Trump win sends shock waves to development community

The election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president is sure to send shock waves throughout the global development community as worries rise about his aid policy and stated position on climate change.

Little is known about exactly what a Trump presidency means for foreign aid, in part because in this election development issues have been largely overshadowed by debates over national security, immigration and a myriad of highly personalized attacks.

Yet development is a key issue, especially for people beyond the U.S. borders. Some 65 million people around the globe — more than ever before — are currently displaced from their homes and seeking development assistance to help restore a sense of normalcy in their lives.

The few answers Trump has given on foreign aid policy, mostly in an April town hall, have largely been vague: He would try to help humanitarian efforts, but not if it cost too much. What is clear is that Trump has run on an agenda that rejects American international engagement and that he would not invite Syrian refugees fleeing the crisis into the U.S.

Some worry that his aid policies turn out to be extreme. It’s not impossible to imagine Trump proposing to abolish the U.S. Agency for International Development altogether, to end funding to Muslim countries, or to demand countries refund the foreign assistance they’ve received. It could also mean an end to the recent era of bipartisan cooperation on issues of foreign aid.

[Read full article at Devex]

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