Sylvan Herskowitz

Lessons from a community-led WASH programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo A community-led water, sanitation, and hygiene programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo improved access but was unable to protect child health. Evidence suggests that more investment in water qua...

Nice summary of a WASH intervention in DRC by a bunch of my colleagues. Intervention improved access to clean water but didn't improve downstream health outcomes.

voxdev.org/topic/health...

lol always appreciate a shoutout Jeff! thanks!

Mathematica 65,991 followers 1d • • • • To our clients, partners, and peers: We want to let you know that we are reducing our workforce to align with the needs of our clients and ensure the continued, exceptional support we've offered for decades to the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. The staff we are letting go are skilled, experienced, and passionate about their work. Any organization would be fortunate to have them. Please don't hesitate to reach out if we can be of assistance.

Dan Gaylin • 2nd President and CEO, NORC 10h • 너 + Follow Like many of our peer organizations, this week NORC had to reduce our staff to ensure we are operating effectively and have the right mix of skills to align with client needs. The people departing NORC are highly talented and capable professionals, and they have made important contributions to our mission of delivering trustworthy and reliable data and analysis to inform society's most important decisions. They will be valuable employees and colleagues wherever their careers take them next. To each of you who are leaving, and on behalf of everyone at NORC, I offer our deepest thanks and appreciation for your dedicated service and the lasting impact you've made on our organization.

marc MDRC 15,135 followers 9h • 0 To our collaborators: Like many of our peer organizations, MDRC has had to reduce our staff in recent days, letting go of many talented and highly skilled professionals. Each of these colleagues would be an asset to another organization, and we encourage you to consider them for any career opportunities you may have. MDRC remains committed to our mission of learning what works to improve policy, practice, and people's well-being.

// Westat Westat 35,042 followers 22h • In light of recent industry changes, Westat is making strategic reductions to our workforce to better align with our clients' needs. The talented professionals who are leaving Westat have made significant contributions to our mission and embody our values of uncompromising excellence, client commitment, and innovation. They are current and future leaders in their fields and will undoubtedly be an asset to any organization they join. We remain committed to our mission to improve lives by delivering exceptional data-driven research and technical assistance, fostering insights and solutions to advance health, education, and social and economic opportunity.

Heartbreaking to see announcements of major layoffs at most research organizations that have played a vital role in supporting federal statistics for education and developing high-quality evidence about what policies/practices actually work.

Below are just a few examples from my LinkedIn feed.

Trump Live Updates: Supreme Court Denies Bid to Freeze Nearly $2 Billion in Foreign Aid

Coney Barrett and Roberts side with the liberals... www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...

Georgia Nonprofit That Produces Life-Saving Food For Kids Has Federal Contract Cut An estimated 300,000 children globally are expected to lose access to a nutrient-dense peanut butter that’s specially formulated to treat severe acute malnutrition.

An estimated 300,000 children globally are expected to lose access to a nutrient-dense peanut butter that’s specially formulated to treat severe acute malnutrition.

Why Dean Karlan, chief economist of USAID, resigned on Tuesday He was hired in 2022 so the aid agency could get 'more bang for our buck' with its projects. He tried to reach out to help in the rebuilding of the agency. On Tuesday he tendered his resignation.

He was hired in 2022 so the aid agency could get 'more bang for our buck' with its projects. He tried to reach out to help in the rebuilding of the agency. On Tuesday he tendered his resignation.

Why Dean Karlan, chief economist of USAID, resigned on Tuesday He was hired in 2022 so the aid agency could get 'more bang for our buck' with its projects. He tried to reach out to help in the rebuilding of the agency. On Tuesday he tendered his resignation.

Why Dean Karlan, Chief Economist of USAID resigned yesterday:

"I was ready to rebuild from wherever we ended up to identify the most effective programs, figure out how to get them back in place, and to recommend new awards.

But I received no response. Zero engagement."
www.npr.org/sections/goa...

Deaths from PEPFAR disruption

A tracker estimating deaths caused by the partial PEPFAR funding suspension: pepfar.impactcounter.com. Methodology here: pepfar.impactcounter.com/methodology.

As Elon demands justifications from all federal workers (including many who are not Executive Branch employees), remember that if he paid his taxes, it'd pay for 677K federal jobs.

At least 12 universities now have hiring freezes and nearly 30 have cut PhD admissions this year

If you hear of other places you can add them to this google doc:

Trump Appointees Fire Hundreds at U.S.A.I.D. Working on Urgent Aid The firings added to doubts about whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the agency’s acting head, supports lifesaving humanitarian assistance, as he has said he does.

