Humanitarian aid funding is facing an unprecedented crisis. The decrease in funding by key role-players, including the United States and other European countries, as well as the gradual dismantling of USAID, have had a significant impact on the world’s humanitarian architecture. The decrease in American support has weakened critical assistance programs in majorly vulnerable regions, including crises like those in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen and Syria, in addition to others.

This round table will be analyzing the implications of USAID’s vanishing humanitarian aid funding, the challenges faced by organizations working in the field and potential strategies to diversify funding sources. We will be discussing the role of new role-players, including the Gulf countries and private sector, in the sustainability of the humanitarian response in the region. 

Taking part in the round table will be Jesús Rogado, Assistant Director of Humanitarian Contexts and Humanitarian Diplomacy at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)’s Office of Humanitarian Action (OAHD); Raquel González, Coordinator and Manager of Institutional Relations at Doctors Without Borders; Patricia Rodríguez, Assistant Director of the “Planeta Futuro” section of El País, and Francisco Rey, a founding member and co-director of the Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH). The event will be introduced by Miguel Moro Aguilar, the General Director of Casa Árabe.

Jesús Rogado is the Assistant Director of Humanitarian Contexts and Humanitarian Diplomacy at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)’s Office of Humanitarian Action (OAHD). He entered the diplomatic career in 2015, but prior to that, he served as Deputy Chief of the Department for the United Nations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (2022-2023), and he worked at the Department for the Maghreb (2017-2018). He has been posted as Deputy Mission Chief at the Spanish Embassy in Honduras (2020-2022) and at the European External Action Service, as adesk officer for Morocco (2018-2020). He holds a Law and Political Science degree, and a Master’s degree in International Relations and African Studies.

Raquel González is the Coordinator and Head of Institutional Relations at Doctors Without Borders (MSF) - Spain and has been working in the humanitarian and NGO field for 19 years. She has been the coordinator of MSF Spain since 2021. During these years, she has formed part of several crisis management committees facing critical incidents within the organization. She specializes in migration policies in Europe and the challenges of humanitarian action in areas of conflict and violence, holding a bachelor’s degree in Journalism.

Patricia Rodríguez is the assistant director of the “Planeta Futuro” section of El País, a section which deals with issues related to sustainable development and inequality. She has been a journalist at El País since 2007, in the International section. She specializes in disinformation and international relations. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Journalism with special honors and a Master’s in International Relations from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Francisco Rey is a founding member and co-director of the Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH). He is a specialist in public health and has a Master’s degree in International Relations. Since the eighties, he has spent his lengthy career at the Red Cross, other NGOs and official cooperation entities performing various tasks in development cooperation and humanitarian action, as well as research, consulting, reflection and teaching on cooperation and humanitarian action.