As the U.S. Agency for International Development’s doors slammed shut and the federal aid money ceased to flow to humanitarian stations around the world, I struggle to grapple with the injustices playing out on the world stage.
USAID – established during the Cold War by former President John F. Kennedy – sought to be a helping hand to the international world, administering foreign aid and development assistance through government employees and contractors.
Before USAID was established, the handling of foreign aid was overseen by the Department of State. Kennedy believed it was a bureaucratic mess, and USAID was born through Congressional approval in 1961. President Donald Trump wants to bring foreign aid back under the authority of the Department of State.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently the acting director of USAID, which oversees – or oversaw – 10,235 employees according to the USAID Fiscal Year 2016 report. Along with government employees, USAID works with contractors worldwide. The current stop-work order has resulted in about 400 contractors being laid-off, reported NPR.
In FY2023 USAID spent $43.4 billion, the majority going to governance, humanitarian and health with Europe, Eurasia and Sub-Saharan Africa receiving the most out of the 130 countries, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
The $50 billion allocated to USAID makes up less than 1% of the United States budget, but works to help create trust, support democracy and do the moral thing – which is to help those in need. It’s sad to see that a country such as ours, a figurehead on the world stage that has the means to help others would rather close down the doors of a humanitarian agency rather than one that brings war and destruction to anything it touches.
The effects of freezing USAID are already being felt. AP reported that a busy shelter for migrants in Mexico is without a doctor, “Safe Mobility Offices,” which are stationed around Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala to help Migrants legally apply to enter the U.S. have closed. Along with this, Sub-Saharan Africa receives a good portion of the humanitarian aid, most notably to combat the AIDS epidemic that the U.S. has worked hard to rein in.
Along with that, aid was given out to about 130 countries in FY2023, which all will be affected by the closing of USAID. The West Bank and Gaza Strip will also feel the effects, with USAID having sent millions of dollars to help set up and run field hospitals, support economic recovery and development, and provide access to clean drinking water and hygiene products, according to ABC News.
Claims made by Rubio about USAID being a national security threat are an eye-roll. The new trend in politics is to call everything a national security threat to make anything you do okay. How can providing humanitarian aid along with trying to birth democracy in corrupt, non-democratic governments such as Russia, China and North Korea be a national security threat?
As USAID falls, dictators around the world are squealing in delight.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko rallied that the “fugitive opposition” had lost funding. The Venezuela Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello made similar accusations to Trump, that USAID was corrupt. In Nicaragua, the President’s sons cheered on TV that Trump had stopped the funding of the “terrorists.”
While journalists, humanitarians, social activists and allies are fearful and outraged by this injustice, the dictators hail it as a victory. It’s a shame that Trump chooses to align himself so closely with the worst of us, while the right continues to support him.
It isn’t just aid that USAID distributes, the agency also works diligently to support and birth democracy in many countries. By working with contractors to fight against dictatorships and to secure democratic processes through education and technology, USAID is a driver in boosting democracy.
How is making way for dictators to rise, increasing poverty through lack of food, shelter and medicine good for our national security?
I sit here in a comfortable chair while staring at a large Apple monitor writing this article. I can’t fathom the pain and suffering that many around the globe are feeling. The effects of USAID shutting down won’t be felt by Americans, it’ll be felt by the people struggling to survive. Whether it’s in refugee camps, people under corrupt governments or people in need of support; the lack of empathy Americans show is appalling and outrageous.
Our blood is met with the gentle hand of highly-trained doctors, our mouths are overflowing with food gathered from neighbors and communities, our safety is protected by our hurting – but surviving – system. Not everyone is as lucky as we are.
Instead of using our privilege to help others, we decide to support a mad man laying down an iron fist eager to soak it in blood and screaming “America first,” as we stand on our pedestals manufactured in other countries with state of the art weaponry attached to keep everyone in line.
We are a pathetically-weak country. Strength doesn’t come from the weight of your fist but, rather, it comes from the generosity of your hand. It’s time we show it.
Chris Hutton can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]
