n/a

Aid cuts and challenges in International Cooperation.
The modern system of international cooperation began to take shape in the 1960s, during the era of
decolonization and newly gained independence for many nations. Through their Official Development
Assistance (ODA), developed countries started providing financial, technical, and operational support to
less-developed nations in their journey toward modernization.
Initially centered on "economic growth," the focus of international aid expanded in the 1970s to include
broader socio-economic goals. A complex multilateral development cooperation system emerged,
aiming to address global challenges such as poverty, hunger, child mortality, and disease control. It also
gave impulse to progress in areas like peace and security, protection, education, health, gender, rural
development, environmental sustainability, and social and economic reforms. The adoption of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 provided a holistic framework integrating social,
economic, and environmental dimensions and enabling more systematic tracking of progress.
Humanitarian assistance—which we can define as the provision of principled, neutral, needs based,
impartial and independent life-saving support to civilian populations affected by conflict, economic
shocks, or natural disasters—also became a critical component of ODA. Since the 1970s, such assistance
has grown exponentially. Hundreds of millions of people in crisis situations have been helped, and
millions of lives rescued and saved through complex and often dangerous humanitarian interventions in
areas affected by economic downturns, violence, or disasters.
However, a significant transformation appears to be underway today, potentially ushering in a new era
for international cooperation. Despite growing global humanitarian needs, international aid flows are
being severely reduced. After a decade of steady increases, global ODA began to decline in 2023. In
2025, most donor countries—starting with the United States and several major European and Asian
nations—implemented drastic and unexpected cuts, in the order of 40% for the US and other European
countries. However, being the US the single largest contributor to global ODA and to humanitarian
operations, the relative impact of US cuts is much larger.
The immediate effect of such drastic and unplanned cuts has been dramatic. Many development and
humanitarian programs around the world are today critically underfunded. Abrupt cuts are disrupting
essential services which will lead to increased mortality and morbidity among the world’s most
vulnerable populations. Millions of people—particularly women, children, and the elderly—across
Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and parts of Europe will lose access to crucial assistance.
Countries facing humanitarian crises will no longer be able to sustain key programs in health, food
security, childcare, and disease control. The lack of essential services will also drive more internal
displacement, affect urban centers and spark new migration flows. Rising poverty and hunger will fuel
more social unrest and political instability, exacerbating existing crises and potentially igniting new
ones—thus perpetuating a vicious cycle of violence, poverty, and underdevelopment.
Although there are no official metrics yet to quantify the full impact of the 2025 funding cuts, it is
evident that the decisions made in donor capitals will have long-lasting consequences on what
increasingly appears to be a massive, unfolding, man-made humanitarian crisis.
For the mid and long term, if the current trends of sustained reductions in aid budgets continue, the
world might be facing a profound reshaping of the international cooperation system. While new

opportunities may arise, such as efforts to increase efficiency, what we may be witnessing is a deeper
structural shift—from a relatively principled although imperfect multilateral aid system committed to
promote human development, to an increasingly fragmented, politically driven, and transactional
cooperation system, aligned with donor-country interests. This is a transformation bearing far-reaching
implications which calls for serious reflection and debate at national and international levels.

HDPI, Inc, JMU, WMRA Proposed Program

“Being Human”

Raising awareness of our common humanity in crisis situations

Zero Draft 4, 5 May – ER/PR

Proposed
Proposed: A four component initiative to raise public awareness of global humanitarian needs
and constructive efforts to meet them: “Did you know?” service radio spots (30,60 or 90
seconds) that share key facts about humanitarian realities – “Being human”, public service
radio spots highlighting human elements of crisis situations and constructive aid efforts (60 or
90 seconds) – short reels on Being Human for social media – and Being Human web platform
providing an online information basis for these activities.
Problem statement
The plight of people in major crisis situations globally, and the efforts to aid them, are
dramatic and continually evolving human stories, but are receiving little public attention,
concerns such as, large scale numbers of families facing acute threat to life, being forced to
flee, starving, and other crisis circumstances.
Purpose
With empathy, people everywhere recognize that we are all human and global citizens,
understand hunger and fear, and as such share in the plight of others in the most difficult of
circumstances. Awareness of fundamental concerns of our common humanity is the first step
in understanding, empathy and action. Enhancing availability of information aims to enable
the general public to decide how they can demonstrate their concern, countering what the
Pope has termed “global indifference”.
Capacities
HDPI, Inc is a global network of some 50 humanitarians with a high level of global crisis
experience and expertise, and which functions as a think tank, innovation hub and service
provider in the humanitarian field. HDPI is teaming up with staff and students involved in
humanitarian courses at James Madison University and which will also support production,
and with the public radio station, WMRA a local partner and NPR affiliate.

