As 2025 comes to a close, one thing is clear.
Black communities across the world are not standing still. Across borders and generations, people are organizing, rebuilding, and responding to global challenges with leadership and resilience, often in systems that were never designed for us to thrive.
At Support Black Charities (SBC), we see these shifts through the work of Black-led organizations in Canada, the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and South America. This year was marked by crisis and courage, instability and collective action.
This article offers a year-in-review snapshot of some of the most talked-about global events of 2025 and why Black-led philanthropy and civil society continue to matter.
- A Global Wake-Up Call: The International Aid Crisis
- When Aid Shrinks, Black-Led Organizations Step In
- Africa: Regional Shifts and Self-Determination
- The Caribbean: Opening Borders, Building Regional Power
- Conflict, Crisis, and Community Response
- North America: Progress and Pushback
1. A Global Wake-Up Call: The International Aid Crisis
One of the most significant global developments of 2025 was the sharp reduction in international development funding, particularly linked to the suspension and restructuring of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs.
Across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Global South, aid freezes disrupted health, education, and food security systems almost overnight.
Why this mattered:
- Many countries relied on foreign aid for 30% or more of public health funding
- HIV, tuberculosis, and maternal health programs were paused
- Local nonprofits were left to fill urgent gaps with little warning
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that disruptions to HIV services alone could lead to millions of preventable infections and deaths over time.
🔗 WHO on global HIV funding risks: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hiv-aids
This moment exposed a hard truth: Black communities cannot depend on unstable external systems for survival.
2. When Aid Shrinks, Black-Led Organizations Step In
When international funding disappears, the need does not. It shifts.
Across regions, Black-led nonprofits and community organizations became the last line of response, often without reserves or long-term security. Many reduced services or closed entirely.
This is why capacity building, visibility, and sustainable funding are central to SBC’s work and the Global Black Philanthropy Initiative (GBPI).
Aid is temporary. Community-led solutions must last.
3. Africa: Regional Shifts and Self-Determination
As aid systems weakened, new political and regional dynamics gained attention.
In West Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger strengthened cooperation through the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), signaling a push toward sovereignty, regional alignment, and reduced external dependence. The leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, one of the world’s youngest heads of state, became a focal point in broader conversations about African self-determination and resource control.
Regardless of political views, the signal was clear: Africa is re-examining who controls its future.
🔗 Background on the Alliance of Sahel States: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67046903
4. The Caribbean: Opening Borders, Building Regional Power
In 2025, the Caribbean advanced regional collaboration through CARICOM and the OECS. Countries including Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, and Antigua and Barbuda expanded cross-border trade, mobility, and shared economic planning.
Key developments included:
- Regional food security coordination
- Increased labour and skills mobility
- Growing cultural and economic exchange
A notable milestone was the announcement of direct air connectivity between Ghana and Barbados, strengthening Africa-Caribbean ties rooted in shared history and future collaboration.
🔗 CARICOM regional integration: https://caricom.org/our-work/trade-economic-integration/ 🔗 Ghana–Barbados direct flight announcement: https://www.cbc.bb/news/barbados-ghana-direct-flights
5. Conflict, Crisis, and Community Response
2025 also saw continued humanitarian crises affecting Black communities globally:
- Haiti faced ongoing instability, with the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission marking a major shift in international response 🔗 https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1151186
- Sudan and eastern Congo (DRC) experienced continued conflict and displacement 🔗 https://www.unhcr.org/emergencies
- Tigray, Ethiopia, moved from active war toward fragile recovery, with ongoing humanitarian needs 🔗 https://www.unocha.org/ethiopia
- Jamaica faced climate-related disasters, including flooding and storms, where local charities played a key role in relief and recovery 🔗 https://reliefweb.int/country/jam
In each case, nonprofits, charities, NGOs, and civil society organizations were central to relief, advocacy, and recovery.
6. North America: Progress and Pushback
Canada
Canada continued structural investment through initiatives like the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative (SBCCI), with additional funding proposed to extend support for Black-led charities. Black entrepreneurship also remained a focus, with over $180 million proposed to support Black-owned businesses and job creation.
🔗 SBCCI overview: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/black-canadian-communities.html
United States
The U.S. saw both progress and resistance. Reparations efforts in cities like Tulsa advanced conversations around restorative justice, while rollbacks to DEI programs and restrictions on Black history education intensified.
This contrast reinforced a reality many Black organizations already know: progress is possible, but not guaranteed.
What 2025 Revealed
This year showed that:
- Visibility matters
- Local leadership saves lives
- Civil society fills the gaps when systems fail
Black-led organizations were not on the sidelines. They were central.
Support Black Charities’ Role Moving Forward
Support Black Charities exists to help turn awareness into action.
Our work focuses on:
- Advocating for Black philanthropy
- Building an ecosystem of support for Black-led organizations
- Providing capacity-building services, including the Business Development Assessment (BDA) for Nonprofits
- Enhancing online visibility by amplifying nonprofit missions and improving discoverability
- Offering a platform that connects individuals and businesses with vetted organizations
Through:
We continue to support the organizations responding to the most urgent needs of our time.
From Awareness to Action
2025 reminded us that global events are not distant stories. They shape real lives, real communities, and real futures. Staying informed is not about watching from the sidelines. It is about understanding how systems move, where gaps exist, and who steps in when they fail.
Throughout this year, nonprofits, charities, NGOs, and civil society organizations were not just responding to crisis. They were holding communities together, preserving dignity, and building pathways forward under immense pressure.
This is where Support Black Charities sits.
SBC exists to help people make sense of what is happening, to bring visibility to Black-led organizations doing essential work, and to connect awareness with meaningful ways to support that work. We believe that informed compassion leads to stronger communities, and that sustained attention, not momentary interest, is what creates lasting change.
As we move into the year ahead, the invitation is simple: Stay informed. Stay connected. And stay engaged with the organizations shaping the future of the global Black community.
Visit to learn more: www.SupportBlackCharities.org, www.Global-BPI.org, www.FoodSecurityFund.ca
Written by Benneth Ugwu, SBC Communications & PR Volunteer