The Consequences of the U.S. Foreign Aid Freeze
Documenting the impacts of the Trump administration’s freeze and termination of foreign assistance programs and the ongoing dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development
Latest Developments
April 4, 2025
Sri Lanka's efforts to achieve "mine-free status” by 2027 is at risk due to the foreign aid freeze. The country needs to clear only 23 square kilometers more of the original 254 square kilometers that were mined during the country’s civil war. “There are around 3,000 workers participating in the de-mining operations, most of them recruited from among the civil war-affected communities. With the [funding] uncertainty, some groups have already started terminating their staff.” (AP, 04/04/2025)
Despite a federal court order to pay out USAID contracts and grants for “all foreign assistance work done by mid-February,” the payments still have not been fulfilled, “and as of a March 27 court filing, more than 6,000 payments still needed to be processed.” If the administration does not resume issuing “significant payments,” organizations like Edesia and MANA Nutrition who manage life-saving food programs, will not be able to continue. “[N]early 19,000 American jobs have been lost and more than 166,000 global jobs have been lost” as a result of the funding cuts. (CNN, 04/02/2025)
The foreign aid freeze has “[cut] nearly 50 million women off from access to contraception.” American funding provided “contraceptive devices and the medical services to deliver them to more than 47 million women and couples, which is estimated to have averted 17.1 million unintended pregnancies and 5.2 million unsafe abortions.” This policy change is predicted to have tremendous consequences, “including more maternal deaths and an overall increase in poverty.” (New York Times, 04/01/2025)
In Afghanistan, the foreign aid freeze has caused many health clinics that specialize in pregnancy to close. It is estimated that “over 200 clinics in Afghanistan closed as a result of American funding cuts” which threatens “the most vulnerable — women, children, the elderly and displaced populations.” Around “200 more facilities would shut down by June, impacting around 2.4 million people.” (NPR, 03/31/2025)
The USAID cuts included $13 million in grants for “Israeli institutions, largely targeting agricultural, scientific and medical research programs.” These cuts mostly impacted “Israeli universities and research institutions. A large majority of the grants were focused on agricultural research projects such as crop resilience and water issues. Others were focused on subjects like desalination, wastewater treatment and health-care issues such as combating bird flu.” (Jewish Insider, 03/31/2025)
In the Balkans, the Trump Administration’s criticism of USAID has inspired “misleading information about USAID money and its recipients.” Pro-government media in the Balkans labeled local organizations that received USAID funds as “criminals who had laundered money through projects whose only goal was to destabilize countries and meddle in elections.” (Balkan Insight, 03/31/2025)
International Impacts
Global Health
The foreign aid freeze is projected to terminate funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, an international organization providing vaccines to children. “The loss of U.S. funds will set back the organization’s ability to continue to provide its basic range of services — such as immunization for measles and polio — to a growing population of children in the poorest countries, let alone expand to include new vaccines. By Gavi’s own estimate, the loss of U.S. support may mean 75 million children do not receive routine vaccinations in the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children dying as a result.” (New York Times, 03/26/2025)
“In Afar, [Ethiopia] a region prone to recurrent drought and floods, only 7 of the 30 mobile health and nutrition units supported by UNICEF are currently in operation, a direct result of the global funding crisis.” (Forbes, 03/27/2025)
In Kenya, “Despite a temporary waiver that permits the distribution of [HIV programming] commodities for 60 days during the re-evaluation process, the situation remains precarious, with stock levels barely sufficient to carry the program through to November 2025.” (Devex, 03/26/2025)
In Kenya, “an indoor residual spraying campaign [to combat malaria] that was scheduled for February and March was suspended” and health systems faced challenge in accessing of over eight months of test kits and first-line medicines. (Devex, 03/26/2025)
According to the United Nations AIDS Agency, “there could be 2,000 new HIV infections every day globally due to USAID cuts.” Without the restoration or replacement of funding, “there will be, in the next four years, an additional 6.3 million AIDs-deaths.” (Reuters, 03/24/2025)
