US aid programs facing shutdown

Aid programs around the world, funded by the United States budget, are laying off employees and preparing for shutdowns after the Donald Trump administration almost completely suspended foreign aid.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who initially exempted only emergency food aid and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze, agreed on Tuesday to at least temporarily resume funding for humanitarian programs that provide life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter and basic survival assistance, the Associated Press reported. While some in aid organizations expressed hope that Rubio's move could save more programs that keep refugees, the seriously ill and others at risk alive around the world, the pace of layoffs, furloughs and program closures has accelerated.

Trump last week ordered a 90-day freeze to give the administration time to review which of thousands of humanitarian, development and security programs will continue to receive US funding.

Trump also initially suspended federal grants and loans within the United States, but the White House reversed that decision yesterday after a judge in Rhode Island blocked the order to consider a request by 22 states, mostly led by Democrats, as well as the District of Columbia, for a temporary ban on the policy that they said could have a devastating effect on their budgets. Trump's order to halt federal aid caused chaos in the government on Tuesday and disrupted payments to medical and child care facilities.

However, the decision to suspend foreign aid remains in effect, resulting in the layoffs of thousands of contract workers and threatening to shut down numerous aid programs, from those for refugee camps, mine clearance in war zones and the delivery of medicines to treat millions of people suffering from diseases such as HIV, Reuters reports.

The US is by far the largest source of foreign aid in the world, although other countries allocate a larger percentage of their budgets. The US provides 4 out of every 10 dollars donated for humanitarian aid.

"The humanitarian community is trying to understand how much of an existential threat this aid freeze really is," Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, told the AP, one of the few aid officials willing to speak publicly about the consequences of the freeze, despite warnings from the Trump administration not to do so.

The Trump administration placed more than 50 senior officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on furlough on Monday, many of whom were helping organizations cope with a funding freeze. The agency's acting director said he was investigating whether the officials had resisted Trump's orders.

The purge of senior officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) appears to be an attempt to stifle any resistance to President Donald Trump’s plans to radically reshape U.S. foreign aid, current and former USAID officials told Reuters. “That brief email that was later sent to all staff was clearly designed to instill fear,” said a senior official with a long career in the executive branch who was placed on leave on Monday.

For decades, American policy has been that foreign aid should pay for itself through greater national security, regional and economic stabilization, and improved relations with partners.

However, many Donald Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers believe that most of the foreign aid should be spent or kept within the country.

“We expect the State Department to acknowledge errors for each program individually or, in some cases, make arguments for continued funding,” said Congressman Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the House committee.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US funding freeze does not affect key support for his military in the fight against Russian forces. Most of the military aid to Ukraine comes from the Pentagon. This includes a program that uses existing weapons stocks, as well as the Security Assistance Initiative for Ukraine, which is used to finance arms contracts that would not be delivered until a year or so later. None of the Defense Department programs are directly affected by the freeze, although US officials say there are currently no new deliveries in the pipeline.

However, civilian programs that are critical to Ukraine's war effort are funded through the State Department. There are no exemptions for them yet. This includes funding for salaries that the US provides to keep the Ukrainian government running despite the devastation of the economy caused by the war.

That support is significant, said Bradley Bowman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “But I think if our European allies are getting the political moment right in the United States, they better hurry up and try to take on most, if not all, of that aid.”

The United States has ordered the suspension of wartime civilian programs it supports in Ukraine. This includes Veteran Hub, a nonprofit organization that runs a crisis hotline that receives up to 1.300 calls a month from Ukrainian veterans in need of social and psychological support.

After receiving the order to stop working this weekend, Ivona Kostina, the organization’s leader, realized that she could soon lose half of her 31-member trained staff. “If they had warned us a month or two weeks ago, it would have been much easier,” she said. “We could have somehow secured the funds to bridge this period. But there was simply no warning.”

Independent media that receive funding from abroad in countries with authoritarian governments could face difficulties in surviving, media freedom activists warn.

In Georgia, where a “foreign agent” law was passed last year that imposes fines on NGOs that fail to report receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili of the ruling Georgian Dream party welcomed the freeze on US aid.

"I was pleasantly surprised to see that Trump's executive order is based on the fact that international assistance, in some cases, is being used to create a certain... chaos on the ground, including harming US interests," he told Georgian media.

Some NGOs are turning to public donations to make up for losses caused by the freeze on funds. The Freeland Foundation, a Bangkok-based anti-human trafficking organization, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to bridge the 90-day funding freeze.

Rubio's exemption does not include programs dealing with abortion, family planning, conferences or anything related to diversity, equality and inclusion, nor gender reassignment.

Guy Moore, a former minister in the Liberian government and now a fellow at the US Center for Global Development, said the US aid freeze would cause great harm to people across Africa.

American support has helped West Africa recover from years of brutal war. USAID funds have funded school meals, supported girls' education, strengthened health systems, and aided smallholder farmers.

Moore, like many of his colleagues, stressed that the sudden funding cutoff was "cruel."

The cutoff of aid also harms the United States itself, because it “does not distinguish between allies, partners, and adversaries,” he added.

He and other analysts point out that America's rival China will be happy to fill the void in African countries to strengthen its influence and secure business deals in resource-rich states.

"Feeding hungry children in Liberia or malnourished children in Kenya, providing HIV treatment drugs in Uganda - none of those things undermine American interests," Moore said.

The United States has also sought to increase its influence in the South Pacific to counter China's growing influence, including by boosting USAID allocations to countries that are among the most dependent on development assistance.

“A death sentence for many”

In the southern African country of Zimbabwe, Gumisaji Bonzo, the director of a health nonprofit, was worried about her organization, and about herself.

Zimbabwe is one of the few African countries to have made significant progress in diagnosing, treating and containing HIV/AIDS. This is largely thanks to the groundbreaking HIV program launched by Republican President George W. Bush.

The program, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has become a target of hardline Republicans. Gumisaji Bonzo has yet to receive official word about the funding cutoff for her organization, Trans Smart Trust, which promotes health services for bisexual and transgender people in a country where discrimination and stigma are barriers to many seeking treatment.

“Everyone is just confused right now,” Bonzo said.

The 54-year-old has been receiving HIV therapy for 23 years thanks to support from PEPFAR, which has made the drugs accessible.

“I’ve been taking medication regularly for over two decades, leading a normal life, and now all of a sudden we have to stop,” she said. “It’s a death sentence for a lot of people.”