Elon Musk’s shutdown of USAid, backed by Donald Trump, has triggered immediate and severe consequences, with life-saving medicines abandoned and crucial food and health programs suspended.
In Sudan and the DRC, “medical supplies are stuck in warehouses,” while “hundreds of thousands of children” have lost school meals, according to aid organizations.
Experts warn that the shutdown could lead to “extinction-level” impacts on the global aid sector. Former USAid official Jeremy Konyndyk described it as a threat to the “global relief and development sector.”
With no clear guidelines on what qualifies as “life-saving,” aid workers face confusion as thousands of women, particularly in developing nations, risk death due to lack of healthcare.
The aid freeze has also disrupted projects like girls’ education in Nepal and malaria programs in Uganda, potentially escalating child marriage and trafficking.
As aid organizations close, some argue it’s a wake-up call for African countries to prioritize their own development, but many fear the humanitarian damage is irreversible. “This is going to have a terrible humanitarian effect,” said former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos.
