Looking back over 2025, a year defined by critical and dramatic shifts in global development and humanitarian aid, DevelopmentAid has once again delivered essential news and insights from across the sector. From reporting on shocking funding cut decisions and geopolitical pivots affecting aid flows to evolving responses to crises in food security, health and climate resilience, our coverage has highlighted the events that truly mattered for the global community of development and humanitarian actors.
Here are the top ten stories that defined 2025 in development aid. Selected by our editors out of more than 350 articles, podcast episodes, webinars, and Expert Opinions, these titles recorded the largest audiences and were of the greatest importance for the sector’s professionals looking for information.
#1 Top 10 world problems and their solutions
Over the last decade, humanity has lived through a series of negative and dangerous events, with some of the most uncertain and difficult years probably being 2020, 2021, and 2022. The novel coronavirus – COVID-19 – pandemic, constantly increasing poverty and wars erupting in different regions of the world, followed by migration issues, and all of these seasoned with the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
In 2022 – 2025, the war in Ukraine, the Israel – Hamas conflict, and worsening humanitarian crises in many other countries along with the energy crisis and hyperinflation, caused multiple economic shocks and stagnation across the continents.
Read the full article here.
#2 The biggest social issues that affect modern society
We live in a world that is witnessing remarkable progress in multiple fields, such as technology, commerce, and medicine. On a global level, societies have declared shared aspirations and common goals, such as eradicating poverty and achieving equality. However, despite various achievements, there still remains a complex wave of social issues that could shatter the very foundation of society as a whole.
It is therefore important to shed light on these issues and how they could affect society. For instance, among multiple social issues, one of the most serious is inequality. The gap that divides the wealthy and the poor is widening, posing a threat to both social cohesion and economic stability while also limiting access to opportunities, quality healthcare, and education for some.
Furthermore, among the many global social issues, violence holds one of the top spots in various countries worldwide (not just developing nations but high-income countries as well), disrupting normal daily living and thus fracturing social unity. Homelessness and unemployment are other problems that affect societies.
Read the full article here.
#3 Homelessness statistics in the world: causes and facts
Of the 8.2 billion people currently living on planet Earth, a significant percentage is homeless. This is why in almost every city on the planet, people can be observed sleeping on the streets, on park benches or elsewhere they possibly can. Homelessness is not a personal choice, and it affects people of all ages, sexes, races, and backgrounds. It is among the most obvious example of poverty, prejudice, and inequality.
Although hard to track, the number of homeless people increases every year, with a few countries being an exceptions.
Read the full article here.
#4 World waste: statistics by country and brief facts
Have you ever wondered how much garbage and rubbish there is on Earth? When disposing of their daily trash, most people do not give any further thought to where it goes and what happens to it. But a greater insight into waste could provide us with a different attitude towards a variety of issues, ranging from our consumption patterns to the environmental footprint we leave behind.
Just think about this: every minute, 3,825 tons of municipal waste are produced and collected. The largest share of this huge volume ends up in landfills or on open dump sites, putting enormous pressure on the environment and wildlife habitats. Unfortunately, on the whole, people have not yet acknowledged the danger of overconsumption and overproduction and while businessmen, politicians, activists and scientists argue about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle, each country faces tons and tons of waste to deal with.
Read the full article here.
#5 The cost of illiteracy: Why the education system in Philippines is failing millions
The Philippines is undergoing an education crisis as it struggles to prepare its students for a rapidly changing world. This shortfall in education is not only stalling personal growth but also fueling poverty and inequality, compounding the country’s social and economic challenges. As the nation strives for development, addressing the systemic issues that are plaguing its education sector is vital to unlock the potential of its people and foster sustainable development.
The scale of the crisis is staggering. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), 24 million Filipinos aged 10-64 are functionally illiterate, with 5.8 million being basically illiterate. Even more alarming, one in five high school graduates in 2024 were functionally illiterate, with over 18.9 million struggling with basic skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and comprehension. The World Bank reports that 91% of Filipino children aged 10 struggle to read simple text, a rate that has been worsened by the pandemic.
