USAID
Food assistance
President Trump issued an executive order for a 90 day suspension of US foreign development assistance on January 20, 2025. This lead to the termination of over 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts. At the time, I knew that we were helping people all over the world but I was unaware of the history and structure of the USAID program. So, I did a little research.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is our government’s primary agency responsible for administering foreign aid and development assistance.
It was started in 1961 by John F. Kennedy, created to consolidate programs in global development. The USAID had a core goal to help countries become self-reliant, able to manage their own development. To this end they had four major goals:
Promote global development and humanitarian assistance.
Support economic growth, health, democracy and education.
Respond to humanitarian crises.
Advance US foreign policy interests by fostering stability and prosperity abroad.
JFK believed that helping other countries would foster global peace by helping them economically and socially. He emphasized our moral responsibility to help others, that compassion and shared progress are core American values. He also believed that helping developing countries would win their hearts and minds and prevent them from aligning with the Soviet Union.
As I read this I was struck by the wisdom of this proposal. USAID was created to blend strategic national interest with humanitarian goals. I was very proud of my county and it’s reputation for worldwide assistance.
We all learned from Covid that we live in a global village. An epidemic quickly becomes a worldwide pandemic due to our current global nature. USAID is a beautiful example of how helping others truly helps ourselves. Although it was originally created with an executive order from JFK, it was supported by presidents, both republican and democrat for 61 years until it was recently overturned.
The question is, why should we care? We can’t keep going further into debt by solving problems for so many other countries. Don’t we have enough problems of our own?
That is a fair question. Let’s look at just one area of assistance funded by USAID and the impact of cutting that funding on the people involved and the USA: Global Health
PEPFAR: President’s emergency plan for aids relief: This program has helped millions access life saving antiretroviral therapy, including prevention of mother to child transmission. This program has saved millions of lives by preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus and allowing babies to be born free of the disease. The result of cancelling USIAD is that clinics across 16 countries have closed and many others have reduced services. The predicted results include increased mortality - including children and a resurgence of HIV/AIDS.
Malaria and Tuberculosis: This program was instrumental in reducing mortality rates from these diseases and in reducing the spread.
Maternal and Child Health: Countries like Nigeria, Afghanistan and Bangladesh received prenatal care, nutrition and immunizations thus reducing the risk of maternal and child mortality. This program has been cut.
Polio Eradication: All efforts to eradicate polio have been stopped, raising concerns about resurgence.
Vaccination Initiatives: Funding for vaccines in low-income countries has been withdrawn.
The impact of withdrawing these funds is significant and global. It will lead to millions of deaths from preventable causes. I predict we will see global impacts from these cuts. As we learned from Covid, diseases in this century are never contained locally. Bill Gates, who has used his fortune for world health initiatives including infectious diseases, maternal and child health and immunizations, has accused Elon Musk of “killing the world’s poorest children” by pushing to dismantle the USAID.
If you believe, as I do, that Jesus told us to take care of those in need, then you are grieving along with me. What can we do?
Educate yourself and others: learn how the funding cuts have affected global health, development and humanitarian program.
Advocate: Call or write to your representatives. Use Congress.gov to find their contact information.
Join or Support Advocacy Organizations:
World Relief - sign up for their newsletter: worldrelief.org/advocate. You will find opportunities to advocate for causes that you care about and donate to the causes.
Paul Carlson Partnership: https://giving.covchurch.org/paul-carlson-partnership. They have a long history of providing healthcare, local training and support for nutrition in Congo.
Let your voice be heard!
If you care about the cause of global health and assistance don’t be silent! Express yourself and your love for others by talking to your friends and neighbors, joining in a protest, writing your elected representatives.
