From Ukraine to Uganda, Trump’s aid freeze endangers millions

Humanitarian workers in Europe, Latin America and Africa tell openDemocracy about the impact of Trump’s attack on USAID.

For this story, openDemocracy reporters in Uganda, Uruguay, and the UK spoke to aid workers in nine countries about the impact that Donald Trump’s decision to pause US aid will have on the vulnerable populations they support .

A Nobel prize-winning migrant rights organization is struggling to cope with the increased demand for help, a Ukrainian NGO fears being unable to rescue civilians trapped near the frontlines of Russia’s war, and a Ugandan legal aid organization is being forced to lay off half of its staff.

These are just a few of the wide-reaching consequences of Donald Trump’s suspension of all US foreign aid for at least 90 days while funding is “reevaluated and realigned” with “American interests”.

Humanitarian aid providers around the world have told openDemocracy of the harm that will be inflicted upon vulnerable women, children, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and others as a result of the policy.

The US is the world’s largest international aid donor, spending $68bn in 2023. But the Trump administration has made clear that it plans to prioritise cutting funds for many aid projects.

Billionaire X owner and Trump ally Elon Musk this weekend wrote on his social media platform: “USAID is evil”. Hours earlier, two senior officials at the United States Agency for International Development were suspended after refusing to give access to secure files to members of the Department of Government Efficiency, a team Trump has appointed Musk to lead, which is tasked with slashing federal spending.

The week before, a leaked US State Department memo revealed that “no further US foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the president“.

The news raised concerns that funding priority will now be given to MAGA-aligned organisations, including groups determined to export around the world an ultra-conservative, Christian agenda that is anti-gender and anti-climate in nature.

The freeze has already had a chilling effect on NGOs, which are afraid to speak out against the announcement amid possible job losses, mass closures and potential legal challenges. A leaked memo from a Ukrainian NGO, which we cannot name in order to protect our source, warned staff not to “communicate publicly” on the news, due to concerns that organisations may be “subject to sanctions”.

Despite these fears, openDemocracy has managed to speak to aid organisations in Africa, Latin America and Europe, which between them work in conflict zones, as well as on health, gender, strengthening governance, democracy and human rights. They have told us how Trump’s latest order is already impacting their work and the communities they support.

An attack on the most vulnerable

The shockwaves from the announcement were felt across Latin America and the Caribbean, where Joe Biden’s administration allocated $2.5bn in aid in 2024.

“In the immediate term, the effects are truly severe,” Ana Marcia Aguiluz Soto, a Costa Rican lawyer and Regional Director for the American Friends Service Committee, told openDemocracy.

Based in the US, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) focuses in particular on supporting migrants and advocating for their rights in 18 countries worldwide, including Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. The organisation is more than 100 years old and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.

Now, the Trump administration has exceeded its capacity and overwhelmed its teams as migrants’ needs have grown: legal, humanitarian, and emotional assistance, among others.

While the AFSC does not receive USAID, Aguiluz Soto fears for the future of other, smaller organisations working to support migrants in the region.

She added: “This decision jeopardises the financial stability of the organisations and their staff, but beyond that, it affects the assistance and support provided to those who need it most: migrants, women, children, adolescents, and the LGBTIQ+ community.“

Aguiluz Soto’s concerns were echoed by Carolina Jiménez Sandoval, who holds a PhD in International Studies and is President of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), which is dedicated to advancing human rights, democracy, and social and economic justice across the Americas.

“One of the most severe consequences is that organisations relying on these funds for their survival are at risk,” said Jiménez Sandoval. “Even more concerning is the impact on their direct beneficiaries, such as people suffering from diseases like HIV and tuberculosis or migrants fleeing violence.“

Both experts agree that the aid freeze undermines decades of progress in promoting human rights, democratic governance, and social stability in the region.

“In the medium and long term, the impact worsens, as all agreements will be reviewed under the new US foreign policy,” Aguiluz Soto said.

Trump has already indicated his new policy plans, closing the Spanish-language version of the White House website and its social media channels and using executive orders to restrict recognition of gender identities and eliminate funding for programmes aligned with “diversity, equity, and inclusion”.

These measures, Jiménez Sandoval explained, not only weaken protections for the LGBTIQ+ community but also signal a broader regression in US commitments to human rights both internationally and domestically.

“These measures undermine democratic values and reverse progress in protecting marginalised groups,” Aguiluz Soto said.

Centennial assistance fades out

US financial assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean has a long history, beginning in the early 20th century and becoming a cornerstone of foreign policy during the Cold War.

Programmes such as President John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress were designed to counter Soviet and Cuban influence while addressing poverty. Over the years, Jiménez Sandoval pointed out, funding priorities shifted toward combating drug trafficking, supporting democratic governance and addressing migration drivers.