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, an organization provoding “treatment for 350,000 HIV patients—including 10,000 children and 10,000 pregnant women—was thrown into disarray” after USAID abruptly terminated its programs. The organization may have been erroneously swept up in claims by DOGE and Elon Musk about condoms bound for the Gaza Strip. The organization’s work includes projects in the province of Gaza, Mozambique. (Fortune, 03/22/2025)
For Sudanese refugees in Chad, the U.S. foreign aid cuts, “have reduced already razor-thin margins for lifesaving resources like food and water, and other U.S. government-funded programs including mental health counseling and education.” (New York Times, 03/18/2025)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has “already scaled back the ambition of the health emergencies two-year budget from $1.2 billion to $872 million” because of the loss of U.S. funding. Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO deputy director-general, says that to cut back spending to fit the new budget, tough decisions are ahead. “The question is, what do you want to stop doing? You want to stop doing Ebola? You want to stop doing emergency medical teams responding to major disasters in the world? Would you like to stop intelligence gathering so that we know what the next epidemic or pandemic will be?” (Devex, 03/18/2025)
The dismantling of USAID has given states like China room to fill the donation gap in Southeast Asia. Thailand, for example, is experiencing closures of health clinics like the Mae Tao Clinic, “which provides free medical care to refugees from neighboring Myanmar. With American support halted, the facility cannot buy such medical equipment as incubators for premature babies. It is also struggling to provide technical training to young doctors from Thailand and elsewhere.” (Nikkei Asia, 03/18/2025)
Counter-Terrorism & Conflict Stabilization
As part of the mass foreign aid program cancellations, the Trump Administration “has terminated a U.S.-funded initiative that documents alleged Russian war crimes, including a sensitive database detailing the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.” (Washington Post, 03/18/2025)
In Côte d'Ivoire, programs meant to stop the spread of al-Qaida and the Islamic State Group have ceased, including programs “helped young people get job training, built parks for cattle to graze so they are no longer stolen by jihadis on Malian territory, and helped establish an information-sharing system so residents can flag violent encounters to each other and state services.” (ABC, 03/16/2025)
In Colombia, the dismantling of USAID has shuttered “peace and anti-gang programs in Colombia's most impoverished places, endangering implementation of the country's 2016 peace deal with leftist [The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] rebels.” In the past few years, Colombia has received “as much as $440 million annually in USAID assistance for more than 80 programs, making it the largest recipient of the agency's funds in the western hemisphere.” (Reuters, 03/18/2025)
More than a dozen programs aimed at improving the cybersecurity and secure internet infrastructure of U.S. allies and partners have been terminated. “One contract alone to IBM, worth $95 million, helped Albania, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, and other countries in Europe train cybersecurity personnel and enhance critical infrastructure defense.” (Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 03/17/2025)
In Gaza, USAID cut its planned purchases to just over 1,000 of the 5,200 temporary homes it was supposed to provide during Phase 2 of the ceasefire. Thus far, USAID has not been able to purchase the homes “because of newly imposed policies requiring extra approvals for procurements.” (AP, 03/07/2025)
In Ukraine, “cash-based humanitarian programs that reached 1 million people last year were suspended.” (AP, 03/01/2025)
In Central America, a program “protecting human rights defenders at risk of being killed by guerilla groups by providing safe houses and legal support” was terminated. (Devex, 02/28/2025)
See More Counter-Terrorism & Conflict Stabilization Updates
Supporting Vulnerable Populations
In Myanmar, “a 7.7-magnitude earthquake ripped through the country’s heavily populated center on Friday” with more than 1,700 people killed. China, Russia and other countries have sent aid and emergency response teams to the country, but the United States has been slow to respond. “On Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar announced on its website that the United States would provide up to $2 million in aid, dispersed through humanitarian groups based in Myanmar. But many of the systems needed to funnel American aid to Myanmar have been shattered.” (New York Times, 03/30/2025)
“Funding to the exiled Tibetan government has been cut by a third, freezing projects worth $12 million annually.” “For decades, U.S. funding has helped tens of thousands of Tibetan refugees from China, with their thriving community across the border in India representing a small but symbolic counterweight to Beijing’s rising power.” (Washington Post, 3/28/25)
