Dehai News

In 2003, the concerns of those living with HIV in Nigeria were shared by the U.S. government – though for different reasons: On the line was not just Nigeria’s health, but also its oil reserves and its lucrative trade partnership. Funding HIV treatment around the world was one clear way to reduce the risk of a country falling into instability – and that’s what the Bush administration tried to do with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

Now, with the Trump administration’s directive to freeze HIV prevention efforts and cut foreign aid, Nigerians and Americans will once again share the consequences of Washington’s overseas aid policy. Kathryn Rhine, a medical anthropologist, saw firsthand how PEPFAR changed the lives of Nigerian women for the better. She likewise can see how significant restrictions to the program will likely have harmful effects for everyone.

Israel first imposed a land, sea and air blockade of Gaza in 2007 after Hamas came to power. These restrictions have severely limited the movement of people and vehicles across the border, as well as the amount of food, medicine and other goods that have been permitted to go into and out of Gaza. These controls increased significantly after Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. They’ve been maintained at heightened levels ever since.

Under international humanitarian law, Israel has the responsibility to ensure aid reaches people in territory it occupies. And the United Nations, in line with many other international organizations, holds that Israel is in effect an occupying power in Gaza. However, as Tom Fletcher, the UN emergency relief coordinator, has put it, Israel’s method of distributing aid “makes aid conditional on political and military aims” and “makes starvation a bargaining chip”. Donald Rothwell outlines what the law says, and the limitations facing enforcement.