Supported by Joe Biden. Closed by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. This Monday, February 3, the Agency for the United States for International Development (USAID) on Monday, February 3, was bowing. An end imposed by the boss of Tesla and SpaceX this weekend, after the latter ordered civil servants managing the aid programs not to go to their office on Monday. The next day, the agency’s website no longer responded. The headquarters was deserted. The closure of the independent entity was officially announced by Elon Musk. A measure deemed illegal by the Democrats and former members of the USAID, who declare that the Congress created the Agency as an independent organism and that it continues to finance its operations.
The announcement was still expected. This Sunday, the director of the Department of Government Effectiveness was virulent on numerous occasions with regard to the American agency on its social network X. After having described it as “criminal organization”, which leads “The low works of the CIA” and engages in “censorship on the Internet”, Elon Musk said without proof: “Did you know that with taxpayer money, USAID financed research on arms biological, including the COVVI-19, who killed millions of people? ” Incisive remarks, supported by the current president of the United States which denounced on Sunday an agency “led by a group of extremists”.
Tracking programs promoting diversity or abortion
Created in 1961, under the chairmanship of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, by a law of the American Congress, the agency of the United States for international development was until last Monday, the first provider of aid worldwide. Its field of action was vast: thanks to its partnerships with foreign governments, non -governmental organizations and local associations, its aid extended help in Ukraine, peacebuilding in Somalia or HIV prevention In Uganda, through disease monitoring in Cambodia. In recent years, the agency has also contributed to containing important epidemics like Ebola and other hemorrhagic fevers.
Although these programs represent considerable aid for beneficiary countries, their cost represents only a tiny part of the federal budget. According to New York TimesUSAID has a budget of approximately $ 23 billion, which is part of a larger annual federal aid budget approved by the Congress. During the 2023 fiscal year, the agency spent around 38.1 billion dollars, which represents less than 1 % of the federal budget. This should have made it a relatively modest target for the Elon Musk team, responsible for slashing in public spending.
If the argument of excessive expenses, invoked by critical republicans, is unconvincing, why was the USAID then targeted by Donald Trump and Elon Musk? Due to the causes it supports. From the first day of his inauguration, the American president had decided to freeze foreign aid for 90 days, the time of a complete review of it, in order to track down the programs promoting diversity or abortion. “It is a war against development,” said the International Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals, Transexes (IPPF) federation for family planning (IPPF) on Monday in a statement on Monday.
1,200 additional maternal deaths in Afghanistan by 2028
This closure will not be without consequences. Some are already felt, sowing mess in humanitarian circles. According to Peter Waiswa, a member of the humanitarian aid network compassionate Connectors in Uganda, interviewed by AFP, certain schools funded by the United States in this Eastern African country have already sent messages asking the children of Stop coming. Another repercussion: in Cambodia, one of the most undermined states in the world, demining operations had to be suspended last week.
This Tuesday, it was the United Nations (UN) organization that was worried about these consequences, and announced that the cessation of this aid could cause 1,200 additional maternal deaths by 2028 in Afghanistan. In response to the freezing of “almost all of the American aid programs abroad”, the UN Fund for the population “suspended the services financed by American aid” while they “constitute a buoy Rescue for women and young girls in crisis, “said Pio Smith, regional director for Asia and the UNFPA Pacific during a press briefing in Geneva. “It is obvious that we are very concerned about this substantial loss of funding,” he worried.