In the latest Inklings: Early data on who gets US pooled fund cash. The usual suspects dominate: 98% of funding for UN agencies and INGOs. Only 2% for local organisations. Read more:

Save the Children announced to widespread praise that it would stop taking money from UN-run pooled funds to make way for local humanitarian groups. So why is the NGO accepting millions in new funding?

Every year on 30 March, Palestinians mark Yom al-Ard, Land Day. Palestinian journalist and poet Nour ElAssy, who is from Gaza, writes about what the day means to her this year: ⬇️

In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on the humanitarian news headlines this week, here’s a quick catch-up from our specialist editors: ⬇️

There is no silver bullet solution to reducing the harmful impact of AI-enabled deception during times of war. But there are steps that can be taken by governments, tech platforms, and individual users. Find out more in this oped: ⬇️

US Senator Ted Cruz has cited an article by our Migration Editor Eric Reidy, taking it grossly out of context, to try to persuade the Supreme Court to give presidential administrations a powerful tool to block access to asylum. Read @ericreidy.bsky.social response: ⬇️ buff.ly/uKWLGOZ

In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on the humanitarian news headlines this week, here’s a quick catch-up from our specialist editors: ⬇️

📈 US money now dominates UN-run pooled funds. This changes the math on local aid promises. More in the Inklings newsletter: ⬇️ buff.ly/vi6EXM7

Last month, a TNH investigation revealed that a group of closely related NGOs involved in the Gaza aid response has donated supplies to Israeli soldiers and illegal West Bank settlements. Now, one of those groups has been deleting online evidence of donations: ⬇️

In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on the humanitarian news headlines this week, here’s a quick catch-up from our specialist editors: ⬇️

"Looking at the collective record, the unavoidable truth is that there was not one axis of evil but two, and innumerable people... have been crushed in between." @ericreidy.bsky.social writes about the American-Israeli war in Iran: ⬇️

World Food Programme boss Cindy McCain will step down. This means a big dilemma for UN Secretary-General António Guterres. (Thread) 🧵

The southern Mexican border city of Tapachula has a long history as a stop on the migration trail to the US. Now, 10,000s of people are stranded their as a consequence of Trump administration policies. @ericreidy.bsky.social reports: buff.ly/1opoFT2

In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on the humanitarian news headlines this week, here’s a quick catch-up from our specialist editors: ⬇️ buff.ly/poxGPoI

Trump's immigration policies, the US's slashing of foreign aid, and past policies aimed at deterring migration are crashing into each other in the southern Mexican border city of Tapachula, where 10,000s of Haitians, Cubans, and Venezuelans are now stranded: buff.ly/1opoFT2

The Trump admin has made it virtually impossible for people to seek asylum in the US. What does that mean for 10,000s of Haitians, Cubans, and Venezuelans still being forced to flee? @ericreidy.bsky.social reports from Tapachula, Mexico:

Here are four potential scenarios over what could happen next in the Ethiopian-Eritrean crisis – and why.

A journey to the South Kivu city exposes the hollowness of the US-mediated accord. ⬇️ https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/first-person/2026/02/03/road-dr-congo-uvira-peace-deal-cooked-washington-shows-its-true-face

As Israel tries to push out many of the NGOs that have formed the backbone of the Gaza aid response, the past conduct and statements of some the organisations vying to take their place have raised questions about their political interests and partiality. Read our investigation: buff.ly/J2A4RfR

US humanitarian funding: “One country cannot redefine principles by dictating discriminatory policies, or by putting its QR code on a relief box. Humanitarians must not become the Amazon of emergency relief.” buff.ly/WdULXT7

How has M23 rule reshaped everyday life in Goma? How are residents coping with the economic crisis since the rebels seized the city? A Congolese journalist reflects on these questions a year after the Rwanda-backed group took control. Read: https://bit.ly/3On918d

Opinion: Keeping children in dangerous limbo is neither protective nor sustainable.

