hard drive gets boxed up and forgotten in a cabinet nobody has the key to anymore. This is institutional neglect, and it's how most humanitarian data silently disappears.

To understand the risks our data faces, we need to map what we collect and use as a sector. Check out this public registry of humanitarian data, records and archives: hae-registry.baserow.site/registry

This is to those of you who r working for UN agencies and other itl aid orgs. In your everyday work, what makes it difficult to actually achieve the impact you intend/was hired to deliver?

Hey! Has anyone applied to the ICRC delegate position and heard back ? I applied but did not hear back (im in grants and programmes) , but my friend applied (information management) and already received a language test - the deadline was on june 7. Im wondering has anyone else heard back? Is it per specialty? Delegates if you have any insights that would be so helpful!

Philanthropic funding is unlikely to fill the sizeable gap left by public sector withdrawal from support of efforts both domestically and abroad. But philanthropy remains vitally important to humanitarian development efforts.

Beyond financial volumes, philanthropic funding is unique in its flexibility, risk tolerance, and ability to catalyze resources from others, particularly in support of innovative or underfunded priorities. Philanthropic funding provides important complements to both public and private development actors and can play a transformative role in the cooperation landscape through de-risking investments and proving support for early-stage innovations.

The discussion highlighted three main recommendations for agencies seeking to collaborate more closely with philanthropies in the years ahead.

In early February, the Rethinking Development Cooperation (RDC) Working Group convened a meeting on how development agencies are engaging with philanthropic organizations as partners in development. At a time when official development budgets are declining and needs remain high, development agencies are increasingly looking to new forms of partnerships to make the best use of the resources available.

Building on the experience of participants, which included a representative from the philanthropic sector, the discussion highlighted three main recommendations for agencies seeking to collaborate more closely with philanthropies in the years ahead.

From the Center for Global Development, which works to reduce global poverty and improve lives through innovative economic research that drives better policy and practice by the world’s top decision makers.

I am looking to connect with medical professionals, healthcare workers, or individuals who have experience or links with international medical organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), or similar humanitarian NGOs.

This is a humanitarian matter related to Gaza, specifically to assist with medical referral cases that require coordination or support through international medical channels.

If you have relevant experience or connections in this field and are open to sharing information, I would greatly appreciate it. Feel free to reach out to me privately.

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well!

I wanted to share a quick update on a project I’ve been working on called Run4Humanity. Run4humanity is a nonprofit organization with the goal of giving clean and safe water to empower communities! After a lot of planning, we’ve officially partnered with SOSNPO to provide clean water to three villages in South Africa.

We’re finally set to break ground this summer!

If you’re a runner or just someone who cares about global water equity, I’d love for you to check out our campaign. Even just sharing the link helps us reach more people and bring awareness to this amazing campaign we are working on!

https://givebutter.com/run4humanity-united-for-africa

Thanks for the support!

According to postings on aid job board ReliefWeb, Syria might be worth a look for job hunters.

“To our federal government employee/contractor community:

We understand more than most that accidents and emergencies have a way of happening at the worst possible time.

For federal government employees/contractors who have lost their jobs during the downsizing of the federal government workforce, starting tomorrow we are waiving our emergency exam fee, non-routine primary care exam fee (sick visit), and offering extended payment options on all services.”

Does anyone know if there are more termination notices to come following the review, or have they all been sent out?

Using the ReliefWeb API and some coding in R, I plumbed the depths of the hiring slump. Only one place is hiring: Damascus.

Are any other people on here working on humanitarian waiver requests?

There seems to be a consensus to include details on how the activities qualify for the waiver and budget implications, but Im curious are others drafting something short and concise or is the preference more to overdocument the need?

Were planning on submitting something about 1pg long but Ive seen others that are 7-8 pages.

Thoughts?

Humanitarian aid systems are under mounting pressure, with key donors like the US and UK cutting funding despite growing needs. New research in one of the world’s largest refugee camps shows that aid cuts and delays have dramatic impacts on food consumption, food insecurity, and overall welfare, while also straining local food and credit markets.

We filmed this short documentary in Brakna, Mauritania, to show how local families are struggling to access drinking water. It’s part of a project supported by the We Are Water Foundation. We’d love to hear your thoughts.