Trump’s USAID cuts and the anti-rights backlash have hit girls and women in Asia Pacific
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Across the Asia–Pacific, adolescent girls are coming of age amid climate change shocks, economic strain, displacement and a growing global anti‑rights backlash. Many girls in our region face uncertainty about whether they can continue their education at all, according to Plan International Australia’s CEO Susanne Legena, and US aid cuts are a major cause.
For millions, adolescence is not a time of expanded opportunities but of narrowing futures shaped by poverty, crisis and deeply entrenched gender inequality. US President Donald Trump’s aid cuts are making that far worse for those in our region.
Since Trump dramatically cut foreign aid, consequences are falling heaviest on girls’ and women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. The rollback of rights-based policies — including restrictions on organisations that provide or even discuss reproductive health care — has worsened outcomes globally.
New analysis shows child mortality is projected to rise for the first time this century, a reversal closely linked to the dismantling of international aid.
Adolescence is a critical time in a girl’s life, yet it remains chronically under-recognised in global development policy and funding. Only a small amount of gender equality investments reach adolescent girls, and when aid budgets tighten, these programs are among the first to go. This neglect is not accidental; it is a choice that locks in lifelong and intergenerational disadvantage, from early marriage and school dropouts to violence and unintended pregnancy.
The region’s challenges are stark. In countries such as Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Myanmar, fewer than half of girls finish lower secondary school. Girls are twice as likely as boys to be out of education or work, and most remain offline, deepening the digital divide.
Climate change disasters, poverty and conflict amplify these vulnerabilities — yet we know what works: integrated interventions combining education, sexual and reproductive health, safety, skills development and breaking the cycle of poverty deliver proven benefits for girls, economies and communities.
Australia’s International Gender Equality Strategy offers a strong foundation, but, Legana says, its ambitions cannot be realised without deliberately targeting girls during adolescence. When girls are supported to stay in school after crises, access health care without stigma and participate in shaping decisions, they build resilience and leadership that strengthen entire societies. The question now is not about evidence—it’s whether policy and funding will finally align with what we know to be true. The cost of ignoring adolescent girls is too high, and the opportunity of investing in them too great, to continue letting them fall through the cracks.