Trump administration appointees running USAID have in recent days fired hundreds of employees who help manage responses to urgent humanitarian crises around the world, according to officials and recent employees.

Opinion | ‘We Are Seeing Complete Destruction’: The Damage Done by the U.S.A.I.D. Freeze Testimonials from around the world show that Trump’s foreign aid funding freeze has been damaging and chaotic.

‘We Are Seeing Complete Destruction’: The Damage Done by the U.S.A.I.D. Freeze www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/o...

“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist”

James Baldwin

Mandela Told the UK That People Could Eradicate Poverty—but Only if They Target It. In this blog, we look at the UK’s recent patterns in aid allocation. We find that UK aid has drifted away from those countries where extreme poverty is concentrated. The UK’s bilateral aid to Africa…

A smaller and smaller share of the UK's aid is going to the poorest countries,
@ianmitchell1.bsky.social and @samhugh3s.bsky.social find:

If you could use some amazing good news, here it is

Emergency Food, TB Tests and H.I.V. Drugs: Vital Health Aid Remains Frozen Despite Court Ruling The Trump administration appears to be flouting a judge’s order pausing the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D.

Emergency Food, TB Tests and H.I.V. Drugs: Vital Health Aid Remains Frozen Despite Court Ruling www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/h...

History: “Eventually the incompetent fascists invariably lose power and then society recovers in a new and stronger way”

Me: “Oh, cool, so what has to happen for the spell to be broken??”

History: “mmmm…well, that part is less encouraging.”

Trump funding freeze halts decades of U.S. democracy work around the world Congress created several organizations in 1980s to strengthen democratic institutions worldwide. Human rights activists say the freeze is a gift to authoritarians like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

Congress created several organizations in the 1980s to strengthen democratic institutions worldwide. Human rights activists say the freeze is a gift to authoritarians like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

holy hell this is smart

Exclusive: Catholic Relief Services lays off staff, cuts programs after USAID shakeup An internal email says CRS is likely to be cut in half this year from Trump's freeze of U.S. foreign assistance. Cuts will "cost people's lives and livelihoods," a former bishops' conference official ...

Christian groups like Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, & the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are also laying off staff and shutting down aid programs due to the Trump-Musk dismantling of the federal gov:

— www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...
— www.ncronline.org/news/exclusi...

I've written up a step-by-step for depositing data at datalumos.org - see aeadataeditor.github.io/aea-de-guida.... Before depositing, check what's there - lot of new deposits in the last few days!

‘You Can’t Let This Happen,’ Says Fundraising Email From Sitting U.S. Congressperson

‘You Can’t Let This Happen,’ Says Fundraising Email From Sitting U.S. Congressperson

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s idea of efficiency is stopping research on curing cancer.

The Inter-American Development Bank is forming a poverty group, with multiple staff positions.

Lead Specialist jobs.iadb.org/job/Economic...

Specialist jobs.iadb.org/job/Economic...

Great opportunity to help shape the organization's operational & analytical work around poverty reduction.

Visualizing the international reach of U.S. funding cut by Trump Using graphics to illustrate the scope of U.S. foreign aid spending and analyzing how the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts could play out across the world.

Foreign aid is under 1% of US budget but provides critical support in so many important areas. Killing usaid is a catastrophe. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Dozens of Clinical Trials Have Been Frozen in Response to Trump’s USAID Order (Gift Article) The stop-work order on U.S.A.I.D.-funded research has left thousands of people with experimental drugs and devices in their bodies, with no access to monitoring or care.

Gift link. You should read this. It is wrong on so, SO many different levels. It violates basic principles of research ethics in so many different ways.

Leaving devices IN PEOPLE'S BODIES. Stopping treatments halfway through, with no one to contact if they get sick.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/h...

Opinion | The World’s Richest Men Take On the World’s Poorest Children I’ve seen U.S.A.I.D. operate around the world, and it’s not woke — it’s lifesaving.

The world's richest man is taking food and medicine from the world's poorest children
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/o...

Opinion | The World’s Richest Men Take On the World’s Poorest Children I’ve seen U.S.A.I.D. operate around the world, and it’s not woke — it’s lifesaving.

This: The World’s Richest Men Take On the World’s Poorest Children www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/o... @nickkristof.bsky.social

USAID upheaval is paralyzing delivery of food and medicine around the globe Though humanitarian aid was supposed to be exempt from the Trump-ordered disruption, shipments of lifesaving food and drugs are held up in ports and warehouses.

Under the banner of “government efficiency,” U.S.-grown food and lifesaving medicine meant to help the world’s most vulnerable is instead rotting on cargo ships and in warehouses across the globe.

@suzykhimm.bsky.social has the details: www.nbcnews.com/news/politic...