The end of Foreign Aid as we know it?

According to a detailed 15-page State Department budget document obtained by Foreign Policy, President Trump has vowed to drastically cut assistance to developing countries. Additionally, Trump administration officials are considering folding USAID into the State Department.

The agency anticipates that the budget proposal will necessitate eliminating 30 to 35 of its field missions while cutting its regional bureaus by roughly 65 percent. In addition to closing missions, global health funding is also targeted, with 41 countries facing cuts.

Likewise, the Bureau for Food Security is slated to lose 68 percent of its funding. This would reduce development aid geared toward preventing food shortages and may instead force the United States and other donor countries to spend more resources on emergency food assistance.

Other programs and offices that are on the chopping block include the ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, and the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership.

Foreign-policy and national security experts on both sides of the aisle have argued that the cuts pose concrete risks to U.S. security interests.

[Foreign Policy]

This entry was posted in Grantmaking, Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.