Donald Trump’s executive orders have continued to dominate the headlines. We reported that women, girls and people fleeing war and persecution will bear the brunt of far-reaching US policy changes likely to be ushered in under the president, potentially jeopardising the lives of millions of vulnerable people around the world.

The draft executive order by the Trump administration that would slash a minimum of 40% of funding to multilateral institutions, such as the UN and the World Bank, threatens dire consequences for the international system and the people it aims to help. Julian Egan argues in an op-ed that it’s a short-sighted policy; he says these are the very international bodies that aim to tackle the root causes of conflict and violence, and that such cuts would be costly to peace and security.

Elsewhere on the site

India weighs up return on cash handouts for poorest

Somalia famine fears prompt UN call for ‘immediate and massive’ reaction

Boost for African coastal states as EU parliament acts to curb illegal fishing

Plan to move Rohingya to remote island prompts fears of human catastrophe

Saudi inquiry into Yemen abuse claims like ‘marking your own homework’



Immunisation drive hailed as watershed for Africa’s public health

Protesters in the Gambia call for resignation of national assembly



Bangladeshi girl could be first female with ‘tree man’ syndrome

Morocco rejoins African Union after more than 30 years



Europe ignores Nigeria humanitarian crisis at its peril, warns UN official

Chad foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat to head African Union



Maternal death rates in Afghanistan may be worse than previously thought

Aung San Suu Kyi launches campaign to tackle stunting in Myanmar



‘Global gag rule’: stop playing politics with women’s lives, says MSF

Dutch respond to Trump’s gag rule with international safe abortion fund



Global gag rule on abortion puts $9bn in health aid at risk

In depth

Syrian refugee children selling goods on Beirut streets to feed their families

Violence, prejudice, low pay: all in a day’s work for migrants in Malaysia



Sikkim’s organic revolution at risk as local consumers fail to buy into project



Integrity Idol puts public honesty number one

Uganda’s sprawling haven for 270,000 South Sudanese refugees



Opinion

Joseph Hanlon: Mozambique fell prey to promise of fabulous wealth – now it can’t pay nurses

Issam Aruri: Palestinians and Israelis paying for stalled peace process with their lives

Multimedia

Villagers in Bolivia refuse to be left high and dry by drought – in pictures

What you said

On Julian Egan’s opinion piece, US funding cuts to UN agencies would be costly for peace and security, Jamessss wrote:

The UN has it flaws but dismantling the institutions that it supports would be a disaster except for carpetbaggers, smugglers, arms dealers and others who don’t want to follow international law.

Top tweets





Useful case study from @guardian - On the #climatechange frontline: the disappearing fishing villages of Bangladesh https://t.co/ZyyKH4FC4c — Geographical Assoc (@The_GA) January 23, 2017





Highlight from the blogosphere

Tom Murphy writes for Humanosphere on how aid groups around the world are responding to Trump’s refugee ban.





And finally

Poverty matters will return in two weeks with another roundup of the latest news and comment. In the meantime, keep up to date on the Global development website. On Twitter, follow @gdndevelopment and the team – @LizFordGuardian, @BenQuinn75 and @karenmcveigh1 – and join Global development on Facebook.