5: Rebooting the Global Humanitarian Aid System

The global humanitarian aid system is facing an existential crisis. Despite more than 300 million people in need of urgent aid in 2025 — nearly four times the number from just a decade ago — countries around the world have slashed aid budgets. The U.S. alone has cut nearly $8 billion in aid funding under President Donald Trump, in addition to his administration’s far-reaching dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Now, the sector must move quickly and strategically to survive and continue to respond to humanitarian emergencies around the world. Sonali Korde, a Baker Institute visiting fellow and former head of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, joined a live recording of the podcast to explore the current upheaval and possible avenues for systemic reform. This conversation was recorded on Oct. 9, 2025.  Featured guests: Sonali Korde, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/sonali-korde Mentioned in this episode: Sonali Korde, “Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector Brick by Brick,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, August 11, 2025. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.