Dear colleagues,
The recent announcement of the suspension of US foreign aid has affected the nutrition community across the globe. ENN recognises that this has created uncertainty and challenges for all. Acknowledging the power of collective collaboration and knowledge sharing in overcoming adversity, ENN has opened this post to encourage our users to share experiences, mitigation measures, and support problem solving by practitioners who are navigating the impact of the funding freeze on nutrition programmes and services.
Note: a reminder than en-net is an open forum, however you can choose to post anonymously. A reminder of how to do so is available in our how-to use en-net video: https://www.ennonline.net/multimedia/how-use-en-net
Best wishes,
ENN team
Have you had to adjust your nutrition activities/programmes since the US foreign aid suspension?
My experience with the US foreign aid suspension may not be relatable to most, but it is worth sharing.
I have established myself as a public health consultant, for the past few years, working both remotely and in-person (in my home country in Southern Africa). My last local consultation contract came to an end in October 2024 and I have been looking for my next venture (consultancy or otherwise).
December 2024, and January 2025, saw a large number of adverts being posted for various public health jobs in my country. I even interviewed for a role in January 2025.......then the freeze order was made. It seemed a bit surreal at first but slowly the effects became clear. There are way less ads going up since February, several jobs that I had applied for have since emailed me to pull the adverts (some from UN organisations), and many others have gone silent (this is a common occurrence and may not be related to the freeze). The job I had interviewed for also went silent (not to say it was meant to be my job, but all of us who interviewed have kept in touch and no one has heard from them). I had another remote consultancy (which was nearing its end) which also got paused as a result of the freeze and it's frustrating to see such relevant work be shelved because of this.
In my country, over 5,000 people have lost jobs as a result of this freeze (now complete cancellation). This is only for the direct jobs, but if we factor in the impact this will have on others, the number is much higher. The effects are not yet visible but as time goes without any change, it will become apparent. Through LinkedIn I can (vaguely) track the number of applicants for each advertised post and I have noticed that the number of applicants has increased significantly over the last few weeks (from as little as 12 to as much as 82 applicants for an entry or mid-level position).
So whilst I haven't had to adjust any nutrition activities/programmes, I have been professionally affected and see more people in the same situation.
Answered:
14 days agoThank you for sharing your experience - it is valuable. We encourage nutrition practitioners from all sectors (including academia, research etc.) to share their experiences on any adjustments or adaptations they are making, if they have been impacted by the funding cuts.
For practitioners directly supporting nutrition programmes here are some resources which might be of use:
- The Global Nutrition Clusters document describing 'Programming in the absence of nutritional product' : https://www.nutritioncluster.net/sites/nutritioncluster.com/files/2022-05/Programming%20in%20the%20absence%20of%20nutritional%20products_May2022_FINAL_1.pdf
- As during COVID19, programmes can also consider temporarily implementing 'simplified approaches' if helpful: https://www.nutritioncluster.net/simplified-approaches
- If you are experiencing a RUTF shortage, consider contacting Edesia’s RUTF SOS line at sos@edesianutrition.org for immediate support.
Answered:
13 days ago