Read the full article here.
#6 Water pollution in the world: major causes and statistics
Wastewater is a global issue for the environment and its inhabitants, being responsible for almost the same levels of emissions as the aviation industry, according to the latest reports from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Today, only one in 10 liters of treated wastewater is reused, while half of it still pollutes the Earth’s waters, including rivers and lakes. This means that human waste, household sewerage, and sometimes toxic and even medical waste are released directly into the planet’s ecosystems. Apparently, the majority of people realize this and are aware of the urgency to change this state of affairs but no significant changes have happened.
Why? Perhaps one of the reasons is that polluted water is extremely difficult and expensive to clean up or maybe installing expensive water treatment systems within industries could reduce profits?
Read the full article here.
#7 10 donor alternatives to USAID with open grant calls
The USAID funding freeze announced in January 2025 has wreaked havoc in the development ecosystem worldwide. Humanitarian workers, non-profit staff, international projects, and vulnerable populations across multiple countries have all been affected. To help organizations to function in these challenging times, we have compiled a list of 10 alternative donors with funding calls currently open and available on www.developmentaid.org.
The United States of America has been paving the way and leading international aid efforts for the last 50 years. So, it is no surprise that the aid freeze announced by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, his first day in office, has wreaked havoc in this sector. Non-profit, contracted staff, and government employees are being laid off. Vital projects are being shut down and vulnerable countries are losing a critical source of financial aid.
To help organizations to navigate these murky waters, DevelopmentAid has compiled a list of 10 alternative donors with funding calls currently open. In total, there are over 1,100 grant calls to explore but, more importantly, platform members can access thousands of open and forecasted aid funding opportunities in order to diversify and update their strategies in these challenging times.
Read the full article here.
#8 The UN80 initiative – modernization of UN institutions or preparation for DOGE-like cuts? | Experts’ Opinions
After decades of channeling aid, the last couple of months have shown that without intense scrutiny and possibly restructuring, this sector and one of its main actors will face a great deal of uncertainty and question marks. With this year being the United Nations’ 80th anniversary, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has launched the UN80 Initiative which aims to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the United Nations system. It applies to all UN agencies, funds, and programs in response to shrinking funding and increasing global challenges. Although this initiative has the goal of streamlining processes and not reducing funding, many critics have compared it to the establishment of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), stating that both aim “to improve efficiency” within their systems.
Read the full article here.
#9 Nairobi to host three new global UN offices
In a landmark decision, the United Nations has revealed plans to set up three additional global offices in Nairobi, Kenya, by late 2026.
The new headquarters for UN Women, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) will join the already established UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-Habitat.
This move places Nairobi alongside New York, Geneva, and Vienna as one of only four cities globally hosting multiple UN headquarters. The relocation is part of the broader UN@80 reform agenda which seeks to decentralize operations from high-cost cities to more affordable, strategically located regions.
Read the full article here.
#10 USAID stop-work orders: Consequences of USA’s ‘quasi-isolationism’ for vulnerable communities and development efforts
The decision by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to issue stop-work orders across its global portfolio has thrown the world’s development and humanitarian sectors into crisis in recent weeks. These orders, which abruptly halted ongoing projects and contracts, left implementing partners scrambling to cope with the consequences. Given that the United States is the world’s largest foreign aid donor – contributing more than $72 billion in 2023 alone – the suspensions have far-reaching consequences and are disrupting initiatives ranging from health programs to refugee resettlement efforts.
Under the Trump administration, the stop-work orders are a component of a larger policy review that aims to assess and realign the focus of U.S. foreign aid. For the companies on the ground, the immediate effect heralded an air of uncertainty as they questioned how to keep staff employed, how to maintain office spaces and, most importantly, how to ensure that vulnerable communities did not bear the brunt of these disruptions.
Read the full article here.
These headlines represent just ten of the many stories that shaped the development and humanitarian landscape in 2025. As the sector continues to evolve, staying informed has never been more important. Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss international development news, daily coverage from trusted sources, including key global and bilateral financial institutions, as well as UN and European Commission agencies.
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