trump administration's aid freeze leaves Africa in crisis
The freezing of US participation in international humanitarian aid for Africa by President Trump has resulted in a tragedy for millions of inhabitants of this continent, writes Spanish agency EFE in its Tuesday correspondence from Nairobi.
- Students complain that classes are being cancelled because there are very few teachers left in the schools; since they are missing, the future of this youth is in question - says Morris James, a teacher from southern Sudan working at a school supported by a Finnish church organisation in northern Kenya.
Trump halted funding. Alarm over the consequences
According to James, Trump's decision to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has caused food and medicine supplies available to aid agencies in Africa to be "drastically reduced."
If other sources of funding cannot be found, the Finnish aid organisation Finn Church Aid (FCA), operating in the refugee camp in Kalobeyei, northern Kenya, will be forced to lay off at least half of the 330 teachers, and the number of students per teacher will rise from the current 100 to 230.
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These are just some examples of the consequences of dismantling USAID for Africa. In 2023, Washington provided about one-quarter of all development aid to Africa, as offered to the continent by member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
USAID was an independent federal agency established in 1961, the largest state aid institution in the world. Its budget was over £41 billion, accounting for 0.7% of the federal budget. It operated in more than 100 countries worldwide.
"It's an absolute disaster"
- It's an absolute disaster. People are dying of hunger. They have no money to buy essential medicines. They have lost access to indispensable medications, medical services, and potable water. Nothing works - says a worker from an international aid organisation operating in Sudan, a country mired in civil war since April 2023.
Binyam Gebru, director of the Somalian branch of Save the Children, says in an interview with EFE that the dismantling of USAID caused three out of every four of the 121 children's hospitals in this African country to be closed.
In Ethiopia, the country that received the most aid in 2023 under USAID - after it was withdrawn by President Trump - the Ministry of Health was forced to lay off more than 5,000 medical staff members. In Zimbabwe, since March of this year, there has been a monthly shortfall of £14 million for maintaining medical clinics and hospitals.