More recently, aid spending in the region has focused on initiatives aimed at tackling the root causes of irregular migration, such as poverty and corruption. Freezing these funds undermines Trump’s own foreign policy goal of reducing migration to the US from its southern border, as doing so relies on creating employment opportunities and strengthening public institutions and NGOs in people’s countries of origin. Cutting USAID also weakens efforts to stabilise the region.

Aguiluz Soto highlighted another dimension of the crisis: “The adopted position regarding migrants goes completely against the work organisations have carried out for years. It undermines not only regional stability but also the rights of individuals who are already vulnerable.“

Replacing US funding represents a monumental challenge. From 1946 to 2022, the US allocated $104bn to Latin America and the Caribbean, making it the largest donor to the region. Meanwhile, Latin America’s traditional allies, such as European countries, have reduced their contributions due to competing priorities like the war in Ukraine and the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Both Aguiluz Soto and Jiménez Sandoval agree that regional governments and philanthropists must step up. “This is a critical moment for Latin American and Caribbean nations to prepare for reduced funding and to safeguard programs that protect vulnerable populations,” said Jiménez Sandoval.

For the millions of people who depend on this assistance, the stakes could not be higher.

African Health and Gender Rights Hit Hard

African women, girls and LGBTIQ people are once again the victims of US conservative politics, with the new Trump administration having abruptly paused billions in foreign aid for gender rights and HIV/AIDS programs.

In Uganda, a legal aid organisation that supports queer people living under the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) told openDemocracy that it will lay off half its staff and close three critical legal clinics. This comes as LGBTQ+ individuals in the country face life imprisonment or even death under one of the world’s most repressive anti-gay laws.

“Our clients are already living under extremely difficult circumstances, but now we have to look them in the eye and tell them we have no resources to help,” said Adrian Jjuuko, Executive Director of Human Rights Awareness Promotion Forum (HRAPF), a Ugandan legal aid group.

In April 2024, a legal challenge to the AHA was largely dismissed by Uganda’s constitutional court, which annulled only four clauses from the law, including one that had restricted queer people’s right to access healthcare services. At the time, then US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken issued a statement calling the ruling “a small and insufficient step towards safeguarding human rights“. Less than a year later, some of the only clinics in Uganda dedicated to providing healthcare for LGBTIQ people have been forced to shut down due to Trump’s aid freeze.

Another Ugandan aid grantee, who requested anonymity fearing donor retaliation, added: “This funding freeze pushes the queer community further to the margins as the mitigations we had put in place are now being eroded.“

Health Programmes in Crisis

Kenya is also feeling the impact. A reproductive health rights organisation that works with county governments to report gender violence cases and provide contraception and post-abortion care in Nakuru, the country’s fourth largest city, was notified last Saturday by USAID via email to stop all US-funded project activities immediately.

Under the Biden administration, 73% of the proposed 2024 US financial assistance to Africa was allocated to health programs, with Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria among the top recipients. Most of this aid funds research, treatment, and control of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The US also contributed $3.7bn in humanitarian aid to the region it terms “sub-Saharan Africa” in 2024, including providing half of all humanitarian support given to Uganda’s 1.7 million refugees fleeing regional conflicts.

Now, African clinics providing HIV/AIDS care are closing, and public health experts warn that the stop-work order will lead to increased HIV infections and a worsening AIDS crisis due to shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

According to UNAIDS, women and girls in the regions accounted for 62% of new HIV infections in 2024, with 20.8 million people in East and Southern Africa and 5.1 million in West and Central Africa living with HIV.

Uganda’s Permanent Secretary for Health, Diana Atwine, sought to reassure the public on Monday: “Our activities are ongoing. This gives us the opportunity to sit at the table and assess what critical activities we cannot postpone.”

“The government must step in and bridge the gap,” she added.

However, some remain skeptical about African governments’ ability to fill the funding gaps.

“We are surely going to see increased maternal mortality and teenage pregnancies,” said Martin Lunalo, Founder of Reproductive Health Champions, a community-based organisation in Nakuru. “For county governments here, sexual and reproductive health rights are simply not a priority.“

Searching for alternative funding

As civil society organisations scramble to diversify funding sources, options remain scarce. Few private donors fund gender rights and HIV/AIDS work consistently, and dependable donors such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are also largely funded by the US government.

Some African organisations learned from Trump’s 2017 Global Gag Rule and took preemptive measures. “We’ve been careful not to have grants active during a US election transition period,” said Allan Maleche, Executive Director at KELIN, a Kenyan health and human rights coalition.

