Consultants say Trump administration’s order to halt overseas help will ‘price many, many lives’.
The pinnacle of the United Nations has expressed concern about President Donald Trump’s choice to pause overseas help from america as his administration promotes its “America First” agenda.
Throughout a information convention on Monday, a spokesman for Antonio Guterres mentioned the UN secretary-general had famous the coverage change “with concern”.
“He calls for added exemptions to be thought of to make sure the continued supply of crucial growth and humanitarian actions for probably the most weak communities world wide,” Stephane Dujarric advised reporters.
“These lives and livelihoods depend upon this assist,” mentioned Dujarric, including that the US is “one of many largest support suppliers” on the planet.
“We’re at the moment mapping out what [the Trump administration’s decision] means and the affect that it might have.”
Trump signed an executive order shortly after he was sworn in for a second time period on January 20, ordering all federal authorities companies to enact a 90-day pause on overseas growth help and to assessment present programmes.
“It’s the coverage of United States that no additional United States overseas help shall be disbursed in a fashion that isn’t absolutely aligned with the overseas coverage of the President of america,” the order reads.
Days later, the US State Division said in a memo that it was suspending nearly all new funding for overseas support programmes with exceptions for the nation’s high Center East allies, Israel and Egypt.
The order on Friday additionally included an exemption for emergency meals help and associated bills.
“President Trump said clearly that america is now not going to blindly dole out cash with no return for the American folks,” the division mentioned in a statement on Sunday defending the measures.
The assertion additionally affirmed newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assist for the Trump-led coverage.
“Reviewing and realigning overseas help on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not only the proper factor to do, it’s a ethical crucial. The Secretary is proud to guard America’s funding with a deliberate and even handed assessment of how we spend overseas help {dollars} abroad.”
However specialists have slammed the Trump administration’s choice, saying it is going to have disastrous penalties for folks world wide.
A worldwide stop-work order on overseas support will price many, many lives if saved in place.As written, it halts ALL ongoing humanitarian reduction actions, besides meals support, in locations like Syria, Sudan, Gaza.Additionally halts all international well being packages.What this can imply in human phrases:
t.co/1nCjZFfBdS
— Jeremy Konyndyk (@jeremykonyndyk.bsky.social) 2025-01-25T03:33:26.842Z
Michael Schiffer, who served because the assistant administrator of the US Company for Worldwide Growth’s (USAID) Asia bureau from 2022 to 2025, mentioned stopping overseas support — even briefly — may have “apparent, predictable outcomes”.
“Kids will die. Our nationwide safety will erode. America’s alliances will undergo. US companions will likely be in danger. And America’s enemies will rejoice,” Schiffer warned in a column for the web site Simply Safety.
Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees Worldwide and an ex-USAID official underneath former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, additionally mentioned “a world stop-work order on overseas support will price many, many lives if saved in place”.
Konyndyk famous that US overseas help goes to addressing famine in Sudan, supporting refugees in Africa and Asia, and funding HIV/AIDS remedy programmes world wide.
“It’s no exaggeration in any way to say that following by means of on this coverage will kill lots of people,” he wrote on social media.
“It would additionally shred US international credibility in a lot of the world, the place our help packages are an enormous share of our nation partnerships.”
