What the Democracy, Rights and Governance Aid Cuts Made Visible

Over the past year, I have been reflecting on what the Democracy, Rights and Governance (DRG) foreign aid cuts are making visible: not only what funding cuts disrupt, but what helps civic and governance work persist, adapt, and recombine under pressure. I wrote two related pieces from that vantage point:

• A white paper published by Diplomatic Courier’s Think Tank World in 2050 takes a step back to consider what this moment is revealing about the sector and where donors and philanthropic actors can play a pragmatic-optimistic role.
• The other reflects more directly on practice, drawing on how Accountability Lab and its partners navigated these dynamics in real time.

Read together, they offer both a broader analytic frame and a grounded reflection on what we might learn when we thread fragmented experiences, data and conversations, looking at the past and present, thinking of a more resilient future.