Fear, pain and hunger: The dire impact of shutting down USAID in Africa, leaving a vacuum for China and Russia

[essentialsaltes]

Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True.​

“Many more children will die in the coming weeks,” said Margret Amjuma, a health worker who confirmed the deaths of Peter and Achol.

You never forget the sight of children starving to death, so I wish White House officials could have been with me on this trip to South Sudan, where 70 percent of nutrition assistance has come from the United States.

Some House GOP members celebrate the death of USAID and the heroes who made it possible.

 

[Nithavela]

Some House GOP members celebrate the death of USAID and the heroes who made it possible.

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View attachment 362939

I hope they do one with a starving african child with AIDS next.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Congress hasn't passed a budget since 2019

Or maybe 1996.

 

[Fantine]

The rest of the world needs to pick up the slack. Where's the U.N.? Aren't there over 25 countries in the E.U.? Why don't they pay for it? What about the Muslim countries? Russia? China?

...They all just want us to pay for it, so they can all sit back and take care of their own countries first.

The United States spends a lower percentage of its GDP on foreign aid than almost every other developed country in the world.

 

[Bradskii]

The United States spends a lower percentage of its GDP on foreign aid than almost every other developed country in the world.

It spends a lot. From here: International Food Assistance.

'It spends about $4 billion per year to provide international food assistance to food-insecure countries—in both emergency food assistance to avert humanitarian crises and in development assistance to support agriculture and related sectors.'

Well, it sounds a lot, doesn't it. Four billion! Except that from here: US pet owners spent 17.6% more on pet food in 2023

'...the U.S. spent US$45.5 billion on pet food in 2023'.

Got to get those priorities right.

 

[Landon Caeli]

The United States spends a lower percentage of its GDP on foreign aid than almost every other developed country in the world.

We've been carrying these other developed countries on our backs militarily and economically for decades.

...A lot of really smart people have been saying that there needs to come a time where our little ones begin to spread their own wings, and for a minute, we need a rest... We find ourselves a little depleted at the moment.

 

[Pommer]

We've been carrying these other developed countries on our backs militarily and economically for decades.

Yes, while we’ve plowed millions and billions of dollars into their lackluster economies, they’ve squandered their own money for [checks notes] providing healthcare to all persons in their land.

 

[Fantine]

Africa can spread its wings with debt forgiveness. That's been Bono's lifetime crusade.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

This kind of aid, if it’s not given intelligently, which it often isn’t, can make things worse for recipient countries. For example, in the absence of an actual famine, due to a disaster such as a drought or flood, undercuts local farmers and actually makes the countries less food secure.

Also, in countries with high corruption rates, a good deal of the aid ends up lining the pockets of the government rather than reaching the people it’s intended for.

 

[Pommer]

This kind of aid, if it’s not given intelligently, which it often isn’t, can make things worse for recipient countries. For example, in the absence of an actual famine, due to a disaster such as a drought or flood, undercuts local farmers and actually makes the countries less food secure.

Also, in countries with high corruption rates, a good deal of the aid ends up lining the pockets of the government rather than reaching the people it’s intended for.

We have to be careful that we don’t give poor nations tooo much, so giving nothing is optimal?

 

[BCP1928]

This kind of aid, if it’s not given intelligently, which it often isn’t, can make things worse for recipient countries. For example, in the absence of an actual famine, due to a disaster such as a drought or flood, undercuts local farmers and actually makes the countries less food secure.

Also, in countries with high corruption rates, a good deal of the aid ends up lining the pockets of the government rather than reaching the people it’s intended for.

Do you have any idea at all about what USAID did?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Do you have any idea at all about what USAID did?

Supported MBLA, child trafficking, sex change operations in Africa, and Ukranian strippers apparently.

 

[essentialsaltes]

‘Some of these diseases are in the Bible’: despair as cuts halt progress on age-old tropical illnesses​

They are debilitating afflictions that people don’t know about, don’t understand and struggle to pronounce. Now health workers fear they will surge in Africa as USAID-funded drug distribution programmes are cut

A fact sheet prepared by USAID’s [neglected tropical diseases] NTD team shortly before it was dismantled sets out the programme’s achievements: treatments have been delivered to 1.7 billion people across 31 countries. In almost half of those countries, at least one NTD has been eliminated as a public health problem, meaning millions of people no longer require treatment for diseases including lymphatic filariasis, trachoma and river blindness.

The programme worked with the private sector, with every $1 of US government funding leveraging $26 in donated medicines for mass treatment campaigns.

For 2025, according to calculations by NGOs, the pharmaceutical companies that donate drugs had committed $975m worth of medication. “Some of them had already begun to ship those drugs, and some were planned for shipment, and now everything’s on hold,” says Weaver.

Some drugs and diagnostic tests “will end up expiring if not used”, she adds. Some pharmaceutical companies were hesitating to ship supplies because they feared they would go to waste, others had suggested they might need to close down drug production lines “if we stay in this state”.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From U.S. Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations​

Exclusive State Department records show: As the Trump administration abandons its humanitarian commitments, diplomats are reporting that the cuts have led to violence and instability while undermining anti-terrorism initiatives.​

In the southeastern African country of Malawi, U.S. funding cuts to the United Nations’ World Food Programme have “yielded a sharp increase in criminality, sexual violence, and instances of human trafficking” within a large refugee camp, U.S. embassy officials told the State Department in late April.

To the north, the U.S. embassy in Kenya reported that news of funding cuts to refugee camps’ food programs led to violent demonstrations, according to a previously unreported cable from early May. During one protest, police responded with gunfire and wounded four people. Refugees have also died at food distribution centers, the officials wrote in the cable, including a pregnant woman who died under a stampede. Aid workers said they expected more people to get hurt “as vulnerable households become increasingly desperate.”