Begin as a Pilot:
The period May to Dec 2025 will be considered a pilot period. The pilot will include – proof of
concept, production of at least 25 spots each for Did you know and Being Human. We aim to
test and pilot at least 25 reels, and establish a web platform (see draft Being Human , only

Address: HDPI 1394 Two Penny Drive, Rockingham Va. 22802 USA – Cell: 202-412-2550 – email: eressler@hdpi.org
www.https://hdpi.org/
available to project taskforce). The initial distribution of the radio spots will be through
WMRA, the NPR affiliated station for central Virginia; the ultimate goal is distribution more
broadly and to other networks. From the beginning the project will explore partnerships with
others, including with AmRef University in Nairobi Kenya.
Focus and parameters
The focus will be on the human experience in global crisis situations, the realities of families,
critical issues, and positive actions to aid them. The circumstances/perspectives of children
will be given particular consideration. The focus will be purely humanitarian – non-partisan –
aiming to generate awareness and empathy – focused on the most acute crisis situations
around the world but where possible linked to local efforts. It will not include specific fund-
raising requests, or recommend support of any specific organization. –
1 st ideas for a tagline –
“Be a humanitarian wherever you are”
“care – engage – empower – act”
Collaborating focal points
HDPI,Inc – Everett Ressler, Executive Director and Global Alert task force
James Madison University – Daniel Beers (Justice Studies), Taimi Castle (Center for
International Stabilization and Recovery)
WMRA and WEMC, Matt Bengey, Executive Director and General Manager
Budget/Finances – HDPI, Inc and JMU
Annexes
a. Initial task outline with tentative timeline
b. Tentative list of topics and crisis situations/countries
c. Theory of Change
d. Budget

Address: HDPI 1394 Two Penny Drive, Rockingham Va. 22802 USA – Cell: 202-412-2550 – email: eressler@hdpi.org
www.https://hdpi.org/

Annex a

Draft Notes: Initial Task Outline – 9 months

Initial Project design considerations
Collaboration of HDPI, JMU, WMRA
Topics defined
Develop concept for each topic
Identify situation, country, people group
Agree and develop tone and impact
-develop logo, choose music, create website, select voice
Research and story development
Desk research/data collection and identification of contacts
Story development, writing, editing and final approval
Production of radio spot
Pre-production – Designing the story, voice, music
Recording – with JMU studios
Distribution/airing – NPR, website, social media
Implementation [Draft for discussion]
Project Coordinators : Everett Ressler/HDPI, Daniel Beers/JMU,
Core Project team: Angela Raven-Roberts/Oxford, Peter Otieno/London, Carlo
Scaramella/Naples, Dan Maxwell/Boston, Daniel Beers/JMU/Harrisionburg, Va,
Phyllis and Everett Ressler/Harrisionburg, researchers and students, and with
support from HDPI’s global network of humanitarians
Project and production manager: Phyllis Ressler
Advisor to the project: Matt Bengey/WMRA
Content creation and review: Angela Raven-Roberts
Content editor for “Did you know?” – Carlo Scaramella ??
Global dissemination/social media: Peter Otieno
Researchers and story generation – project team
Recording – JMU, Jenna Polk (JMU Library, Media Production & Market Services)
Radio Broadcasting – WMRA – WEMC, Matt Bengey

Address: HDPI 1394 Two Penny Drive, Rockingham Va. 22802 USA – Cell: 202-412-2550 – email: eressler@hdpi.org
www.https://hdpi.org/
Draft Timeline (3 months)

Global Migration

Migration is a hot button issue, frequently in the news, but migration-related terms and trends are widely misunderstood.

Migrant is a general term that refers to anyone who moves from one place of residence to another with the intention of staying for an extended period of time. Counter to the globalization narrative, the vast majority of the world’s migrants—approximately 80%—never leave their home country. They are known as internal migrants.

Those who do relocate to another country are called international migrants. According to the United Nations, there are an estimated 304 million international migrants in the world today, representing just over 3.5% of the world’s total population. While the absolute number of migrants has increased steadily over time, global migration as a share of total population has remained surprisingly consistent for more than a century.

