{"id":8607,"date":"2025-02-17T11:43:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T02:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/?p=8607"},"modified":"2025-03-08T05:40:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T20:40:42","slug":"shutting-down-usaid-threatens-to-endanger-worlds-poorer-nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/news\/shutting-down-usaid-threatens-to-endanger-worlds-poorer-nations\/","title":{"rendered":"Shutting Down USAID Threatens to Endanger World\u2019s Poorer Nations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Thalif Deen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNITED NATIONS (IPS)\u00a0<\/strong>– The Trump administration\u2019s decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US government\u2019s primary channel for humanitarian aid and disaster relief, is expected to have a devastating impact on the world\u2019s developing nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2025 Budget Request, under the former Biden administration, amounted to a staggering $58.8 billion in US foreign aid for this year.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed aid included funding to fully support the US priorities and commitments made at the U.S.-Africa Leader\u2019s Summit in May last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The request also fulfills Biden\u2019s pledge made at the U.S.-hosted Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to match $1 for every $2 contributed by other donors by providing $1.2 billion to the Global Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, according to the State Department, it was also expected to advance U.S. leadership by providing sustained funding for the Pandemic Fund to enhance global preparedness against infectious disease threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But all these commitments will have to be abandoned\u2013 or drastically scaled back\u2013 with the elimination of USAID and with over 10,000 of its staffers laid-off worldwide, leaving only about 290 positions\u2014with US employees asked to return home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Credit: J. Countess\/Getty Images<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a frontpage story in the New York Times February 11, critics of Trump\u2019s executive orders say these orders \u201cwill cause a humanitarian catastrophe and undermine America\u2019s influence, reliability and global standing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Times said the US spent nearly $72 billion on foreign assistance in 2023, including spending by USAID and the State Department. As a percentage of its economic output, the US\u2014which has the world\u2019s largest economy\u2014gives much less in foreign aid than other developed countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USAID spent about $38 billion on health services, disaster relief, anti-poverty efforts and other programs in 2023\u2014about 0.7 percent of the federal budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr James E. Jennings, President, Conscience International, told IPS the Draconian cuts to USAID are already having global repercussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For two billionaires\u2013 one of whom is allegedly the richest person in the world\u2013 to take bread from the mouths of multitudes of children throughout the global south is not just uncaring\u2013it is cruelty personified, he pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInternational aid is more than numbers on a balance sheet. It impacts people in desperate need for their next meal, safe drinking water, a place to sleep, or emergency medical aid\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington\u2019s USAID program costs only 1.2% of the federal budget, according to the Pew Research Center. Much of it benefits refugees and displaced persons worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday they number more than ever before in history, totaling almost 100 million people. Cutting support for health programs, especially Malaria eradication and AIDS\/SIDA treatment and prevention is simply madness, because deadly diseases eventually reach everybody\u2019s neighborhood,\u201d said Dr Jennings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not since President Franklin Roosevelt arrived in the White House in 1932, he said, has a chief executive issued so many directives. There is a huge difference, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFDR\u2019s actions were to benefit people, lift them out of poverty, provide jobs and improve life.\u201d
Even if the massive federal government needs reform and border controls strengthened, something most Americans support, Trump\u2019s actions are intended to strengthen plutocrats like himself, cut services to the American people, including veterans, and eliminate programs to help struggling populations in the rest of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such has always been the behavior of autocrats, not to mention would-be tyrants, declared Dr Jennings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an oped piece this week, Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU), wrote \u201cwitnessing the devastating impact of Trump\u2019s executive order to freeze almost all foreign aid is heartbreaking\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His decision has left millions of vulnerable children without access to lifesaving food across the globe. Over 1.2 million people in Sudan who were supported by US-funded programs are now left without access to food, essential medicine, and clean water, which they need to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe consequences are equally devastating in refugee camps in Ethiopia, where 3,000 malnourished children relied on US-supported efforts through Action Against Hunger. Trump\u2019s inhumane decision is not just heartless; it shatters the very ideals of compassion and leadership that once defined the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A nation that once led the charge in fighting hunger and saving lives is now, under Trump\u2019s savage assault, abandoning millions of innocent children to starvation and inevitable death. His wanton action demeans rather than preserves America\u2019s greatness, said Dr Ben-Meir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Times, there are more than 30 \u201cfrozen studies\u201d, including:
\u2022 Malaria treatment in children under age 5 in Mozambique
\u2022 Treatment for cholera in Bangladesh
\u2022 A screen-and-treat method for cervical cancer in Malawi
\u2022 Tuberculosis treatment for children in Peru and South Africa
\u2022 Nutritional support for children in Ethiopia
\u2022 Early-childhood-development interventions in Cambodia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State and acting Administrator of USAID, was quoted as saying:
\u201cThe United States is not walking away from foreign aid. It\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut it has to be programs we can defend. It has to be programs we can explain and it has to be programs we can justify. Otherwise, we do endanger foreign aid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, justifying the decision to shut down USAID, the White house said in an official statement that for decades, USAID \u201chas been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous \u2014 and, in many cases, malicious \u2014 pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The few examples of \u201cwaste and abuse\u201d cited by the White House included the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$1.5 million<\/a> to \u201cadvance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia\u2019s workplaces and business communities\u201d
$70,000<\/a> for production of a \u201cDEI musical\u201d in Ireland
$2.5 million<\/a> for electric vehicles for Vietnam
$47,000<\/a> for a \u201ctransgender opera\u201d in Colombia
$32,000<\/a> for a \u201ctransgender comic book\u201d in Peru
$2 million<\/a> for sex changes and \u201cLGBT activism\u201d in Guatemala
$6 million<\/a> to fund tourism in Egypt
Hundreds of thousands of dollars<\/a> for a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations \u2014 even AFTER an inspector general launched an investigation
Millions<\/a> to EcoHealth Alliance \u2014 which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab
\u201cHundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria\u201d<\/a>
Funding<\/a> to print \u201cpersonalized\u201d contraceptives birth control devices in developing countries
Hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a> to fund \u201cirrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,\u201d benefiting the Taliban<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INPS Japan\/ IPS UN Bureau Report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IPS)\u00a0– The Trump administration\u2019s decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US government\u2019s primary channel for humanitarian aid and disaster relief, is expected to have a devastating impact on the world\u2019s developing nations. The 2025 Budget Request, under the former Biden administration, amounted to a staggering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,16,39,32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-development-aid","8":"category-news","9":"category-north-america","10":"category-regions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8611,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8607\/revisions\/8611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}