The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced a freeze on almost all new funding for foreign assistance programmes, with exceptions for allies Israel and Egypt.
The order from the US State Department on Friday also includes exceptions for emergency food programmes, but not health programmes that supporters say provide vital, life-saving services.
In an accompanying memo, newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed senior officials to “ensure that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, no new obligations shall be made for foreign assistance”.
Humanitarian organisations immediately expressed alarm at the directive, voicing fears that it could contribute to global instability and loss of life.
“By suspending foreign development assistance, the Trump administration is threatening the lives and futures of communities in crisis, and abandoning the United States’ long-held bipartisan approach to foreign assistance which supports people based on need, regardless of politics,” Abby Maxman, head of Oxfam America, said in a statement.
The temporary freeze is slated to last for a period of at least three months. In the first 85 days, Rubio is expected to make “decisions whether to continue, modify, or terminate programs”, according to the memo.
Among the health programmes expected to experience a funding freeze is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR.
Established in 2003 under the administration of George W Bush, PEPFAR enjoyed broad bipartisan support for two decades, until Congress missed a deadline to renew its funding in 2023. Its funding got a one-year extension through March 2025, but that is set to expire within the three-month window.
Experts estimate that PEPFAR has helped save as many as 25 million lives since it was first started.
Left untouched by the freeze is aid for Israel and Egypt, two of the largest recipients of US military assistance.
Both countries have faced scrutiny over their human rights records and calls to leverage US aid in exchange for substantial reforms.
Friday’s memo made special mention of waivers for “foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt and administrative expenses, including salaries, necessary to administer foreign military financing”.
There was no indication of a similar exemption for Ukraine, which largely relies on US weapons assistance in its fight to repel a Russian full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.
The US spent more than $60bn in foreign assistance in 2023, more than any other country overall.
But that sum accounts for about 1 percent of US government spending. In the aftermath of Friday’s memo, some aid projects around the world received work-stop orders.
“This is lunacy,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former official for the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
He shared with the Reuters news agency his outrage. “This will kill people. I mean, if implemented as written in that cable … a lot of people will die.”
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
