Washington – The Foreign Department on Friday ordered a comprehensive freeze on new funding for almost all American foreign aid, causing an exception to emergency food programs and military assistance for Israel and Egypt.
This order quickly stopped many of the billions of dollars in US-funded projects globally to support health, education, development, job training, anti-corruption assistance and other efforts.
The US provides more foreign aid globally than any other country, about $ 60 billion in 2023, or about 1%of the US budget.
The order of the state secretary Marco Rubio was distributed to a cable sent to American embassies worldwide, especially exempted emergency food programs, such as helping to feed millions in a widening famine in a warning Sudan.
The cable on Monday fulfilled the execution of the assistance-freezing executive order President Donald Trump.
But Friday’s order specifically disappointed human authorities, which do not include specific discounts for life -saving health programs, such as clinics and vaccination programs.
Globally acclaimed anti-HIV programs, the President’s emergency relief scheme for AIDS relief, was among those who were involved in the freeze, were slapped to last for at least three months. Known as Peppar, the program is credited with saving 25 million people, including 5.5 million children, as it was started by Republican President George W. Bush.
Some aid projects started receiving their first stop-work order under the freeze on Friday afternoon.
For the International Development Officer, a former senior US agency said that some major aid organizations were interpreting the instructions as immediate stop-work order for US-funded assistance work globally. The official said that many people will stop operations immediately so that there is no cost. The officer was not authorized to publicly speak on the condition of not speaking and printing the name.
Oxfam American chief AB Maxman said that for children and families around the world, “life or death can be the results”
Maxman said, “By suspending foreign development assistance, the Trump administration is endangering the lives and futures of communities in crisis, and leaving the United States long -held bilateral approach to the United States for foreign aid, which politics Regardless of people supporting people, “Maxman said. a statement.
At the United Nations, Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said: “These are bilateral decisions, but still we expect nations who have the ability to generously fund development aid.”
While Rubio’s order exempted the Allies to assist military assistance to Israel and Egypt freeze, Ukraine had no indication of a uniform exemption to allow vital US military assistance.
The Biden administration pushed military aid for Ukraine, as it suspects whether Trump would continue it. But for Ukraine, there is still about $ 3.85 billion in funding as a Congress for shipment of any future weapons and now on Trump it has to decide whether to spend it or not.
The sweeping freeze began an enforcement of a pledge from Trump and other Republicans to explode on US aid programs. Florida Republican rape. Brian Mast, the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, promised this week that the Republican State Department would question “every dollar and every diplomat” in the budget to ensure that it would strictly fulfill their standards.
The global cable said, “The freeze was necessary to ensure that” appropriations are not duplicate, effective, and in line with President Trump’s foreign policy. ,
The cable said that within the next month, all foreign aid review standards can be designed to ensure that it has been “alliance with the agenda of President Trump’s foreign policy.” And within three months, the government-wide review is expected to be completed with a report produced for Rubio to make recommendations to the President.