New RFSU Sweden report: ‘From Harm to Hope: Advancing gender equality, SRHR and global alliances under the weight of US foreign policy’
https://www.rfsu.se/globalassets/pdf/rapporter/from-harm-to-hope-2025.04.11.pdf
This report warns that the Trump administration plans to move forward with systematic attacks on UN agencies and international law. The US has already terminated 83% of all USAID projects, stopped funding life-saving sexual and reproductive health services, withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO) and rejoined the anti-abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration. So what’s next?
The report suggests there will be increased pressure on the UN system to eradicate its work on gender equality, SRHR and diversity, equity and inclusion – but also increased attacks on multilateral cooperation and the UN system as a whole. In the first few months of this US administration, multiple attempts were made to prevent political declarations from passing by consensus, and there have been aggressive actions in the executive boards of key UN agencies and programmes.
RFSU’s report provides a range of concrete recommendations that address immediate threats while also laying the groundwork for long-term transformation. As we move forward, RFSU believes the Swedish and European Governments can play a crucial role in:
-Mobilising a more harmonised response to fill critical financing and service gaps in the hardest-hit countries and communities, especially those highly dependent on US funding.
-Proactively working to dismantle the Geneva Consensus Declaration and counter the misuse of data and science in anti-rights agendas.
-Supporting civil society actors, including CSOs working for SRHR, LGBTQI+ and gender equality, to claim their rights and advocate prioritising domestic resources for gender equality, health and SRHR.
-Supporting the abandonment of the old aid rhetoric of goals and targets set in global centres (often in the North), towards approaches that are less fragmented and support country ownership by aligning assistance with country plans and budgets.
‘Strong voices are needed to counterbalance Trump’s policies, and it is vital that Sweden and other like-minded governments resolutely defend SRHR, gender equality and human rights,’ says Ingela Holmertz, Secretary General, RFSU.
SOURCE: RFSU News 2025: After the Aid Collapse, 11 April 2025.