12 things we’re proud of in 2025

I’ve been writing these lists since 2019, and looking back at each of the introduction paragraphs really highlights the tumult the sector has been through.

2019 was “a difficult year in many ways.” Of course, in 2020 we felt it was “not an exaggeration to say that this has been one of the toughest years in our history.” A “tough year” in 2021 made way for 2022 being “a very difficult period to navigate.” I was so busy in 2023 I didn’t get round to writing this blog, and last year was, once again, “a tough year for international development.” I really should have bought a thesaurus.

You can guess what kind of year 2025 was.

Still, among the cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA), humanitarian crises escalating around the world, the complete gutting of USAID and an emboldened and brazen far right on the rise, we’ve worked incredibly hard to support our members and advocate for those in danger of being left behind around the world.

Here are 12 things we’re proud of 2025.

Our members

We have 349 members working in every corner of the globe, and hugely representative of the wider sector. Of our members, 85% had staff engage with our 33 Working Groups, and 2,700 delegates attended one of our events and have contributed thought leadership pieces on issues ranging from global health systems to participatory grants. Our members are our lifeblood, and we cannot do the work we do without their collaboration and support. So, a big thank you to each and every one of them.

You can find out a little bit more about what some of our Working Groups got up to this year here, and watch this space for exciting developments coming in 2026 for them.

Fighting back as USAid and ODA faces cuts

In February, the US government, led by Elon Musk’s DOGE department, began gutting the USAID budget, leading to huge implications for the global community. Shortly afterward, it was announced by the UK government that the ODA budget was going to be slashed once again from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% to fund an increase in defence spending.

Bond kept members informed and offered support during the USAID freeze. We put together a letter, signed by 138 members, condemning the cuts to ODA. We offered guidance on how the cuts should be negotiated to limit their damage. We highlighted the need for impact assessments on the cuts, analysed the ODA statistics and FCDO annual report and produced a briefing on why the UK’s retreat on international development must end.

We will keep fighting against cuts and will continue to advocate for a return to 0.7% of GNI.

Our media and comms work

We published 144 blogs from experts, members and colleagues and covering the vast majority of areas we work in. We also issued 55 press releases covering a range of topics including the damaging cuts to UK aid, the devastating gutting of USAID, our reaction to new government appointments and the war in Gaza. We had over 300 media hits, did a range of broadcast interviews, delivered comms and media for key sector moments including the UK Aid cuts, and supported and placed op-eds for Dr Ellie Chowns MP, Bond’s policy leads and directors, and Bond’s CEO Romilly Greenhill. 

We also published 38 resources on a variety of issues and different formats, including. . .

Anti-racism progress

Following a series of anti-racism seminars for CEOs hosted by Bond and the subsequent formation of the Bond CEO Anti-Racism Working group, we asked three CEOs to take us through their progress on anti-racism within their organisation.

Ben Simms, CEO of Global Health Partnerships (formerly THET), CAFOD CEO Christine Allen and Mary Ann Clements, Co-Chief Executive Officer of ADD International, stepped up to the plate and offered a detailed analysis of their progress. This valuable work offers help and guidance to other NGOs who want to be actively anti-racist.

Transformations through locally led development

Building on the work we did in 2022 to develop a guide helping organisations to become locally led and anti-racist, this year we released case studies that highlighted the efforts some UK-based international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have made to successfully move the project of localisation forward, all of which have taken different approaches and are at various stages in their journey.

We continue to be a huge advocate for locally led development, and will continue to work with our members to push the agenda forward.

Continuing our focus on events

Following on from a bumper year in 2024, we hosted 46 events this year, meaning we have put on 111 events in the past two years, and unbelievable effort from our events and corporate teams, our policy colleagues, and their collaborators.

These events covered a gigantic variety of subjects, leaving no stone unturned for our members. Events are a huge part of what we do, and we can’t wait to see you all next year for even more engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking sessions.

Civil society and civic space

In 2024, the UK saw a change in government, but little has changed for our civic space in 2025. Bond has continued to track and analyse changes to civic space in the UK, publishing our annual UK civic space: what is happening? in May. We identified nine new trends which we believe are shaping the environment for civil society in the UK.

We also analysed and bought light to Labour’s crime and policing bill, offered lessons from three other countries on their approach to civic space and looked at 10 things international NGOs can do to protect civic space and show solidarity.

Funding for Development Conference and British International Investment (BII)

In September, we publishedan overview of BII’s evolving strategic focus, financing model and investment priorities over the last 10 to 15 years, aiming to aid the sector to better understand the institution and participate in its continued evolution. The report was cited in a government briefing. Look out for the full report, which will be published early next year.

In July, Bond and more than 20 of our members, travelled to Seville alongside government, UN, global civil society and business representatives for the Fourth International Financing for Development Conference. You can find out more about our perspectives, as well as some of our members, here.

Locally led humanitarian action

In March we hosted, alongside CAFOD, University of Essex and University of Warwick, a conference on locally led humanitarian action. over 100 participants contributed to the discussion including representatives from INGOs, FCDO, academia and local/national actors (LNAs).

We then published a new report outlining a summary of key recommendations and discussions arising from each session, building on dialogue with the LNAs and Bond member agencies involved.

Party conference season

We were once again very busy over conference season, including attending our first ever Reform conference.

We hosted a bunch of events at Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem conferences, and hosted the minister for development Baroness Chapman as our keynote speaker at one event at the Labour Conference.

FCDO engagement report

In February we released a report, with our partners WACSI, providing recommendations for a transformative vision for the FCDO’s future. They were characterised by transparency, inclusivity, and a renewed commitment to fostering positive, equitable change.

Collaboration is imperative to our mission at Bond, and it was a pleasure and a privilege to work with our colleagues at WACSI to produce this report.

Our board and colleagues

Last but not least, it would be remiss of me not to mention my colleagues and our board whose work may not have been mentioned in this blog. Every one of them is vital to what we do here, from looking after our members, working with our corporate partners, ensuring safeguarding is still at the forefront of the sector, managing our finances and human resources or steering us to ensure we are doing the right work for our members, they are crucial to everything we do.

So, there we are, another year of tumult and anguish, but one that also provided so many examples of why I am so proud to work for Bond and for the international development and humanitarian sectors. I can’t promise we won’t begin next year’s blog with more doom and gloom, but I can promise that whatever we face Bond will work tirelessly so no one is left behind.