Women This Week: United States Slashes All Funding for UN Agency Focused on Women and Girls Health

Cut to Lifesaving Care Alarms Aid Workers 

The Trump administration has ended all support for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN’s reproductive and sexual health agency. In total, forty-eight grants totaling $377 million were cut. These grants were meant to provide urgent maternal healthcare, protection from violence, rape treatment, psychosocial support, and other lifesaving care, mainly in emergency settings. “This decision will have devastating impacts on women and girls and the health and aid workers who serve them in the world’s worst humanitarian crises,” UNFPA said. As a result of the cuts, many programs in Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Gaza, Mali, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine will come to a halt. The administration has also canceled contracts with other partners aimed at addressing malaria, HIV tuberculosis, nutrition assistance, Ebola and bird flu. In response, InterAction—an alliance of NGOs in the United States that work on aid programs across the world—said, “women and children will go hungry, food will rot in warehouses while families starve, children will be born with HIV — among other tragedies.” 

Pope Francis Appoints First Woman as President of the Vatican Governate 

Pope Francis has appointed the first woman as President of the Vatican Governate, the highest position ever to be held by a woman within the Vatican. Sister Raffaella Petrini is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist and has served since 2021 in the Governate as the Secretary-General. In this new position, Sister Petrini will oversee the daily governance and management of Vatican City in accordance with directives from the Holy See. During Pope Francis’ papacy, women have made significant progress, increasing their presence in the leadership from roughly 19 percent to 23 percent since 2013, and now make up 26 percent of the Curia, which is the administrative entity that helps govern the Catholic church. “At the Governorate, the Secretary-General, who will become President in March, is a nun… Women manage better than we do,” Pope Francis said about his decision to appoint Sister Pertini. 

UNICEF Urges Increased Protection for Sudanese Children 

A new report from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urges increased efforts to protect children from rising rates of sexual violence in Sudan.  The conflict, which has led to the displacement of over eleven million individuals and the deaths of tens of thousands since April 2023, is having a particularly devastating impact on women and children. UNICEF estimates that 25 percent of Sudan’s total population of 50 million is at risk of gender-based violence and that the number of victims has increased by 288 percent. Since the beginning of 2024, 221 rape cases for children as young as one-year-old have been reported to providers. “Widespread sexual violence in Sudan has instilled terror in people, especially children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “The parties to the conflict, and those with influence on them, must make every effort to put an end to these grave violations against children. These scars of war are immeasurable and long-lasting.” 

Diya Mehta is the intern for the Women and Foreign Policy Program.