BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//PYVOBJECT//NONSGML Version 1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Africa/Nairobi BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20000101T000000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=1 TZNAME:EAT TZOFFSETFROM:+0300 TZOFFSETTO:+0300 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20260526T052819Z - 52994@ip-172-31-35-35 DTSTART;TZID=Africa/Nairobi:20250320T170000 DTEND;TZID=Africa/Nairobi:20250320T180000 CREATED:20260526T052819Z DESCRIPTION:Impact of Funding Cuts - Benin\nImpact of Funding Cuts in B eninA conversation with community leaders and local aid professionals on t he brutal impact on the sector and the need for structural change. On Marc h 20\, 2025\, Kuja hosted its first webinar on our newly launched site! Pa nelists Bio Yacoubou Bassirou\, Moustaphaou Imorou\, Djalidou Aboudou Sali fou\, and Kader Abdel Sabi Pate—local Benin activists and aid profession als—presented the brutal impact of the USAID funding freeze on Benin. Th eir firsthand insights shed light on how these cuts have affected communit ies. When the Kuja team first spoke to the panelists\, they were hopeful t he funding stop would be temporary. However\, by the time of the webinar\, they had come to terms with the reality that their projects had been perm anently eliminated. Like many local leaders across the Global South\, they are now navigating the loss of stability and working to adjust despite th e immense challenges.The Impact on Benin Francophone Africa is often overl ooked in global aid\, and Benin was already receiving limited funding—on ly $77 million from USAID in 2024. Additional support came from the United States African Development Fund (USADF) and the Millennium Challenge Corp oration (MCC). The Benin panelists shared how their past projects had dire ctly impacted nearly four million people and indirectly influenced about 6 5% of the population. With the sudden withdrawal of U.S. aid\, the consequ ences have been devastating across multiple sectors\, from health and infr astructure to economic development and national security. Bio\, one of the panelists\, described this as a “‘cascade effect\,” warning of an i mpending national famine and extreme poverty. For local aid workers\, the crisis is compounded by the lack of a safety net and the responsibility of supporting large families. Despite these setbacks\, the panelists shared how they are actively seeking alternative [...] DTSTAMP:20260526T052819Z SUMMARY:Impact of Funding Cuts - Benin END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR