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Foreign aid

Yesterday

Hamas fighters in Gaza. With its coffers depleted, the group’s military wing can no longer adequately pay the salaries of its fighters.

Hamas is running out of money as aid trade dries up

The military wing is struggling to pay fighters, while the Gaza government that the terrorist group has long run is cutting services and salaries for police and ministry employees.

This Month

Palestinians react after carrying the bodies of those killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza.

‘Tanks trapped us’: 85 killed in Gaza on deadliest day for aid-seekers

Israeli troops have killed at least 85 Palestinians trying to reach food in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, the territory’s Health Ministry said.

Fatma Swak Fadul holds a shirt that belonged to her three-year-old son Omer, who starved to death at home in Mayo Mandala on the outskirts of Omdurman, Sudan, in March. His 18-month-old sister died from starvation the month before.

This country was already in crisis. Trump’s aid cuts were catastrophic

The freeze on USAID had an immediate and deadly impact in war-ravaged Sudan, according to civilians, doctors and aid officials.

June

In Johannesburg, the hallways of a once-bustling center of medical research have fallen silent.Credit...

South Africa built a medical research powerhouse. Trump cuts demolished it

The budget cuts threaten global progress on everything from heart disease to HIV – and could affect American drug companies, too.

Adara founder Audette Exel.

Why this firm’s deal makers work for free

Ten years ago, Audette Exel persuaded some of the country’s top operators to donate their fees to charity. After raising $30 million, she is ready to expand.

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Elon Musk boasted of feeding USAID to the woodchipper.

Elon Musk’s legacy is disease, starvation and death

The billionaire’s sojourn in government has revealed severe flaws in his character – a blithe, dehumanising cruelty and a deadly incuriosity.

May

Bill Gates is giving away $310b. Can his plans survive the Trump era?

The billionaire’s strategy to turbocharge his global health drive could be undermined by political reality, as the US and other Western governments drastically cut foreign aid.

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto gives Anthony Albanese the royal treatment in Jakarta.

Indonesia is Australia’s ‘most important relationship’. Is the feeling mutual?

Anthony Albanese was given the royal treatment on his visit to Jakarta this week, but Australia’s closest neighbour is also opening up its friendship circle.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

What the PM’s Indonesian entourage says about his second term priorities

Anthony Albanese is again making Indonesia his first official visit of the parliamentary term, but the absence of his defence minister is notable.

March

Trump killed America’s aid program. It’s catching on

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have decimated USAID and the anti-aid contagion is spreading; developed country programs are tipped to fall 50 per cent by 2027.

February

A nurse tends to a baby at Kiwoko Hospital in Central Uganda, which has already been affected by cuts to US aid.

Trump’s assault on aid costs lives and ‘opens the door to China’

The US president’s attack on foreign aid has already led to deaths and is an invitation to Beijing to win hearts and minds in the Pacific and across our region.

January

Destroyed buildings by Israeli bombardments as seen inside the Gaza Strip from southern Israel.

How Australia can play a crucial role in Gaza’s future

Our nation has a unique opportunity to aid the peace process in the Middle East. But it requires a strategic pivot in its approach to aid funding.

June 2024

Penny Wong and Richard Marles visit Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape.

Why Australia needs to stop being PNG’s payday lender

It might seem a good, neighbourly thing to do. But loans can be damaging as poorly tied aid. The alternative is subsidising direct Australian business investment.

May 2024

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No coal, but $31m energy and other aid package for Ukraine

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says giving Ukraine flexibility about how to spend an energy aid package is better than sending a shipload of coal.

April 2024

Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, 43, was killed in an Israeli air strike in central Gaza while helping to deliver food. 

Albanese ‘outraged’ after aid worker’s death as condemnation grows

Israel’s top military commander has apologised for the death of Zomi Frankcom and six colleagues killed in a botched Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

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March 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape in December.

What China gets right in PNG and Australia gets wrong

This former leader of PNG’s state energy supplier says we should take a leaf from the China playbook by using a “tied aid” model.

Penny Wong announcing the unfreezing of funds to the UN agency helping Palestinians.

Australia ends freeze on $6m for Palestinian aid agency UNRWA

Australia joins Canada, Sweden and the European Union in restoring funding for the organisation after at least 12 countries froze payments in January.

A food drop over Gaza.

Dropping aid from planes is expensive and inefficient. Why do it?

Aid professionals say dropping aid from planes is an expensive, inefficient way to deliver much-need supplies, but the US, Jordan, Egypt, and France are forging ahead.

January 2024

People shelter at a school affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Khan Younis.

Details emerge on UN workers accused of aiding Hamas raid

One is accused of kidnapping a woman. Another is said to have handed out ammunition. A third was described as taking part in a massacre at a kibbutz.

June 2023

Kherson resident Andrii evacuates by boat on Thursday.

Aussie Ukrainians scramble to marshal support after dam disaster

Charities are marshalling donations and deploying funds to help the tens of thousands of Ukrainians displaced by the destruction of the dam on the Dnipro River.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/foreign-aid-1lz6