For 2025, the Trump administration so far hasn’t approved any money in either country [to WFP]

In Kenya, for example, the WFP will cut its rations in June down to 28% [of the standard daily minimum] — or less than 600 calories a day per person — a low never seen before

In one cable, diplomats in the Middle East communicated concerns that stopping aid could empower groups like the Taliban and undermine efforts to address terrorism, the narcotics trade and illegal immigration. The shift may also “significantly de-stabilize the transitioning” region and “only serve to benefit ISIS’ standing,” officials warned in other correspondence. “It could put US troops in the region at risk.”

The embassy in Nigeria described how stop-work orders had caused lapses in oversight that put U.S. resources at risk of being diverted to criminal or terrorist groups. (A February whistleblower complaint alleged USAID-purchased computers were stolen from health centers there.)

In response to a detailed list of questions, a State Department spokesperson said in an email: “It is grossly misleading to blame unrest and violence around the world on America."

 

[iluvatar5150]

Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From U.S. Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations​

Exclusive State Department records show: As the Trump administration abandons its humanitarian commitments, diplomats are reporting that the cuts have led to violence and instability while undermining anti-terrorism initiatives.​

In the southeastern African country of Malawi, U.S. funding cuts to the United Nations’ World Food Programme have “yielded a sharp increase in criminality, sexual violence, and instances of human trafficking” within a large refugee camp, U.S. embassy officials told the State Department in late April.

To the north, the U.S. embassy in Kenya reported that news of funding cuts to refugee camps’ food programs led to violent demonstrations, according to a previously unreported cable from early May. During one protest, police responded with gunfire and wounded four people. Refugees have also died at food distribution centers, the officials wrote in the cable, including a pregnant woman who died under a stampede. Aid workers said they expected more people to get hurt “as vulnerable households become increasingly desperate.”

For 2025, the Trump administration so far hasn’t approved any money in either country [to WFP]

In Kenya, for example, the WFP will cut its rations in June down to 28% [of the standard daily minimum] — or less than 600 calories a day per person — a low never seen before

In one cable, diplomats in the Middle East communicated concerns that stopping aid could empower groups like the Taliban and undermine efforts to address terrorism, the narcotics trade and illegal immigration. The shift may also “significantly de-stabilize the transitioning” region and “only serve to benefit ISIS’ standing,” officials warned in other correspondence. “It could put US troops in the region at risk.”

The embassy in Nigeria described how stop-work orders had caused lapses in oversight that put U.S. resources at risk of being diverted to criminal or terrorist groups. (A February whistleblower complaint alleged USAID-purchased computers were stolen from health centers there.)

In response to a detailed list of questions, a State Department spokesperson said in an email: “It is grossly misleading to blame unrest and violence around the world on America."

 

[essentialsaltes]

AFRICOM chief warns China attempting to ‘replicate’ US assistance as Washington pulls back​

Gen. Michael Langley's warning comes amid the Pentagon's rebalancing of priorities and drastic cuts to foreign aid programs.​

“They’re trying to replicate what we do best in our IMET [International Military Education and Training] program, and then they also said they’re going to increase security and training in a number of countries,” Gen. Michael E. Langley, head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM), told reporters today. “So yes, they’re stepping it up and trying to replicate every type of thing, whether it be advise and assist-type training and specialized military domains, or anything … putting on exercises like they did in Tanzania this fall.”

Langely was speaking from Nairobi, Kenya, as the US wrapped up its participation in the African Chiefs of Defense Conference, attended by representatives from more than 30 African nations. There, amid drastic US cuts to civilian aid programs, Langley said he had a message for the leaders of African militaries: America does not want to do more for Africa, but to “help Africa do more for itself.”

Langley spoke about greater self-reliance while also describing the Sahel region, a band across the middle of the continent, as the “epicenter” of terrorism for the globe. “Terrorist networks affiliated with ISIS and al Qaeda are thriving there, particularly in Burkina Faso, where the government no longer controls vast parts of its own territory,” he said.

In Somalia, for instance, Langley said that adversary groups like al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab were “trying to exploit” the aid pause, though their goals have “not been realized, yet.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

Boston University infectious disease modeller models the effects of cuts to aid.

Impact Counter

 

[Lukaris]

US wheat aid for over 3 million arrives in Sudan amid dire humanitarian needs

A U.S. aid shipment carrying enough wheat to help feed more than 3.2 million Sudanese for a month arrived in Port Sudan on Sunday, as the country faces a severe humanitarian crisis. The shipment was exempted from a broader decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to freeze foreign aid, with...

ukragroconsult.com

 

[Lukaris]

To further interrupt the odd emoji, cut & paste etc. macabre festival, it seems there is further evidence that the plug wasn’t suddenly pulled on programs. I guess it is accepted common wisdom that billions have already died or left to die. After all projections ( remember “projections” ) indicate this. This seems to assume no continuing resolutions occurred but what do we find otherwise?

Congress Passes Full-Year Continuing Resolution Bill, Maintaining Global Health Funding at Prior Year Levels | KFF

On March 15, 2025, the President signed a full-year “continuing resolution” (CR) that continues funding the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year. It maintains U.S. global health funding at the prior year (FY 2024) level ($10.8 billion).[i] The Full-Year Continuing...

www.kff.org

 

[essentialsaltes]

This seems to assume no continuing resolutions occurred but what do we find otherwise?

This is part of the problem. Congress has appropriated the money for these things, but the Administration has decided to pick and choose which funds to actually disburse. As your previous link shows, that program in Sudan was specifically exempted from the aid stoppage.