The Hill: Trump’s proposed foreign aid cuts put women in jeopardy
Seema Jalan, executive director of the Universal Access Project

“…The international reproductive health and family planning efforts that represent a tiny fraction of the foreign aid budget are fundamental to the health, dignity, and well-being of individuals. … There is no question that women’s access to reproductive health and family planning are essential for sustainable development. … But today the health and rights of women and families all over the world are jeopardized. The administration’s proposed slashing of … foreign aid for international reproductive health and family planning — layered on top of the administration’s recent decisions to reinstate and expand the global gag rule and to eliminate funding for the [U.N.] population fund — pose the greatest threat to women’s health and rights in decades. … Investing in [girls’ and women’s] lives, their dreams, and their contributions to the world matters for all of us. We have the opportunity to empower millions of girls, women, families and communities — but only if the U.S. maintains critical investments in international reproductive health and family planning” (5/25).

The Conversation: Trump budget’s cuts to international aid put global health security at risk
Ana Rita Sousa Sequeira, research associate at Murdoch University

“…The [cuts for foreign aid in the administration’s FY18 budget request diminish] the world’s capacity to prevent and coordinate interventions to tackle human health security issues. Reducing funding to national disease surveillance systems, training, and infrastructure in the developing world will hamper the ability to deliver rapid, coordinated, and consistent responses to borderless infectious disease outbreaks. … [I]f it is approved, the budget will be a game-changer for global health. It will lower financing of basic health care in the developing world, and reduce global disease surveillance systems. The change will need a new architecture and leadership in international aid. And it will require remedial action from a bloc of countries (leading E.U. countries and cooperation between middle-income and emerging countries), or from charities and foundations such as Bill and Melinda Gates, or public and private partnerships — or all of them. The world needs to take a coordinated action to ensure that global health is not neglected — we are all responsible for this” (5/26).