“More than 1.8 million children will miss out on learning due to foreign aid cuts impacting Save the Children's education programmes in over 20 countries, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Syria to Tanzania.” (Save the Children, 3/27/25)
“In Tanzania, more than 50,000 children face having their education disrupted or completely stopped due to aid cuts, with one headteacher in a refugee camp in the country's north-west saying this was having ‘heartbreaking consequences’ for children.” (Save the Children, 3/27/25)
“In the Democratic Republic of Congo, over 21,300 children in war-torn South Kivu have had lost access to learning materials and training for their teachers.” (Save the Children, 3/27/25)
“In Syria's Al Hol Camp, the closure of Save the Children's two temporary learning spaces has taken away safe spaces for education and mental health services for 640 children who face high levels of child labour and violence.” (Save the Children, 3/27/25)
In Lebanon, “over 500,000 children and their families risk losing critical subsistence cash support from UN agencies, stripping the most vulnerable of their last lifeline.” (Forbes, 03/27/2025)
“Tens of thousands are people will die as a result of foreign aid cuts to humanitarian programmes in the poorest countries in the world, according to one Canadian charity operating in South Sudan.” (The Irish News, 03/26/2025)
In Bangladesh, the Refugee Agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration warned that the “funding shortfalls in critical areas, including reductions to food assistance, cooking fuel or basic shelter, will have dire consequences for this highly vulnerable population and may force many to resort to desperate measures, such as embarking on dangerous boat journeys to seek safety.” (U.S. News, 03/24/2025)
As a result of the foreign aid Freeze, UNHCR, the UN’s Refugee Agency, is being forced to contemplate a 5,000 –6,000 reduction in its workforce, with the agency’s high commissioner warning, “The consequences for people fleeing danger will be immediate and devastating. Refugee women and girls at extreme risk of rape and other abuses are already losing access to services that keep them safe. Children are being left without teachers or schools, pushing them into child labour, trafficking, or early marriage.” (Devex, 03/20/2025)
“In FY 2024, the U.S. allocated $607.5 million for [global family planning programs], including $32.5 million in appropriated funding for UNFPA. If these critical funds are not renewed and spent as appropriated, over the course of one year, 47.6 million women and couples will be denied modern contraceptives, resulting in 17.1 million unintended pregnancies and 34,000 preventable pregnancy-related deaths. Every day without this aid, 130,390 women lose access to contraceptive services.” (Ms. Magazine, 3/19/25)
The United Nationals Population Fund, which receives 70% of its funding for its humanitarian response in eastern Chad from the State Department, says that if the freeze isn’t lifted by the end of March they will have to stop “health care services gap for pregnant women fleeing Sudan in search of a safe place to live and give birth to their unborn children.” (ABC News, 3/19/25)
Arm and Arm, a Minnesota-based organization in Africa, works closely with partners in South Africa to supply “food relief, health care, education and empowerment” and were warned that “without a question people will die without the U.S.A.I.D. funding.” (Kare11, 03/17/2025)
A program to assist and ensure the unaccompanied children fleeing the civil war and famine in Sudan are not trafficked, has been canceled. A program to provide free medical care to refugees and sexual assault survivors in South Sudan has also been terminated. (The New York Times, 03/15/2025)
“In Myanmar, [the International Organization for Migration] has shuttered an emergency food program for more than 135,000 conflict- and disaster-affected people. An additional 500,00 others will lose access to clean water, health care, shelter, and sanitation services.” (Devex, 03/13/2025)
“[I]n Thailand, [the International Organization for Migration’s] assistance to detained minorities, including Uyghurs and the Rohingya community, has ceased, depriving them of a vital source of food assistance, health care, hygiene supplies, and mental health services.” (Devex, 03/13/2025)
Economic Development
In Moldova, many projects in road-building, business, agriculture and education have been paused, alongside grants for most independent media organizations, creating an opening for increased Russian influence. (New York Times, 02/21/2025)
USAID-supported job training and skills programs in South and Central America have been shuttered. The programs were designed to expand local economic opportunities and combat one of the root causes of migration. (CNN, 02/13/2025)
Programs to enhance resilience in Latin America, including crop insurance for small farmers, adoption of drought-resistant seeds and agricultural practices, crop diversification initiatives, and the use of early warning systems and satellite data to reduce damage from flash floods and storms, have been suspended. (New York Times, 02/08/2025)
