The end of U.S. development aid is severely impacting youth across MENA, stripping away vital opportunities for education, jobs, and entrepreneurship. Danish NGO PlanBørnefonden warns the funding loss threatens stability in a region already grappling with high unemployment and crisis. Deputy Director Anne Smith Petersen called the situation “super worrying,” noting that programs once backed by USAID offered dignity and hope.

While support from Danish partners, including Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and Denmark's Danish-Arab Partnership Program (DAPP) allows some initiatives to continue, demand has surged as many young people are left without alternatives. PlanBørnefonden emphasizes that investing in youth is key to long-term resilience and community-driven change.

The Danish Refugee Council announced it will shut down operations in six countries, cut 2,000 more jobs, roughly a quarter of DRC’s global workforce, and continue work in 28 nations following major U.S. funding cuts. The U.S., once its second-largest donor covering 20% of its budget, has withdrawn support—prompting the DRC to warn of “untold suffering and deaths.”