Diaspora as partners: strengthening resilience of health systems and communities amidst aid volatility [Commentary]

Abstract

The global aid landscape is experiencing unprecedented volatility. Aid has been cut, abruptly, with devastating consequences for health systems and communities across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly aid-dependent fragile settings. The US government’s January 2025 stop work order froze $40 billion in foreign assistance, disrupting 1400+ programmes across 133 countries.1 Recently, the UK government announced reducing aid budgets from 0.5% to 0.33% of gross national income (GNI), effectively halving their overseas development assistance (ODA) commitments.2 The Netherlands and Sweden had previously announced significant aid cuts, and it is likely that more countries will follow suit.

These disruptions have spurred critical conversations on domestic resource mobilisation and sustainable financing for essential health services and health systems in LMICs.3 We bring to this conversation an urgent consideration: the critical, overlooked and underutilised value of diaspora and their contributions for health systems in LMICs and fragile and shock-prone settings. We discuss modalities through which diaspora contributes to the resilience of health systems and communities in these contexts, concluding with recommendations to strengthen the role of diaspora in this space.