Trump cuts to USAID leave poorest without critical aid

US-backed HIV and abortion services close across Africa

- ALICJA HAGOPIAN

Donald Trump and Elon Musk's attacks on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have had an immediate and devastating impact on the ground in low-income countries.

On 20 January, USAID issued a blanket “stop-work” order to all of its partners, demanding that organisations cease operations. In early February, the Trump administration fired the majority of all 10,000-plus USAID workers, leaving around just 290 employees.

Although a US federal judge issued a temporary order to lift the aid freeze on 14 February, there is no clear evidence yet that programmes are back in action, with many hesitant to act under rapidly changing guidance. USAID’s reach across the world cannot be overstated. Some 141 countries relied on some form of USAID in 2024, worth $42.5bn (£33.3bn) in 2023 (the last available year).

For the latest full year (2023), 27 per cent of USAID money was allocated for economic development; with 22.3 percent for health, 21.7 per cent for humanitarian assistance, and 14.2 per cent for peace and security. The remaining aid (roughly 15 per cent) was allocated for a combination of programmes, and other sectors including democracy and governance, education, and the environment.

“To just all of a sudden, withdraw all of this aid... nobody can step in at the scale that the USA has. Nobody,” a USAID official, who works closely with partners worldwide, told The Independent.

Around $600m each year of USAID funding has been spent on family planning; and now, the impact of its withdrawal is being felt worldwide.