USAID: Freezing US foreign aid will result in humanitarian disaster

In response to the freezing of US foreign aid and abrupt dismantling of core infrastructure of the humanitarian aid system, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) issued the following statement from Avril Benoît, Chief Executive Officer of MSF USA:

“As a medical humanitarian organisation working in many of the same crisis zones as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partner organisations, we know that the sudden pause in humanitarian and health assistance and the rapid dismantling of critical components of the humanitarian aid system supported by the US government will cause an unmitigated humanitarian disaster affecting millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.

We are talking about countless refugees and other displaced persons, children threatened by malaria, and people who need HIV and tuberculosis treatment, whose care risks being stopped. 

Already we are hearing from local organisations who have closed their doors and are unsure when or if they will be able to reopen.

The latest reports follow two weeks of partners trying to grapple with sweeping changes that imperil the delivery of humanitarian and health assistance to those who need it most around the world. 

The existing humanitarian waiver is insufficient and needs to be expanded to cover all necessary health and humanitarian programmes.

We urge the US government to immediately resume funding of critical humanitarian and health aid, either through rescinding relevant orders freezing funding or expanding the current narrow humanitarian waiver to cover all necessary health and humanitarian programmes.

The broad halt in foreign assistance, coupled with limitations to and a lack of clarity around humanitarian waivers, has already resulted in the loss of lifesaving medical humanitarian aid and harmful impacts on patient communities. 

In the last week, MSF’s medical teams have witnessed confusion as clinics and other critical services previously supported by USAID were shut down without warning.

MSF does not accept US government funding and our programmes will not be directly affected. However, the massive role that the United States government plays in funding international aid cannot be rapidly filled by others.

We urge the US government to halt the ad hoc waiver system and allow for all critical humanitarian and medical assistance to continue as the administration reviews its foreign assistance priorities.”