Key points
- USAID’s budget of around $40bn in 2023 was about 0.6pc of total US annual government spending of $6.75tn
- US funds nearly 20pc of the $2.3bn needed annually to run South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programme
- In Uganda 60pc of the spending on its HIV/Aids programme was from Pepfar
ISLAMABAD: The US President Donald Trump Administration’s near total freeze on all foreign aid will have wide ranging implications both for the United States and the world.
Propaganda surge
According to Guardian, Trump’s aid cuts will lead to a surge of propaganda.
Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze will lead to a decline in the number of independent media outlets across the world, causing a surge in misinformation and playing into the hands of state propagandists, media organisations have warned.
According to a report published on Time.com, USAID supports governance and media projects in countries where Russia exerts a large influence, such as Georgia and Armenia. Last year, it sharply increased support for programmes in Armenia as the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sought to reduce links with Russia and strengthen ties with the United States and the European Union. The aid freeze means several independent broadcasters have been forced to cut some of their programmes. Boris Navasardian, president of the Yerevan Press Club, said independent media “could face a forced choice – end their existence or seek sponsorship from political parties or big business.”
According to Guardian, the US president has suspended billions of dollars in projects supported by USAid, including more than $268m (£216m) allocated to support “independent media and the free flow of information”.
South America in peril
According to a report published on Time.com, USAID has been critical in providing humanitarian assistance in Colombia, conservation efforts in the Brazilian Amazon and coca eradication in Peru. Recent USAID money has also supported emergency humanitarian aid to more than 2.8 million Venezuelans who fled economic crisis.
According to the report published on Time.com, in 2024 alone, the agency transferred some $45 million to the UN World Food Program, mostly to assist Venezuelans.
In Brazil, USAID’s largest initiative is the Partnership for the Conservation of Amazon Biodiversity, which focuses on conservation and improving livelihoods for Indigenous peoples and other rainforest communities.
Over in Peru, part of USAID’s $135 million funding in 2024 was dedicated to financing cocaine-production alternatives such as coffee and cacao. The humanitarian agency has been seeking to curb production of the drug since the early 1980s.
AIDS relief in Africa under threat
According to the report published on Time.com, last year, the US gave the sub-Saharan region more than $6.5 billion in humanitarian assistance. But since Trump’s announcement, HIV patients in Africa found locked doors at clinics funded by an acclaimed US programme that helped rein in the global AIDS epidemic.
Known as one of the world’s most successful foreign aid program, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, has been credited with saving more than 25 million lives, largely in Africa.
“The world is baffled,” said Aaron Motsoaledi, the health minister of South Africa, the country with the largest number of people living with HIV, after the US freeze on aid.
Motsoaledi says the US funds nearly 20 per cent of the $2.3 billion needed each year to run South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programme through PEPFAR, and now the biggest response to a single disease in history is under threat.
Top recipients in Africa
In an article for the Conversation, Catherine Kyobutungi writes, currently the top eight USAid recipients in Africa are: Nigeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Uganda, where about 1.4 million people are living with HIV/Aids, 60 per cent of the spending on its HIV/Aids programme was from Pepfar, and about 20 per cent from the Global Fund (partly funded from Pepfar).
Malaria response in Ghana
Halting US aid also could have a dire impact on the humanitarian situation in eastern Congo, where American aid funds access to food, water, electricity and basic health care for 4.6 million people displaced by years of conflict, according to the report published on Time.com. European nations are discussing increasing aid, but a European diplomat told the AP that will not make up for the loss of the US, the country’s largest donor.
In Ghana, the Chemonics International development group said it was pulling logistics for programs in maternal and child health, malaria response and HIV.
Education programs have been halted in Mali, a conflict-battered West African nation where USAID has become the country’s main humanitarian partner after others left following a 2021 coup.
In civil-war-torn Sudan, which is grappling with cholera, malaria and measles, the aid freeze means 600,000 people will be at risk of catching and spreading those diseases, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Hospitals in war-ravaged Syria
According to the report published on Time.com, doctors of the World Turkey says it has been forced to lay off 300 staff and shutter 12 field hospitals it runs across northern Syria, a region devastated by years of war and a huge 2023 earthquake. Hakan Bilgin, the organization’s president, said it relies on USAID for 60 per cent of its funding and has had to cut its daily consultations from 5,000 to 500.
Impact in Vietnam
According to Tuoi Tre News, the recent suspension of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded projects in Vietnam is expected to significantly impact human and environmental safety at project sites, particularly at Bien Hoa Airbase in Dong Nai Province, where efforts have focused on removing unexploded ordnance (UXO).
Wartime help in Ukraine
According to the report published on Time.com, US funding in Ukraine has helped to pay for fuel for evacuation vehicles, salaries for aid workers, legal and psychological support, and tickets to help evacuees reach safer locations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his government expects $300 million to $400 million in aid to be cut. Most of that was for the energy sector that has been targeted by Russia.
Largest donor
According to a blog published on the University of Groningen’s website, USAID, whose operations are now suspended, has historically played a central role in US foreign assistance, distributing approximately $40 billion in aid in 2023.
With over $55 billion in foreign aid in 2023, the US remains the world’s largest official donor, with USAID serving as the most significant development agency globally.
Global consequences
According to the blog post, the proposed suspension and restructuring of USAID could have profound global consequences:
First, a humanitarian response gap may emerge. USAID’s emergency response capabilities, including famine early warning systems and crisis response mechanisms, are unparalleled. Second, health security risks could rise. As a major funder of global health initiatives—such as pandemic prevention and polio eradication—USAID’s disruption could lead to severe public health consequences.
Third, governance and stability challenges may arise. USAID’s substantial investment in governance and civil society programmes promotes stability in fragile regions. Reducing these efforts could undermine global security interests. Fourth, a loss of development expertise is likely.
Impact on universities
According to University World News, Trump’s USAID shutdown will impact universities worldwide.
In 2023, the latest year for which federal data are available, 830 higher education institutions abroad received capacity-strengthening support from USAID. Also, higher education initiatives reached 95,700 learners and produced 690 peer-reviewed publications.
USAID engaged with “hundreds” of universities, according to a 2019 landscape analysis of the agency’s higher education initiatives between 2014 and 2018.
USAID cost to US government
According to BBC, according to government data, the US spent $68bn (£55bn) on international aid in 2023.
That total is spread across several departments and agencies, but USAID’s budget constitutes more than half of it at around $40bn – that is about 0.6 per cent of total US annual government spending of $6.75tn.
The vast majority of USAID money is spent in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe – primarily on humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
The US is the world’s biggest spender on international development – and by some margin.
