After being inaugurated for his second term as president, President Donald Trump froze virtually all U.S. foreign aid and issued a “work” order for groups in other countries funded by the U.S. government. Above: At the start of the pandemic, members of the Honduran armed forces carry a box containing diagnostic kits to test for Covid-19, donated by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Organization for Migration.
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Virtually all aid programs around the world that rely on U.S. funding will have to halt operations due to a State Department memo issued Friday to “stop the work.”
The internal memo, obtained by NPR, extends President Trump’s executive order, issued Monday, to freeze foreign assistance for 90 days.
The new guidance means these programs will likely have to furlough or furlough employees and cease operations until a review determines whether they align with President Donald Trump’s foreign policy agenda.
Within 85 days, “the comprehensive government-wide review of all foreign assistance must be completed and a report will be produced to the Secretary of State for his review and recommendation to the President,” according to the memo, which was signed by Secretary of the Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Exempt from the order: Aid to Israel and Egypt as well as emergency food aid.
Foreign employees of USAID, the agency primarily responsible for administering humanitarian assistance and development, will not be affected.
But many organizations that receive development funding from the United States are based in the country where they operate and employ both local and American staff. All of these employees risk losing their salaries in the short term and their jobs in the long term.
Reaction from the aid world
A senior USAID official expressed deep concern about the impact of the Friday order. The official sent a statement to NPR on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on behalf of the agency.
“The stop-work order is completely reckless,” the statement said. “The impact of this shutdown order is intended to negatively disrupt not only U.S. foreign assistance programs and the intended beneficiaries of those programs, but the daily lives of the people who provide this critical assistance: people with families to care for. in charge, who must buy food, pay rent and utilities.
The head of a humanitarian organization that partners with USAID told NPR: “They threw a grenade right in the middle of foreign aid. People’s lives around the world are in jeopardy.” This person requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation against their organization for speaking out.
“We will probably have to draw our personnel providing critical services out into the field and lay off U.S. personnel,” the chief told NPR. “We cannot afford to continue funding our programs because we do not know if we will be reimbursed according to our contracts with American agencies.”
Aid experts warn the move could have a destabilizing effect in countries where humanitarian aid is essential.
“It’s having seismic, seismic impacts for the entire global aid system,” said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a charity that does not take funding from the U.S. government. “And really, frankly, this is a cruel decision that has life-and-death consequences for millions of people around the world.”
“What we really need and want is for the shutdown order decision to be reversed. We need funding and programming to move forward, for our partners, for our network , for our community, and at the very least, we need clear communication so people can plan in this terrible new reality,” Maxman said.
