EU meeting highlights aid role as other doners scale back

The European Union has emerged as the primary provider of global development assistance after the United States significantly reduced its international aid budget in 2025, according to a recent meeting of EU development ministers in Dublin. Representatives from 80% of global development funding were present, alongside counterparts from Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland, and the United Nations.

Between 500,000 and 700,000 people worldwide are estimated to have died since the US aid cuts took effect, leading to a decline in human rights, dignity, and values, according to Neale Richmond, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs. The EU has witnessed a "contagion effect" with reduced assistance in several member countries, negatively impacting LGBTQI citizens and women and girls' rights.

It is projected that 10 million additional people will have HIV/AIDS by 2030 due to the cuts, undoing decades of dedicated work. 240 million people globally rely on humanitarian aid to survive, with recipients spread across conflicts like Ukraine, Ethiopia, DRC, Gaza, Afghanistan, Haiti, Yemen, and Rohingya refugee camps. Over 130 conflicts worldwide have seen aid and medical workers targeted and killed.

Hadja Lahbib, EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness, and Crisis Management, emphasized that 2025 was the deadliest year on record for aid workers, with more than 300 fatalities. The EU is focusing on three areas: enhancing aid worker protection, accelerating sector reform, and engaging new partners such as the private sector, banking sector, and philanthropy. The EU is also investing in health systems and vaccine production in Africa and Latin America to prepare for future pandemics.