While some migrants move voluntarily for work or school, or to reunite with family, others are forced to migrate to escape hardship like poverty, war, political persecution, or natural disasters. Data reported by the United Nations suggests that forced migration is a growing problem, with more than 120 million people forcibly displaced in 2024—or approximately 1 in every 67 people on Earth.

When a migrant resides in a destination country without permission, they are known as an undocumented migrant. Some politicians refer to them as “illegal aliens” to suggest that they are criminals and outsiders. However, most undocumented migrants have broken no criminal laws, as immigration violations are typically civil offenses, not criminal ones. Moreover, many undocumented migrants have deep ties to the communities where they live. For example, a recent study by the non-partisan Center for Migration Studies found that over half of the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States have lived in this country for more than a decade, and about 5.1 million U.S. citizen children live in a household with an undocumented family member.

For more information:

https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/

https://www.unhcr.org/global-trends-report-2024

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/455478/how-migration-really-works-by-haas-hein-de/9780241998762

https://cmsny.org/publications/2024-mass-deportation-program-devastate-american-families-101024/

Forced Displacement

You’ve probably heard the terms refugee, asylum seeker, and IDP. But what do they really mean?

A refugee is someone who’s been forced to flee their home country due to war or violent persecution. They’ve been recognized—usually by the United Nations or a national government—as qualifying for international legal protection, known as asylum.

The term asylum seeker refers to someone who has typically fled the same dangers as a refugee, and is asking for the same legal protection, but their claim is still being reviewed. If approved, they’ll become a refugee. However, the asylum process is often lengthy and expensive, and requires legal representation and documentation that many have trouble obtaining.

Then there are IDPs—internally displaced persons. Like refugees and asylum seekers, IDPs have fled their homes seeking safety from imminent danger, but they haven’t crossed an international border. Rather, they are displaced inside their own country, and enjoy fewer international rights and protections.

All three terms are types of what humanitarians call forced displacement. In places like the United States, we tend to hear more about refugees and asylees, because they sometimes seek protection in western countries. However, among the more than 120 million forcibly displaced people in the world today, approximately 60% are IDPs who remain in their country of origin, and nearly 3/4 are hosted in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

This means that, contrary to popular belief, the global refugee crisis is not only—or even primarily—a problem affecting the U.S. and Europe. Rather, most of the responsibility for hosting and protecting refugees and other displaced people is borne by disaster-affected countries and their neighbors in the developing world.

For more information:

https://www.unhcr.org/global-trends

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-us-asylum-process-works

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/outmatched-us-asylum-system

https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2025

Democratic Republic of Congo: (DRC)

Did you know?

-The DRC is second-largest country in Africa (after Algeria) and largest country in sub-Saharan Africa.

-It has an estimated population of 103.5 million, making it the fourth most populous country in Africa after Nigeria (225.8 million), Ethiopia (127.7 million), and Egypt (113.3 million).

-The capital city, Kinshasa is the largest city in the DRC.

-French is the official language of the DRC. But

there are four other national languages: Kituba, Lingala, Swahili, and Tshiluba.

-The DRC borders nine countries:

Central African Republic and South Sudan, to the north.

Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania to the east.

Zambia and Angola in the south.

Republic of Congo. In the west. The Republic of Congo ROC is a separate nation across the Congo river and its capital is  Brazzavile.

–The Congo River, most of which flows through the DRC, has never been accurately measured along much of its length because of its speed, cataracts, rapids, and turbulence. However it is said to be the deepest river in the world, with estimates of the point of greatest depth varying between 220 and 250 meters.

– The country was colonised in the 1880s.

In 1885, Belgian King Leopold II claimed private ownership of the region, establishing the Congo Free State. His reign was marked by nationwide exploitation and abuses of human rights. After public pressure, King Leopold II was forced to pass ownership to the country of Belgium in 1906, naming it the Belgian Congo.

–The country gained independence in 1960.

In 1965 President Mobutu Sese Seko affected a coup and seized power.  His reign has often been referred to as a kleptocracy. He ruled for 25 years and re named the country Zaire, and left the country in billions of debt.

-Currently, there are 5.8 million internally displaced persons.

According to the United Nations, the DRC has the largest internally displaced population in Africa. More than 5.8 million people are displaced within their own country, while over a million people have fled to nearby countries.

Families are forced to flee their homes to escape armed conflict and insecurity, and face problems such as lack of nutritious food, safe drinking water, and healthcare. All of which increase children’s vulnerability to exploitation.