Food Security·
“In Nigeria, where around 80,000 children per month require treatment,” UNICEF expects to run out of Ready-to-Use-Therapeutic-Food in the next two months. (Forbes, 03/27/2025)
The Dutch government is struggling to obtain clarity on more than 1.5 million euros that was contributed for USAID projects “focused on water and energy consumption in the agricultural sectors of countries like Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, and Yemen.” The government has been “unable to get any definitive information” about whether that money has been spent. (NL Times, 03/25/2025)
“Government officials from Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands told The Associated Press that a combined $15 million they contributed for joint development work overseas has been parked at” USAID. According to a Swedish government spokesperson, the U.S. failure to disburse or refund this funding is harming “6 million of the poorest and most vulnerable farmers in the world who are dependent on the technologies for their food production and food security.” (AP, 03/24/2025)
In Vietnam, the foreign aid freeze abruptly halted clean up on a chemical spill at Bien Hoa air base, resulting in “exposed open pits of soil contaminated with dioxin, the deadly byproduct of Agent Orange.” Rainy season is approaching and, with enough rain, “soil contaminated with dioxin could flood into nearby communities, poisoning their food supplies.” (ProPublica, 03/17/2025)
In South Sudan, a weekly program to provide “emergency high-nutrition paste to save the lives of young children with severe acute malnutrition” has ended, leaving many of those children to starve. (The New York Times, 03/15/2025)
Aid agencies in Ethiopia have secured USAID for waivers to continue handing out U.S. grain, but USAID’s payments system is still not functioning. “As a result, a consortium of aid agencies in Tigray has had to stop distributions to the over 1 million people it has been responsible for feeding with U.S.-provided grain. It has no money to pay for fuel, trucks and drivers to distribute existing food stockpiles. That includes 5,000 metric tons of sorghum – enough to feed 300,000 people for a month – stuck in a storage facility in Mekele that could rot before it reaches those in need.” (AP, 3/13/25)
“Due to the US funding freeze, PrEP services (except for pregnant and lactating women) have been completely halted [in Haiti], along with communication and community engagement strategies.” Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is “available for the next months, but sustainability remains uncertain due to unpaid staff salaries and lack of operational support. In addition, 35,000 patients will likely be impacted as access is provided to them through USAID-financed sites.” (UNAIDS, 3/13/25)
Counter-Drug & Human Trafficking
In Colombia, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) has been suspended. ICITAP “had recently launched a project to train about 600 Colombian police officials in investigating and tracking money laundering — crucial specialized skills to dismantle powerful criminal organizations.” (The Washington Post, 03/16/2025)
18 Black Hawk helicopters used by Colombian law enforcement to track and combat armed groups and drug traffickers have been grounded after funding for fuel and maintenance was paused. (The Washington Post, 03/16/2025)
“In Ecuador, one of the biggest cocaine-trafficking hubs, the country’s navy planned to begin construction this year on a $7 million dock for anti-narcotics operations along a coastline that has gone largely unprotected in recent years; the project is now on hold.” (The Washington Post, 03/16/2025)
“In Guatemala, INL has supported a task force that identifies and destroys chemical precursors — including those used for fentanyl.” The task force program has been granted a waiver, but funding has not yet resumed. (The Washington Post, 03/16/2025)
The foreign aid freeze “has stalled a United Nations program in Mexico aimed at stopping imported fentanyl chemicals from reaching the country's drug cartels.” Despite waivers to resume funding for some security programs, tens of millions of dollars budgeted for international narcotics and law enforcement work in Mexico remains frozen. (Reuters, 02/24/2025)
In Cambodia, programs to support people forced to work in cyberscam compounds have been halted. Cambodia is one of the largest havens of cyberscam operations. (New York Times, 02/21/2025)
In Brazil, a program aimed at tackling the commercial sexual exploitation of children was ordered to stop. (The Guardian, 01/30/2025)
Governance & Rule of Law
Without U.S. funding for countries in Africa, which received “about a quarter of USAID’s budget,” there is room for other powers, like China and Russia, to step in and fill the gap. “Both Russia and China have been expanding their influence across Africa — home to vital raw materials, vast tracts of agricultural land and a booming population.” (Washington Post, 03/24/2025)
