Several humanitarian nongovernmental organization leaders told ABC News that President Donald Trump’s freeze on US foreign humanitarian aid and the closure of the US Agency for International Development are having devastating global consequences.
“The United States Government provides about 70% of all funding for HIV and AIDS globally, so pausing any of that is a big shock to the system,” said Christine Stegling, deputy executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and assistant secretary-general of the United Nations.
While Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last week that the State Department can provide waivers for some of the most critical aid efforts to continue, Stegling said there is confusion about how to implement the waivers and which programs qualify.
“Community clinics are closed because communities are not sure what the guidance is, and they’re not sure what costs can be covered, and they’re afraid that they will be asked to repay services that they have charged to U.S. government contracts,” Stegling told the news organization ABC.
Stegling warned that if the Trump administration cuts all funding for HIV and AIDS programs, more than six million people may die from AIDS-related causes by 2029.
“These are people’s lives that are really at risk here that we need to consider as we’re thinking about the future,” according to Stegling.
According to USAID, Ukraine has received the most foreign assistance from the United States since the Russian invasion in 2022. Yuriy Boyechko, the founder and president of Hope for Ukraine, collaborates with US-funded organizations to provide firewood to Ukrainian civilians living on the frontlines.
“Firewood is a lifeline right now for the people of Ukraine,” Boyechko told ABC News. “They don’t have electricity or gas. They rely on firewood to stay warm in freezing temperatures, as well as to cook their meals.
Boyechko stated that unless other organizations step in to distribute the wood, Ukrainians will be left out in the cold.
“It’s created a lot of distrust inside of the population inside of Ukraine because we [have] always been relying on [the] United States,” Boyechko pointed out. “[The] United States got our back in the darkest period of time, and now, since USAID is pulling away, a lot of people [are] losing hope.”
Search for Common Ground, a global peace-building organization, receives roughly 40% of its funding from the United States. CEO Shamil Idriss said the aid freeze has hampered their work in eastern Congo, where a war has reemerged.
“We had to freeze the mobilization in the east of the country that was intended to prevent recruitment into the rebel movement that is gaining ground there,” Idriss told the broadcaster ABC.
“Critically, we had to stop broadcasting on a network of radio stations in the country’s east that serve as a lifeline for people. Today, people are literally running in the wrong directions. They’re fleeing towards violence, not away from it.”
Idriss stated that his organization is making the case that its work is consistent with the Trump administration’s foreign policy priorities and hopes to collaborate with them, but the manner in which the aid was immediately cut has raised concerns.
“No two stop work orders we received across more than 30 programs and projects were the same. “Some of the information was inconsistent, ambiguous, or even contradictory,” Idriss explained. “Chaos has truly ensued. We’re hopeful that, you know, cooler heads will prevail in the administration soon.”
Noah Gottschalk, senior director for international advocacy at HIAS, stated that the Jewish refugee and immigrant aid organization has also faced “total and complete chaos.”
“We’ve had to stop programs, for example, with survivors of violence against women in Latin America, in countries like Colombia, in countries like Ecuador, women who fled abusive partners, and the support that we provide them is often the difference between them being forced to maybe return to those abusive former partners, or becoming vulnerable to human trafficking,” said Gottschalk to ABC News.
Gottschalk expressed concern that the humanitarian aid freeze could have foreign policy implications.
“The U.S. abandoning some of the most desperate people in the world right now absolutely will create a vacuum, and I’m deeply concerned about who is going to fill that vacuum, whether it’s armed groups, whether it’s cartels, human traffickers,” according to Gottschalk.
