Josie argues that the aid sector is on a burning platform, but the urgency to eradicate extreme poverty and make the world a safer place remains.

We’re in a post-aid world now. About 50% of global aid budgets, US$100 billion, could be cut. It’s not coming back. Those of us who work for aid charities have to live in this new world and adapt, or end up Blockbuster in the Netflix era. I deplore Elon Musk’s chainsaw massacre of USAID, but he is not a Lone Ranger. Eight out of 10 EU countries also cut their government aid budgets, including nice countries like Norway and Sweden. Before the cuts, aid charities were getting food, water and medicine to people who would otherwise die. In the 1980s, about 40% of the world lived in extreme poverty. Today it’s closer to 11%. The historic improvement is one of the world’s greatest achievements. It’s mostly down to trade, but aid played a part by funding health and education. The death rate of children under 5 has reduced by 75% in a few decades. 40% of that comes from vaccines. HIV programmes have reduced the virus globally by three-quarters. Polio has almost been eradicated.


Read her column here.