Anik (pseudonym) has spent over a decade building his career in the development sector.
At the start of this year, he was working on a USAID-funded project, holding a senior position that reflected his years of experience and dedication. His monthly salary of around Tk2.75 lakh gave him a sense of security – enough to take out a loan four years ago and buy an apartment in the capital’s Mirpur area for his family.
But in March, that sense of stability crumbled. Anik lost his job.
Since then, he has been working as a consultant for local NGOs, earning barely Tk70,000 a month — a sum almost entirely swallowed by his apartment loan instalment of Tk60,000.
“Though I tried, I cannot find a job that pays anywhere close to what I used to earn. So, I’ve had to make cutbacks in almost everything,” Anik told TIMES.
Anik is not alone. According to the Association of Unemployed Development Professionals (AUDP), at least 50,000 people have lost their jobs due to funding cuts.
Forced project closures, layoffs, and salary reductions have left thousands of experienced development professionals in Bangladesh struggling to support themselves and their families.
Several former development workers described the decreased funding as a “crisis”, saying they are silently struggling to find their place within their families and society.
A TIMES of Bangladesh survey finds that nearly 69% of laid-off development workers remain unemployed. Among the respondents, four in five have over a decade of experience. Half report making severe cutbacks in their spending, while a majority say they are suffering from serious mental stress.
The crisis began after the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) issued a blanket stop-work order on 29 January, following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
Experts note that other major donors have also reduced or redirected funding due to global crises and fiscal pressures in donor countries.
Decreased funding
According to NGO Affairs Bureau data, Tk31 billion was committed as foreign grant funding in the last quarter – a significant 19% decrease compared to the same period last year. However, disbursement dropped by 20% during the same period.
The Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) reported that Bangladesh is projected to receive $4.9 billion in official development assistance this year, about 7.6% lower than the previous year’s $5.30 billion.
In 2023, Bangladesh recorded its highest inflow in five years at $5.68 billion.
Deputy Director of CAMPE, Mostafizur Rahaman, said, “Bangladesh’s LDC graduation and global geopolitical shifts have reduced commitments from traditional donors.”
He explained that donors including the UK’s FCDO, the European Union, USAID, and UN agencies are now prioritising fragile states and global crises such as Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan.
Rahaman added that fiscal pressures in donor countries, stricter accountability demands, and a shift towards direct government or multilateral funding have further limited NGO access.
President of the Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB), Anwar Hossain, said his organisation, HEED Bangladesh, has faced a 30% budget reduction – which will soon result in a 30% cut in its workforce.
“We work with tuberculosis, which requires door-to-door outreach – and that needs manpower. Our manpower was already inadequate before; now we’re facing even more difficulties,” he told TIMES.
He estimated that more than a hundred NGOs are directly affected by the funding cuts, with the number likely to rise once indirect effects are considered.
“We have to admit that the biggest donor in our development sector was USAID, which has stopped funding,” he said.
Shut-down projects and affected people
There is no official estimate of how many development projects have been shut down due to funding cuts.
According to ADAB, the estimated number of closed projects now stands at around 300.
In February, 55 out of 59 USAID-funded projects in Bangladesh came to an abrupt halt. Among them was the Bijoyee Project, a five-year initiative designed to empower 250,000 youths through skills training and employment opportunities.
The project was forced to shut down mid-course.
“We had just entered the training phase and successfully trained around 10,000 youths, of whom about 1,000 had already secured jobs,” said Almeer Ahsan Asif, former deputy chief of party of the project.
“Unfortunately, we can no longer continue training and placing them in jobs,” he told TIMES.
Almeer noted that many former USAID employees have been forced to take new jobs with significantly reduced salaries.
According to Human Rights Watch, cuts in humanitarian aid from the US and other foreign donors have led to the closure of learning centres in the Rohingya refugee camps, where 304,000 students were enrolled.
However, the total number of affected beneficiaries has yet to be determined.
TIMES reached out to several development experts but could not obtain a definitive estimate.
The scale of project beneficiaries varies widely. For instance, the Women Thrive in Bangladesh Activity project aimed to serve nearly 10 lakh people, while the Fight Slavery and Trafficking in Persons (FSTIP) programme estimated around 720 beneficiaries.
Unemployed workers
AUDP Convener Zinat Ara Afroze said, “After USAID withdrew funding, overall funding in development organisations became strained. That cost the jobs of people not even directly linked to those projects.”
In July, the AUDP sent a letter to the Director General of the NGO Affairs Bureau, seeking action on the worsening unemployment crisis in the development sector.
In the letter, the AUDP urged the government to formally acknowledge the large-scale job losses and form an inter-ministerial committee to support the re-employment of affected workers.
As of now, the organisation has not received a response. It has also demanded an economic impact assessment from the government, but no such study has yet been conducted.
Way forward
Rumana Binte Masud, a former humanitarian worker, believes that funding will shrink further in the coming years.
“With massive layoffs and very few vacancies, getting employment is becoming tougher. We’re competing among ourselves,” she told TIMES.
She said that several projects nearing completion were either not extended or had to lay off staff and revise budgets. “As a result, project outcomes may be hampered,” she added.
According to CAMPE Deputy Director Mostafizur Rahaman, the way forward is to diversify funding through CSR partnerships, social enterprises, and diaspora philanthropy.
“NGOs should also strengthen their technical capacity in proposal writing, results-based management, and emerging technologies such as AI,” he said.
“The projects must align with global priorities such as climate resilience, gender equality, and digital inclusion. Collaboration among NGOs, private sector partners, and government departments, along with local resource mobilisation, can enhance efficiency and sustainability,” he added.
