The Executive Order on Revaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid published on 20th January 2025, has taken the civic world in Africa by a storm. Beyond conversations on sustainability and over-reliance on foreign aid there are some significant questions around the communities that may be most affected by this sexual and gender minorities (SOGIE) and women. The prevailing narrative around national interests has tended to further marginalise already marginalised communities within Africa, and has fed into the narrative of western influence for the existence of SOGIE in Africa.

The impact of this Executive Order and others purporting to protect women’s rights and national interests require a radical reimagination from civil society working on social justice broadly and gender and sexuality in particular. The questions around sustainability and reducing dependency in Africa has to be understood within the context of the millions of lives negatively impacted by these decisions – from its impact on public health programmes to initiatives geared towards inclusion which will not continue. Difficult questions must be asked even as we continue to champion the protection of the lives and dignity for all.

There have been and there will continue to be attempts to minimise international human rights frameworks, reverse gains made on equity and inclusion, and seek to rewrite the international legal order with documents such as the Geneva Consensus Declaration centred on relativism and national interests. We must remail vigilante of this even in uncertain times and continue to mobilise against it.

These uncertain times require that we lean into the international human rights framework, protect the human rights of all, and strengthen accountability mechanisms as they will be needed as we navigate the onslaught.