When President John F. Kennedy asked Congress to establish the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1961, he rooted its mission in America’s strategic interests and its “moral obligations as a wise leader and good neighbor,” recognizing that poverty and instability threaten America’s prosperity and security. That convergence of interests and values, upheld across Republican and Democratic administrations, is now at risk.
U.S.A.I.D. is not a perfect agency. No government institution is. But from the Green Revolution to humanitarian relief to the fight against HIV/AIDS, it has built a more stable world while advancing U.S. interests.
Now, under the guise of a foreign aid “review,” Elon Musk and President Trump have frozen U.S.A.I.D. money and activities and appear to be working to dismantle the agency and almost entirely eliminate foreign aid programs. The few waivers that have been granted have not unfrozen a significant amount of money. As the testimonials below from around the world show, the immediate impact has been damaging and chaotic.
It is not too late to salvage the agency and its mission. The agency’s partner organizations are hanging on, and its overseas missions seem to have remained mostly intact for now. The laws establishing U.S.A.I.D. in federal statute and its budget appropriation remain in force and unaltered.
But Mr. Musk’s assault appears to be operating outside of any lawful or congressional process, so Congress and the courts must intervene. Multiple lawsuits have been filed, with two prompting restraining orders. But saving foreign aid will ultimately come down to whether Congress uses its constitutional leverage over the administration.
Lawmakers should consider how they will explain in the coming years why America could no longer stop a disease outbreak overseas from reaching the homeland. Or why thousands of children who depended on lifesaving nutritional supplies made from American plants were left to die. Or why China is capitalizing on the vacuums left by America’s retreat.
None of those effects point to a safer or more prosperous future for America.
The following testimonies were gathered by the Times Opinion staff. Some individuals spoke on condition of anonymity. Some interviews have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Africa
Sudan: Humanitarian aid
U.S.A.I.D. has helped support the network of Emergency Response Rooms across Sudan, civilian-led groups that provide food and other humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of people during the country’s continuing civil war, according to Hajooj Kuka, an external communications officer for the E.R.R.s. Famine has already been confirmed in or is projected to take hold in 10 parts of the country.
“At this moment, we’re trying our best to utilize the resources we have, but the way we’re doing it is using all the money we have from somewhere else. Really quickly, it’s just going to deplete. We have no clue if U.S.A.I.D. money is going to kick back in, or it’s just gone,” he said.
“We’re just keeping everybody alive, and Sudan is on the verge of an outbreak of famine… A week of not finding food would actually mean a lot of death.”
“I’m not sure who the United States is. At this point, it’s hard for me to tell.”
Kenya: HIV and tuberculosis treatment
The U.S.A.I.D. freeze has devastated tuberculosis and maternal H.I.V. programs at the Mathare North Health Center, which serves some of Nairobi’s poorest.
The X-ray machine that had been operated by workers supported by U.S.A.I.D. grants to diagnose tuberculosis is no longer running because the personnel trained to operate it were forced out of work. “Some patients will go home undetected, and they will spread more deadly, multidrug-resistant TB,” said Margaret Odera, a local community health worker. “Viruses and bacteria don’t need passports to travel.”
On a recent Monday, 17 pregnant or lactating women with HIV went to the center for H.I.V. medication to prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies, but the workers who usually managed the program were not there to provide the medication, Ms. Odera said.
Ms. Odera, who is HIV positive, is afraid that Kenyans will lose access to HIV medications that the United States has historically helped to pay for and deliver. “I am drained thinking about what will happen to my children if I can’t get my medication,” she said.
Nigeria: Childhood malnutrition
After the Trump administration issued its stop-work order, an international nonprofit whose work was partly supported by U.S.A.I.D. began running out of ready-to-use therapeutic food for severely malnourished children in three states, according to a senior humanitarian coordinator at the U.S.-based organization.
For weeks, the official said, the food sat in a warehouse that was waiting for permission from Washington to reopen its doors. Once that permission came through, staff members who would normally distribute the food were unavailable because their employer did not have the funding or permission to let them work.
Even as these problems get resolved, larger disruptions to the pipeline that supplies this lifesaving food may persist and prevent enough from reaching the area, the official said. “Our teams have requested funding to purchase the food locally to meet the demand. They are anticipating very high needs this summer, and they are concerned the food supply won’t be enough.”
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