President Donald Trump's administration has notified the World Food Programme (WFP) and other partners that it has suspended some of the last remaining vital humanitarian programs across the Middle East.
About 60 contract cancellation letters were sent last week regarding major projects with the World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations agency that is the world's largest provider of food aid, a USAID official said, and a UN official in the Middle East said the WFP had received contract termination letters for Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Some of the remaining US funding for key programs in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe has also been affected, including for food, water, medical care and housing for people displaced by war, a USAID official said.
When it began cutting aid and development programs at the State Department and USAID, the Trump administration had previously promised to preserve the most urgent, life-saving programs, and so far it has canceled thousands of USAID contracts and disbanded the organization, which it accused of wasting money and advocating liberal ideas.
The newly terminated contracts are among about 900 remaining programs that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Congress he intends to preserve, a USAID official said.
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