Thomas Byrnes

OCHA Data Confirms Scale of US Aid Cuts: 79 Million Affected, Local NGOs Hit Hardest Executive Summary The latest UN OCHA survey confirms the devastating, systemic impact of recent US foreign assistance terminations across the humanitarian sector. Key findings reveal: Massive Human Co...

Latest UN OCHA survey confirms the devastating, systemic impact of recent US foreign assistance terminations across the humanitarian sector. Summary by @thomasbyrnes.bsky.social on LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/pulse/ocha-d...

YouTube video by socialprotection.org Social protection in a post-USAID world: an open discussion on key implications

Read more 👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7M...
Make sure to watch this as well: tinyurl.com/528u7eke

With: @thomasbyrnes.bsky.social , Anna McCord, @valentinabarca.bsky.social and Carla Lacerda

What are the implications of #USAID (and now UK + others) funding cuts on #socialprotection as a sector, often 'competing' with others for funding? As promised, here is the blog summarising the discussions on the 'SO WHAT' for our sector socialprotection.org/discover/blo...

@socialprotection.org @thomasbyrnes.bsky.social @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social desperately trying to get the Bluesky SP community to bloom as I would love to drag the conversation away from Linkedin, but it has not been easy.. :)

Not content to only exacerbate human suffering domestically, the US is also helping collapse humanitarianism globally, as @markleongoldberg.bsky.social and
@thomasbyrnes.bsky.social discuss here:

I would assume that as both eu counties and us combined have similar gdps and aimed to give similar amounts of odi as a % of gdp the totals would be quite close, for me the key issue is that with the us stopped in short term and dramatically reduced in the long the immediate impact on operations etc

Hi Chris so the most comprehensive data set for us foreign assistance is foreignassistance.gov I would recommend downloading there data sets incase they are taken down in the future as they are not being updated since the new administration came into office

Financing EU humanitarian aid: limits and prospects - Défis Humanitaires The reduction in official development aid budgets by EU Member States is a serious threat to humanitarian aid, at a time when needs are reaching unprecedented levels. This article analyses the withdra...

this is a helpful overview of current EU humanitarian aid from November defishumanitaires.com/en/2024/11/2...

For funding to humantiran agencies I had it has us 42% eu member states 19.5% eu commission including echo 8.2% so eu total 27.7ish% this is based on the un ocha data of funding committed to humanitarian responses and tracked via fts

Flash Analysis : US Aid Freeze: A 90-Day Countdown to Crisis for Humanitarian Agencies This is Part 1 published on Jan 25th in my ongoing series examining the ongoing US Aid Freeze. For a better understanding, check out the other posts in the series, as I have tried to document this evo...

I am not sure that is correct but great if you can share the sources as love to be corrected this was my anylsis done on all donors www.linkedin.com/pulse/flash-...

Hi Chris the data sets are form OCHA fts the extracted info is hear marketimpactorg-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/person... and hear marketimpactorg.sharepoint.com/:x:/s/MIWork... and the source is fts.unocha.org

This is a crisis response app. If a diplomat is in danger, for any reason, this sends their whereabouts to diplomatic security in country and DC

Senator Andy Kim just went to the USAID building, talked to the security guard there to confirm employees are being barred entry, and then did a press gaggle right there in front to call it out.

This is doing something. This is making an effort on messaging. Other Democratic lawmakers: take notes.

rep raskin speaks to a crowd of 100 outside usaid hq

“we don’t have a fourth branch of government called elon musk…you don’t control the money of the american people. the united states congress does.”

USAID in Freefall: Funding Freeze and Dismantled Systems Jeopardize Lives Worldwide USAID is in freefall, and the consequences for global humanitarian efforts are dire. While the world grapples with the devastating impacts of the recent U.

