By Jean-Benoît Harel
Caritas Internationalis’ Secretary General, Alistair Dutton, has warned against the decision to close USAID-funded programmes and offices around the world, saying the sudden shutdown “will kill millions of people and condemn hundreds of millions more to lives of dehumanising poverty.” With an annual budget of over 40 billion dollars, USAID has funded humanitarian and development aid in some 120 countries, especially the world’s poorest.
In a statement issued on Monday 10 February, Alistair Dutton said the decision marks a grave threat “to people’s God-given human dignity” and “will cause immense suffering.” He also noted the result “presents massive challenges for all of us in the global humanitarian community, who will have to completely reassess whom we can continue to serve and how.” He further warns “the resulting harm to people, particularly the poorest, will be catastrophic, threatening the lives and dignity of millions.”
Global humanitarian system at risk
Contacted by telephone while in Burkina Faso, Alistair Dutton deplored the very real consequences of this suspension of aid that is causing “complete uncertainty for the humanitarian system worldwide.” He explained how “ships are arriving in ports with cargo, but we can’t pay to unload them, store their contents or transport them to the people who need them.”
In West Africa, for example, over six million people will not receive their medicines. The same applies to the 750,000 people facing starvation in Sudan or refugees in camps in Syria, where essential supplies of water are provided, without which “critical health problems immediately arise, which can kill millions of people…the people who need help are going to suffer enormously, if they don’t simply die.”
Ongoing assessment of programmes
The new US administration is in the process of downsizing the US government with foreign aid being reduced in the process as had been provided through the agency USAID. Since Saturday 8 February all the agency’s staff have been on administrative leave and funding has been cut for 90 days. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that this suspension precedes an evaluation of the programmes.
Caritas Internationalis recognises the right of any country to review its aid policies, but has warned over the chaos that could ensue due to the abrupt stop, especially as the United States provides around 40% of the world’s total humanitarian aid budget.
Caritas appeals for a “compassionate” effort
USAID has been an “essential partner” of Catholic relief efforts for over 60 years. Faced with this financial but also human deficit in meeting the massive humanitarian needs worldwide, Caritas Internationalis has appealed for a reconsideration of the cuts and for governments, international agencies, and stakeholders to work together to concretely reaffirm the “commitment to compassion and peace by supporting the most vulnerable people around the world.” Immediate efforts are underway to reduce the impact of the freeze and ensure continued support for as many vulnerable people as possible since, as Alistair Dutton says, “the lives and dignity of millions hang in the balance.” – Vatican News
