‘People Are Already Dying’: The Spiritual Crisis Behind U.S. and U.K. Foreign Aid Cuts

After abrupt cuts to foreign aid in the United States and United Kingdom at the start of 2025, faith leaders feared such measures were just the beginning of a larger realignment of the longstanding collaboration between Western governments and religious groups to deliver humanitarian aid, partner in peacebuilding and support development across the globe.

The more immediate concern, aid workers in sub-Saharan Africa told the Fetzer Institute, was because cuts were so sudden, local governments and on-the-ground organizations had little-to-no time to prepare.

The impact, they shared, was instantaneous and brutal.

Clinical trials investigating the cross-border spread of infectious diseases in Kenya came to an overnight halt. A peace agreement that brought an end to a 40-year conflict in southern Senegal that had U.S. government funding baked in is no longer certain to hold. Communal kitchens in war-torn Sudan were no longer able to offer food in the midst of war-induced famine.

The full force of the funding cuts was directly devastating, said Barbara Njenga, who works in health research and development in Kenya.

Because of sub-Saharan Africa’s existing vulnerabilities, the effect was that much more severe. Of the 20 poorest countries on earth, 19 are in sub-Saharan Africa. Among them, seven rely on U.S. aid dollars to cover over a fifth of their assistance — South Sudan, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia.

Njenga cited numerous examples of that impact, from the lack of funding for critical HIV research, cuts to maternal and child health programs as well as school-based nutrition schemes and the reduction of surveillance programs to monitor potential outbreaks of diseases like Ebola. She also cited the economic vulnerabilities, with numerous workers losing their jobs and the knock-on effect that can have on families and communities.

“In one neighborhood near Kisumu [a city in western Kenya], there were numerous health programs supported by the U.S. government,” said Njenga. “On a recent visit, it was almost like a ghost town because so many NGO offices were shut down.

People are already dying, said Njenga, and even if funding is restored, much of the pain caused by cuts might be irreversible or irredeemable.

A woman living with HIV or a mother with a terminally ill child or a family with no income can pray to God or beseech religious organizations for aid – but without funding, they still die, she said.

“It is a wakeup call for African nations to think outside of the box to meet our needs.”

Not only are religious organizations stepping into the gap created by aid cuts to provide emergency services and support, they are also providing spiritual succor and searching for deeper, more divine, intimations in the midst of the devastation.

Building a Better World for Everyone: H.E. Cardinal John Oneiyekan on Interfaith Input at the G20

In 2005, Cardinal Onaiyekan’s commitment to peace and de-escalation was put to the test. He had just received word that a Danish newspaper had printed a series of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, sending shockwaves through Nigeria and resulting in hundreds of casualties in a violent uprising between the country’s Christian and Muslim communities.

Following visits from the Israeli ambassador and a representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Cardinal Onaiyekan reached out to the Sultan of Sokoto, the leader of Nigeria’s Muslim community. Together two of Nigeria’s most influential religious leaders issued a joint statement declaring that the incident was not a Muslim-Christian issue and urging both sides to settle disputes peacefully.

In the years since, His Eminence Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Metropolitan Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, has earned his reputation as the person to call in Nigeria when there is conflict, especially those of an interreligious nature.

Following his education and early work with the Church, Cardinal Onaiyekan was appointed the Auxiliary Bishop of Ilorin at the age of 38. Now retired from official church duties, Cardinal Onaiyekan continues to advocate religious peacebuilding and justice in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world.

In 2012, he was named Pax Christi International’s 2012 Peace Laureate, an annual prize awarded to exemplary individuals who stand up for peace, justice, and nonviolence across the globe.

“I am involved at the international level for the same reasons I’ve been at the frontlines of Christian-Muslim dialogue in my country — to work for justice and peace,” he said.  

Due to his sterling record of interreligious engagement in Nigeria, and his persistent promotion of peace in other capacities throughout his career, he has served as honorary president of Religions for Peace (RfP), as President of the Christian Association of Nigeria and as President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

He has also been invited to be a part of the upcoming G20 Interfaith Forum which will be held October 13-17 – a role that Cardinal Onaiyekan sees as an opportunity to bring the importance of faith in conflict resolution and sustainable development to the forefront.

“We Need Each Other to Survive”: How Interfaith Orgs are Responding to COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Zaw Zaw Aung’s first thought was how the disease might put further strain on already fraught relationships in Myanmar, where there are ongoing tensions between Buddhists and Muslims.

Aung is the Programme Manager of Paungsie Metta Initiatives (PMI), a multi-religious network of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, and Muslims that promotes peaceful dialogue across Myanmar.

Rather than endangering PMI’s efforts, the crisis has proved an opportunity to strengthen bridge-building between Myanmar’s multiple religious communities, Aung said.

As part of my reporting for the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), I had the opportunity to speak with Zaw Zaw Aung and other interfaith leaders in Nigeria, Indonesia, the Middle East, and the Central African Republic about their efforts in the wake of the global pandemic.

These are their stories of courage in the face of the coronavirus, making connections in an age of social distancing, and how interfaith responses to the global crisis are creating fertile ground for future inter-religious engagement.