The US is freezing foreign aid through USAID. The health of millions could be at risk. And how much money does Bulgaria receive from USAID?
Donald Trump's administration is shutting down foreign development aid. According to Elon Musk, the US president has agreed with him that the US Agency for International Development USAID should be closed.
USAID has been responsible for distributing funds to other countries since the 1960s. It was run by a "group of lunatics", Trump said, and announced that he would "get them out of there". American media reports that hundreds of the organization's employees have been fired or sent on forced leave, including department heads. The new White House administration apparently has plans to eliminate the agency entirely. The USAID website and its X profile are no longer accessible.
On his first day as US president, Donald Trump announced that he was suspending development aid, financial flows were frozen for 90 days, and employees were notified that they had to stop working.
Programs that save lives
DW spoke with representatives of the Ministry of Health of Nepal - one of the countries receiving US support. For example, Washington provides funds for vitamin A for children in Nepal. Thousands of health workers travel to the most remote villages in the Himalayas to distribute vitamins to locals. The program has been operating since the 1990s. According to experts, it has saved the lives of about 45,000 children under the age of 5. Vitamin A deficiency in the body leads to blindness, but also makes it easier to contract diseases such as measles and malaria. In just one year, Nepal received nearly $700 million, according to a check on the ForeignAssistance website.
Over $9 million was spent on Bulgaria in 2023
- provided by USAID and the State Department. However, the provision of these funds is managed directly by the State Department, not by the agency. The largest amount of funds has been provided for the security sector, but also in support of civil society and as humanitarian aid. In the past, Bulgaria has received tens of millions from USAID, as have most Eastern European countries.
America First
Trump's press secretary Caroline Leavitt said that the previous administration spent the money like "drunken sailors", including saying that $50 million should have gone to deliver condoms to the Gaza Strip. However, according to the list of expenses, this is not true.
The suspension of USAID is a huge issue for the entire world, since the United States is the largest donor of development aid in the world, noted political scientist Stefan Klingebihl from the German Institute for Development and Sustainability. "If all these funds stop now, it will directly affect many people." By signing the presidential decree to freeze aid, Trump is stopping, for example, supplies to refugees in northern Syria and the provision of prostheses to veterans of the war in Ukraine. Mines in Sudan will no longer be cleared.
It is unclear what will be funded in the future
Many USAID partner organizations around the world are currently experiencing great concerns - there is no clarity at all about which projects will be affected by the suspension of funds and which will be able to continue. US courts are currently debating the legality of the freezing of funds, but there is no decision yet. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine will continue to receive military aid.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that life-saving programs, such as the distribution of drugs to HIV-positive people, will continue. However, many organizations have only been ordered to stop work and nothing more - including an organization in Botswana, which is part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), established by George W. Bush. The former US president launched PEPFAR in 2003. Since then, the program has saved the lives of an estimated 25 million people worldwide with antiretroviral drugs.
China can fill the vacuum
What will be expected now from countries like Germany, the second-largest donor of development aid after the US? "Even if they had the money, they couldn't take on all the logistics and start managing the infrastructure in such a short time to fully compensate", says political scientist Klingebill.
In the long run, China stands to gain the most from this situation, filling the gaps that are now opening up, the expert believes. "Where the West is no longer strong, China, Russia and other players will be happy to fill the vacuum. We often see it on the African continent, but also in other places. In this way, Trump creates opportunities for China". The US will also part with some of its influence on a global scale - international financial assistance is also a tool for participating in the politics of other countries.
Time to wake up?
Some see the loss of this financial assistance as an opportunity for poorer countries. According to former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, this is a signal that we need to "stand on our own two feet". According to him, "Trump has no reason to give you anything. You don't pay taxes in America. This is a sign to ask yourself: What are we doing to help ourselves?
Roshan Pokhrel of the Nepalese Ministry of Health says he understands that this money comes from American taxpayers, but he assures that countries like Nepal would continue to use it in a meaningful way. He hopes that after the 90-day freeze on aid, it will be restored. He says this will help the whole world and ensure the United States' position as a leading power in the world.