‘The impact has been devastating’: how USAid freeze sent shockwaves through Ethiopia
Posted: 22 Feb 2025, 03:05
Ethiopia was the largest recipient of US aid assistance in sub-Saharan Africa before Donald Trump froze funding last month. From food and health to support for refugees and sexual abuse survivors, we examine the impact of a decision that has left aid organisations scrambling
A vast shipment of food stranded in containers risks rotting before it reaches millions of hungry people. Deliveries of life-saving medicines to remote rural clinics are paused. And thousands of HIV patients and sexual violence survivors are abruptly cut off from support.
Donald Trump’s executive order freezing USAid funding for 90 days has derailed multiple vital activities in Ethiopia. Although some life-saving programmes have received waivers, most have not, and USAid officials in the country are scrambling to secure exemptions for their work even as they are threatened with dismissal by Elon Musk’s “government efficiency” agency.
In 2023 Ethiopia received American aid worth more than $1bn as it grappled with drought and civil conflict, making it the largest recipient of US assistance in sub-Saharan Africa and the fifth biggest in the world.
Most of this money went on emergency humanitarian aid, from bags of grain, medications and high-energy biscuits for malnourished children, to water and tents for displaced people. https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... re_btn_url
A vast shipment of food stranded in containers risks rotting before it reaches millions of hungry people. Deliveries of life-saving medicines to remote rural clinics are paused. And thousands of HIV patients and sexual violence survivors are abruptly cut off from support.
Donald Trump’s executive order freezing USAid funding for 90 days has derailed multiple vital activities in Ethiopia. Although some life-saving programmes have received waivers, most have not, and USAid officials in the country are scrambling to secure exemptions for their work even as they are threatened with dismissal by Elon Musk’s “government efficiency” agency.
In 2023 Ethiopia received American aid worth more than $1bn as it grappled with drought and civil conflict, making it the largest recipient of US assistance in sub-Saharan Africa and the fifth biggest in the world.
Most of this money went on emergency humanitarian aid, from bags of grain, medications and high-energy biscuits for malnourished children, to water and tents for displaced people. https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... re_btn_url