► How does the Trump administration justify stopping its humanitarian aid?
The “stop-work” directive was sent on Friday January 24 to the 10,000 employees of USAID, the largest public aid agency in the world. The Trump administration ordering them to mark a « pause » in all its current payments, and no longer incur any expenses in the next ninety days, the time to carry out a ” assessment “. The whole thing must be reviewed in the light of Donald Trump’s Maga ambition.
Ken Jackson, assistant to the administrator for management and resources, sent an internal memo that couldn’t be clearer: “I want to emphasize the importance of these priorities to the President and the American people who voted for an ‘America First’ agenda. » From now on, programs will therefore be funded if they meet this imperative of making the United States “safer, stronger and more prosperous”.
► What are the expected effects?
The entire humanitarian sector is trembling in the face of the expected chaos. In 2023, American foreign aid represented more than 72 billion dollars (68 billion euros). Without the trickle-down of this gigantic windfall, which sometimes passes through the UN box before arriving in the accounts of NGOs, the main French emergency actors (MSF, Doctors of the World, Première urgence international, etc.) will have to face a gaping hole representing 35 to 40% of their budget.
The NGOs are not speaking out, for fear of inflaming the wrath of Washington. But concerns are piling up, about the safety of the teams deployed in the field, or about the very possibility of maintaining their mission. “The impact will obviously be massive, some NGOs among us will perhaps be able to continue to finance themselves from their unallocated collections, but this will necessarily also involve technical unemployment and restructuring,” underlines a manager. The latter calculates a net loss of ten million euros for his employer, counting only the three months of non-payment of USAID funds.
► What are the possible recourses and adaptations?
A number of « exemptions » is under study. The United States has already decided that food aid will not be suspended. The World Food Program (WFP), of which Washington is the largest contributor, will therefore continue. Any exemption granted must be “fully justified”, indicates Ken Jackson, particularly in the event that the suspension of funds would result in “significant risks to national security”.
Senior American diplomats are currently calling for aid to Ukraine to be protected. They argued that without USAID’s contribution, support for schools, hospitals and energy infrastructure would be shattered. For the moment, military aid does not seem to be in question, it is indicated in kyiv, at a time when Donald Trump promises to extract a peace agreement from Vladimir Putin. For their part, French NGOs also intend to defend their cause, to ensure that health emergencies, one of their specialties, can continue to benefit from American funds.