A broader decline in private philanthropy since the Covid-19 pandemic had already weakened rights work in Africa. Now, fears grow that the Trump aid freeze will be the final blow. Some analysts warn that funds diverted from gender and health programs could end up in the hands of far-right groups supporting Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for the next Republican administration.

“Foreign aid is a key part of Project 2025’s plan. One of its measures is to dramatically restructure US aid, dismantling funding that has supported LGBTIQ rights globally,” said Haley McEwen, PhD, a Sociologist at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and author of The US Christian Right and Pro-Family Politics in 21st Century Africa.

A region at war

Although the majority of countries receiving foreign aid are located in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has seen an increasing amount of USAID coming to Europe. The freeze risks a “devastating effect on civil society“, according to Tetiana Pechonchyk, Head of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA in Kyiv.

“We found out over the weekend that we must suspend all three of our US government-funded programmes,” Pechonchyk told openDemocracy. “Now I have to find money to pay for the work which was done in the framework of the funded project, because USAID refuses even to cover this.“

The order comes at a time when Ukraine, says Pechonchyk, “is fighting for the fact of its very existence. In these very difficult times, one of our key partners now takes steps which undermine the efforts of Ukraine and of the many men and women who gave their lives for democracy.“

ZMINA has diverse funding sources – “only a third of our income is from the US government sources“, confirmed Pechonchyk – but other Ukrainian NGOs are more vulnerable.

“Veteran Hubs, groups investigating war atrocities, independent media, organisations providing practical aid such as generators to keep people warm in winter, all of these are now facing uncertainty, as are government programmes,” said Pechonchyk.

“This will have a negative impact on the social sphere, on economics, on energy infrastructure, on businesses, on everything. It’s difficult to think in the long term what a devastating effect this will have on civil society and media in Ukraine.“

Much of foreign aid funding consists of bilateral agreements between the US and other national governments, including in Ukraine, with the freeze risking real harm to state-led programmes designed to support and rebuild society even as Russian attacks continue to cause widespread death, damage and fear.

Thirty miles from the Russian border, Deputy Head of Kharkiv’s Relief Coordination Centre Bogdan Yahno echoed Pechonchyk’s concerns.

The centre helps to evacuate people from areas under heavy bombardment, bringing people from the city of Pokrovsk to a safe place in Pavlograd, for example, and to Kharkiv itself. They work hard to make the centres safe, welcoming places. But with Russian aggression intensifying in the region, Yahno is worried the freeze will affect Ukrainian NGOs’ ability to meet an ever-growing need.

“Our main concern is the evacuation of internally displaced people,” Yahno said. “You might have a granny calling you and asking for your help to evacuate, you are not able to say to her: you need to wait three months, then we will have car fuel. This freeze will not work for evacuation.“

“Each day the frontline is changing. In places like Bakhmut, Vovchansk, the war has also changed, these are places that are destroyed, there is nothing left. People can just die during changes on the front line if we cannot evacuate them.”

Yahno is concerned that the freeze will impact Ukrainian morale, but worse that it will embolden Russia. “I am sure they are already preparing propaganda materials saying the US won’t support you, they have left you, Europe will do the same, so just surrender,” he said. “We had hope that Trump would change the situation for Ukraine. But instead, right now, we just see a negative effect.“

Ukraine is not the only European country in receipt of USAID. Georgia, which Russia invaded in 2008, received $149m in 2023. Local NGOs shared their concern that the 90-day freeze will impact the country’s democracy and civil liberties.

“The decision to freeze the US foreign aid arrived at times when the Georgian Dream government led by the oligarch Ivanishvili has become increasingly authoritarian,” Sandro Baramidze, Human Rights and Rule of Law Program Manager at Transparency International Georgia, told openDemocracy.

“They rigged the elections, captured all state institutions, halted Georgia’s accession to the EU, brutally cracked down on the massive street protests in Tbilisi and other major cities, prosecuted around 50 peaceful protesters and imposed administrative penalties over hundreds of protesters, and vowed to outlaw the political opposition, to arrest the political leaders and to shut down the NGOs and free media as ‘the agents of foreign influence.’“

Now, Baramidze is concerned how the freeze will impact Transparency International’s election programs, ahead of local elections in the country in October this year, with risks to democratic resilience and election integrity at a time of increasing pressure on Georgian civil society.

“This may affect observation opportunities over the snap parliamentary elections which may or may not take place,” he warned. A snap poll is one of the key demands of protesters who have taken to Georgia’s streets in the thousands following a much-criticized election last year.

Russia has long used its influence to undermine trust in international aid programs, as well as push similar anti-gender policies as those adopted by the Trump administration.

Source: openDemocracy