Tanzania is ramping up efforts to push out the remaining 142,000 Burundian refugees in the country, threatening to close all camps in the coming few months. https://bit.ly/3Zj1hq1

A largely new cohort of NGOs scaling up in Gaza can roughly be divided into two categories: those that appear well-intentioned but have chosen to barter silence for access, and others that seem more politically aligned with Israeli authorities. Read our investigation:

“Chaotic” disaster response scenarios, the risk of over-complying, and advice on what humanitarian groups should prioritise: Unpacking the US global gag rule and its impacts on humanitarian aid: ⬇️

Gemma Houldey, author of The Vulnerable Humanitarian, talks about her experiences with burnout as an aid worker, and what she learned from talking to hundreds of aid workers. Listen to #RethinkingHumanitarianism: buff.ly/QlnGESv

A peace deal was signed by the presidents of DR Congo and Rwanda in Washington last December, yet days later the Kigali-backed M23 rebel group launched a new offensive. A reporter travels the road the rebels advanced along, exposing the agreement's emptiness: ⬇️ https://bit.ly/40dXR8h

Thousands of children remain unlawfully detained in al-Hol and al-Roj camps in northeast Syria. buff.ly/YnQzjbW

Burundian refugees remain in a desperate situation. They are too scared to return home, but are unsafe in Tanzania, which purportedly provides them with asylum. https://bit.ly/3Zj1hq1

Looking for a regular catch-up and lookahead on global humanitarian news from a dedicated team of editors? Sign up to receive our weekly Cheat Sheet: ⬇️ https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/subscribe

The US is co-opting pooled funds. Other donors must draw a line, writes Ed Schenkenberg van Mierop: ⬇️

Aid workers say mounting pressure from Burkina Faso’s military rulers is making it much harder for them to reach civilians affected by the country's long-running jihadist conflict.

After Rwanda-backed M23 forces withdrew from the Congolese city of Uvira, Banyamulenge civilians faced looting and attacks, but also political instrumentalisation from rebel forces and government officials. buff.ly/Nk5K7QP

🗣️ “We don’t yet know how humanitarians are going to deal with this because they've never had to deal with it before.” Humanitarians and the global gag rule: ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4tqZuwT

Opinion: “The latest version of the US global gag rule is an ideological throttlehold on foreign aid.” buff.ly/WdULXT7

Overwhelmed by the new levels of violence, many underserved communities in Peru have seen their daily lives disrupted, as they lose their livelihoods, struggle to get their children educated, and develop mental health issues. Read our report here.

Our latest reporting on the M23 conflict in DR Congo focuses on the minority Banyamulenge community, who are facing violent attacks and political instrumentalisation.

"Management is psychologically and politically easier than justice. But from Gaza, the demand remains stubbornly political." Read Nour ElAssy's latest on the attempt to shift the international narrative on Gaza: ⬇️

On our latest #RethinkingHumanitarianism, we’re talking about burnout in the aid sector: What drives it, how people can identify it and take action, and what organisations must do better. Listen: buff.ly/5BwIR3U

Humanitarians have a “burnout culture”, experts say. They work long hours in difficult environments. They’re trying to help people in the worst moments of their lives. In the middle of today’s funding crisis, they’re also deciding who gets aid and who does not. 🧵

🗞️ In the latest Inklings aid policy newsletter: Why $2 billion and the global gag rule are the biggest pivot point for the humanitarian system’s funding crisis since, well, the US aid cuts. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/newsletter/2026/02/05/inklings-humanitarians-global-gag-dilemma

The New Humanitarian conducted a months-long investigation into NGOs that are scaling up their operations in Gaza as Israeli authorities push out established aid groups. Here’s what we found 👇

"Once a committee exists, once investors are invited, Western audiences can believe that the catastrophe has entered a solvable stage. The crimes become past tense, even when their consequences remain in the present." Palestinian journalist Nour ElAssy's latest: ⬇️

⚖️ Why the global gag rule makes all US funding an ethical dilemma 💸 Why some are urging donors to pause transfers to UN pooled funds 🐯 What’s a humanitarian “tiger team”? More in the Inklings newsletter: ⬇️

Decolonise How? A column that charts efforts towards more ethical reporting of humanitarian crises. In this edition: Building new structures and developing ways of working to support ethical communications under real-world pressures. ⬇️

"Management is psychologically and politically easier than justice. But from Gaza, the demand remains stubbornly political." Read Nour ElAssy's latest on the attempt to shift the international narrative on Gaza: ⬇️ buff.ly/EuCgX0r

Humanitarians, traditionally, have had little reason to think of the Arctic. But the recent transatlantic political crisis has highlighted a region with dynamics sharing stark parallels to crises across the Global South. Read more:

Opinion: What aid groups do with $2 billion in humanitarian funding can hardly be called principled if the US has its way.

The latest wave of violence in Balochistan marks a deadly escalation in a decades-long conflict between separatist groups and the state, in a region where the central government has long been accused of exploiting vast resources while marginalising local communities. ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4rgBRG4

Chaos, confusion, and more ethical dilemmas: Humanitarians are still trying to understand the impacts of a sweeping expansion to the so-called “global gag rule” on US funding. https://bit.ly/4tqZuwT