Tania Karas

Athens

Senior Editor at Devex

Senior editor, @Devex. Food systems, humanitarian aid, (im)migration & book nerd. Alum @TheWorld, @RefugeesDeeply, @NYLawJournal, @UniofOxford IHRL. Deaf AF 🤟

Articles

Devex Dish: What WHA accomplished for nutrition - and the questions that remain

1 week ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

It’s World Hunger Day, a day dedicated to combating hunger worldwide. Even as the number of food-insecure people is on the rise, the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, brought a bright spot for nutrition advocates: Countries endorsed two resolutions that could galvanize action on maternal and child nutrition. Now comes the big question: How will it all get funded?
Why the US aid cuts are a moment to prioritize reproductive health

1 week ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

Amid USAID’s dismantling, the narrative around reproductive health and family planning needs to change, making it more central to global development, a panel of experts told Devex. The recent U.S. aid cuts “are a wake-up call to say, ‘Why have we not been prioritizing health financing in general and reproductive health financing in particular?’” said Dr. Samukeliso Dube, executive director of FP2030, at a Devex event last week in Geneva, Switzerland, during the World Health Assembly.
Devex Dish: How the seed sector can step up for food security

2 weeks ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

Merhaba from Istanbul, Turkey! Some 1,600 delegates from seed startups, multinationals, and everything in between have descended on the city for the International Seed Federation’s World Seed Congress to chart the future of agriculture. The setting is the Istanbul Congress Center, which peeks out onto the Bosphorus. Naturally, the baklava at the coffee stations is plentiful, and Monday’s opening ceremony kicked off with a dizzying performance by whirling dervishes.
Hunger soars amid conflict, extreme weather, and aid cuts, UN says

3 weeks ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

More than 295 million people faced acute food insecurity around the world last year, an alarming high driven by escalating conflict, economic shocks, and extreme weather — and worsened by funding cuts to humanitarian aid.
Brazilian microbiologist wins 2025 World Food Prize

3 weeks ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

A Brazilian soil microbiologist credited with improving crop yields, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers, and helping her country become a breadbasket for the world has won the 2025 World Food Prize. Mariangela Hungria has developed dozens of biological seed and soil treatments that help crops source nutrients through soil bacteria in environmentally sustainable ways.
Devex Dish: World Food Programme cuts come at worst possible time

1 month ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for the World Food Programme. The agency will slash 25% to 30% of its workforce, or up to 6,000 jobs, by next year, according to an all-staff email sent last Thursday and seen by Devex. The world’s largest humanitarian agency has been struggling with a financial crisis for years as international support has waned. It’s funded entirely through voluntary contributions from governments, individuals, and the private sector.
Devex Dish: Why were 7 World Central Kitchen staffers killed in Gaza?

1 month ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

Celebrity chef José Andrés’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen was designed to be different from other humanitarian agencies. It describes itself as a “team of food first responders,” bringing chefs to the scene of natural disasters and conflict zones to cook food in massive paella pans and distribute it to tens of thousands of people. “Feed everybody as quick as you can,” Andrés says in a WCK promotional video. “Don’t tell me you are waiting to do it until you have everything ready to do it.
UN food agency caught in Trump administration’s crosshairs

1 month ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

The Food and Agriculture Organization is the latest United Nations agency to face pressure from the Trump administration to reform into a conservative mold and immediately halt initiatives that do not align with an “America First” foreign policy.
Devex Dish: A dose of hope as Nutrition for Growth exceeds expectations

2 months ago | devex.com | Ayenat Mersie |Tania Karas

In an era when so much in the foreign aid world feels grim, last week’s Nutrition for Growth summit in Paris was a much-needed dose of good news. One NGO leader told Tania he feels “rejuvenated by hope,” a sentiment echoed by many attendees. It was the first major global pledging conference since the Trump administration announced in January that it would cut the majority of U.S. humanitarian and development aid.
Nutrition for Growth summit raises $27B to end malnutrition

2 months ago | devex.com | Tania Karas

The Nutrition for Growth, or N4G, summit in Paris, France, has garnered $27.55 billion in commitments from donors to end malnutrition globally — breaking the record set at the previous N4G summit in Tokyo in 2021. The amount surprised many attendees: It comes amid a difficult time for fundraising as major Western donors are slashing foreign aid budgets.