In Iran, nonprofits and civil society organizations supporting human rights and civil liberties and monitoring abuses have been forced to layoff workers and suspend programs. (Washington Post, 03/07/2025)
“Journalists worldwide have received notifications that grants they intended to apply for have been suspended, and in some cases, funding for ongoing projects and fellowships has been abruptly halted.” It is unclear where the “$268 million to supporting “independent media and free flow of information” will go. (Devex, 03/03/2025)
A program “monitoring forced labor among China’s Uyghur community and holding the government accountable when cases of abuse were identified” was terminated. (Devex, 02/28/2025)
Domestic Impacts
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) “has had to wind down much of its USAID grant-related activities in Baltimore and internationally. This has resulted in the loss of more than 2,200 jobs—1,975 positions in 44 countries and another 247 positions in the U.S., most of them in Baltimore.” The cuts will impact JHU’s efforts to accelerate research to eliminate tuberculosis, reduce the spread of malaria in Tanzania, provide services and supports for pregnant mothers in Nigeria and Afghanistan, support diarrhea prevention in Bangladesh, provide HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in India and Africa, “and work in partnership with governments and media in multiple countries to reduce vaccine hesitancy.” (Johns Hopkins University, 03/14/2025)
“After more than a decade of innovation labs that have helped feed the world and improve global food systems in partnership with the U.S. federal government, Kansas State University will suspend the operation of its two current Feed the Future Innovation Labs on April 12.” (Kansas State University, 03/14/2025)
“The termination of $800 million in grants to Johns Hopkins University is spurring the leading university funder of research and development to plan layoffs and cancel health projects, from breast-feeding support efforts in Baltimore to mosquito-net programs in Mozambique.” (Wall Street Journal, 03/11/2025)
NC State University has halted all work on two USAID-funded programs focused on workforce development in Honduras and agricultural research in Kenya. The University’s College of Agriculture and Life Science has used these programs to “compete internationally and have access to crops not commonly found in the U.S., as well as foster positive international trade relationships.” (Technician, 02/25/2025)
The Soybean Innovation Lab, located on the University of Illinois campus, will close due to the freeze on USAID funding. The lab is part of USAID’s “Feed the Future” initiative and incorporates contributions from other universities, including Iowa State University, Mississippi State University, and the University of Missouri. (AP, 02/19/2025)
Konbit Sante, a nonprofit based in Falmouth, Maine, ended its “long-running prenatal and newborn care program that served thousands in northern Haiti.” The nonprofit funded women’s health services at an emergency health clinic, added a 17-bed maternity ward, and provided training, supplies, and salaries to 8 nurses and 24 community health workers serving a poor neighborhood in Cap-Haitien, the country’s second-largest city. (Portland Press Herald, 02/08/2025)
At least 180,000 metric tons of planned purchases from American farmers have been stopped, including at least 60,000 metric tons of soy products which cannot be delivered. Planned grain sales for Food for Progress alone in January and February totaled about 315,000 metric tons, worth $150 million. (Devex, 02/07/2025; Reuters, 02/05/2025)
Grants to purchase 235,000 tons of wheat have been paused, leaving the wheat stranded in warehouses in Houston, TX. There are no USAID staff to book transportation, coordinate receiving the shipment, or ensure security for the food. (KHOU-11, 02/07/2025; Devex, 02/07/2025).
More than 29,000 metric tons of food commodities, valued at $39 million, are stuck at USAID warehouses in Houston unable to be loaded onto U.S.-flagged ships. The issue is also impacting ports in Boston, Miami, Norfolk, Savannah, New York, Chicago and Lake Charles. (KHOU-11, 02/07/2025).
“MCD Global Health of Hallowell, [Maine,] has had to halt its mission to combat malaria in Mozambique, Uganda and Niger.” The organization also operated a program to support maternal and child mental health in Benin and supported an HIV/AIDS programs for military personnel in Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe. (Portland Press Herald, 02/08/2025; Maine Wire, 02/06/2025)
The purchase of more than 200,000 metric tons of wheat, valued at $65 million and grown by American farmers, has been paused. (Star Tribune, 02/06/2025)
Contracts to produce vital nutrition treatments at U.S. factories in Georgia and Rhode Island have been suspended. Some previously manufactured nutrition treatments are sitting in warehouses ready to be delivered to children in dire need. (Boston Globe, 02/04/2025)