USAID is in freefall. New report details how a funding freeze, dismantled systems, & a purge of core staff (PSCs) are jeopardizing lives worldwide. This is a humanitarian crisis in the making. Read & share: www.linkedin.com/pulse/usaid-... #USAID #HumanitarianCrisis #AidFreeze

NE Syria aid cutoff: Humanitarian catastrophe unfolding. Sr. Official: Food, water, medical care vanishing. Camps in chaos. Read, share, act: discuss.aidgpt.org/t/northeast-... or www.linkedin.com/pulse/northe... #Syria #AidCuts #HumanitarianCrisis

Somebody yelled at me for posting about Ganymede instead of /the state of things/ last night.

I know we’re (almost) all on the same page here, but a Bluesky without cute cats, science facts, and dumb jokes would be bad for everyone.

I know we all have disaster fatigue, but the reason why historic LA fires get so much coverage is because there are more people in greater LA county than in *most US states*

Ep. 46 | Harnessing AI for Social Protection: opportunities and risks | socialprotection.org Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming industries worldwide, and social protection systems are no exception. From improving targeting and service delivery to enabling predictive interventions,…

5/8 Join us as we explore the balance between innovation and responsibility in the age of AI. https://tinyurl.com/SPpodcast46

Meet our guest:

🎙️@thomasbyrnes.bsky.social , Humanitarian & Social Protection Consultant, Founder and Director of MarketImpact.

AI in Social Protection: Insights from SP.org Podcast Ep. 46 on Opportunities, Risks, and the Road Ahead I was delighted to join the SP.org Podcast this week to discuss one of the most transformative and pressing topics in our field: the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in social protection systems. ...

🚀 Excited to share insights from the latest SP.org Podcast episode: Harnessing AI for Social Protection: Opportunities & Risks.
🔗 Listen: lnkd.in/dpxCYhM9
📝 Read my blog: discuss.aidgpt.org/t/ai-in-soci...
Let’s discuss! 💡
#SocialProtection #EthicalAI #HumanitarianAid #TechForGood

AidGPT Leveraging AI to transform humanitarian assistance and development work.

Reflecting on AI in 2024 & Looking Ahead to 2025

Check out my latest blog on:
• How AI is reshaping workflows
• Why “off-the-shelf” tools matter in humanitarian work
• Key challenges for 2025

Read the blog at :
discuss.aidgpt.org/t/reflecting...

#TechForGood #HumanitarianTech

AI Company That Made Robots For Kids Goes Under, Robots Die - Aftermath Embodied, maker of the AI robot called Moxie, is shuttering. With their closing, parents have to explain to their kids that Moxie is dead.

AI Company That Made Robots For Children Went Bust And Now The Robots Are Dying - aftermath.site/moxie-robot-...

AI in Anticipatory Action: NOAA's Heat Mapping enabling Adaptive Social Protection As climate change intensifies, the ability to protect vulnerable populations from extreme heat isn’t just about better weather forecasting—it’s about building resilient communities through adaptive so...

Excited to share my latest blog post on how NOAA's innovative heat mapping program is revolutionizing our approach to extreme heat waves! 🌡️🔥
Read more: discuss.aidgpt.org/t/ai-in-anti...

#AI #ClimateChange #HeatMapping

I just leave this here.....

A restaurant board sign that reads: “we are not all in the same boat. We are in the same storm. Some have yachts. Some have canoes. And some are drowning. Just be kind and help when you can.

I love this.

Reading the article, the group will charge people $5k to run an "AI" spell check on their manuscript, slap some "AI" art on the cover and then shove the book out of the door. It's a vanity press. Who was gullible enough to fund this?

A lot of people's writing dreams are going to be killed because an ever growing army of absolute wankers like these guys will be able to flood the market with shite and call it progress.

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Did you know there’s a site to search for starter packs of people to follow? Built by @mubashariqbal.com

blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...

Excited for the ‘Dark Nights, Dark Deeds’ panel at #IcelandNoir featuring Stefán Máni and Eva Björg Ægisdóttir. Can’t wait to hear how they craft such gripping, atmospheric crime stories that dive into the darker sides of human nature. #CrimeFiction