Freezing US international aid, a decision with devastating implications

Freezing US foreign aid, a decision with devastating implications

February 2, 2025

Fighting AIDS, educating Ugandan schoolchildren, helping flood victims in South Sudan... The freeze on American international aid decided by Donald Trump is causing a potentially devastating shockwave for millions of people around the world.

With a simple signature, the new president ordered the suspension of all U.S. foreign aid programs for 90 days, with the exception of emergency food aid and military assistance to Israel and Egypt.

For three months, his administration will reexamine the entire international aid system. A decision that is already sowing panic in the most fragile countries and damaging the American aura in the face of China.

“Even if funding is eventually restored, significant damage will have been done,” says Peter Waiswa, a member of the humanitarian aid network Compassion Connectors in Uganda.

"The absence of medication for several days for HIV/AIDS patients can lead to death," he fears.

He said some US-funded schools in his East African country have already sent messages asking children to stop coming.

The scope of the decree signed by Mr. Trump also raises concerns in South Sudan, which is suffering from a cholera epidemic and where 3,000 people are counting on American aid after losing their homes in floods.

"If the decision (...) is not quickly reconsidered, it is very possible that people will start dying of hunger and disease," fears James Akoon Akot, a teacher at an orphanage in the country.

– Vague exemptions –

The United States has long been the world's largest provider of development assistance, providing more than $64 billion in 2023.

One of the most important American programs is Pepfar, launched by former President George W. Bush to fight AIDS. More than 20 million people living with HIV depend on it directly.

This program appears to be spared thanks to additional exemptions granted by the new head of diplomacy, Marco Rubio, for "emergency food aid" and that "likely to save lives", which can cover the distribution of antiretroviral drugs.

But these very vague formulations cause many uncertainties.

In Malawi, some residents are starting to hoard the drugs they can access, and the local organization Lighthouse, which distributes HIV treatment, has reportedly closed, according to nurse Suzy Dzimbiri.

"We know that there have been cases where drugs were in stock, ready to be used, and were ordered to remain on the shelves pending direction from Washington," a congressional aide told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Pepfar was supposed to be our Marshall Plan,” she recalls.

She said the very idea that the United States could end the program with the snap of its fingers paints an image of a "capricious" America and instills the idea in recipient countries "that in the future they will probably have to turn to countries like China."

– “National interest” –

“We don’t want to see people die,” Rubio said as he signed off on the latest exemptions this week.

But the Secretary of State immediately added that the beneficiary organisations will have to justify their expenses, because "historically, we have obtained very little cooperation".

“We have what I call the foreign aid industrial complex — all these entities around the world that are receiving millions and millions of dollars from the United States,” he said on SiriusXM radio. “We have to make sure that it’s aligned with our national interest.”

In Washington, some fear that this clear focus on so-called "emergency" aid hides a broader plan to drastically cut spending by refusing to fund everything else.

"The simple term 'emergency food aid' is a contradiction," said a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Go without food for a few days and you'll see."

en_USEnglish