USAID Lifesaving Aid Remains Halted Despite Rubio’s Promise
A new directive puts further exemptions on hold. Aid workers also say the U.S. government has made it impossible to pay partners around the world.
Even though Rubio promised life-saving aid wouldn't be interrupted, it has essentially been halted worldwide, interrupting HIV and TB treatment and threatening millions of lives. People are dying today because of these chaotic, inconsistent stop work orders. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/u...
13.02.2025 12:44 — 👍 2294 🔁 553 💬 67 📌 24
Janeen Madan Keller, Policy Fellow and Deputy Director of Global Health Policy at the Center for Global Development, comments:
“An expanded Mexico City Policy will have wide-reaching impacts on women and girls’ access to life-saving healthcare. When women and girls make informed decisions about whether and when to have children, it has a direct impact on boosting education outcomes, labor force participation, and wages.
“As research shows, the Mexico City Policy reduces access to contraception which—counter to the policy’s intended goal—leads to more unplanned pregnancies and higher abortion rates. In addition, the expanded policy, which was introduced during Trump’s first term and applied to all US global health assistance, also led to disruptions and gaps in other critical health services, including HIV/AIDS programming and cervical cancer screenings.
“Finally, withholding US funding for UNFPA could have very different consequences today compared to 2017 when the first Trump administration cut UNFPA funding. At that time, other donors bolstered UNFPA’s budget, preventing negative impacts on programming. However, with many donors now slashing aid budgets, it’s unclear whether they would cover the shortfall.
Statement from @jmadankeller.bsky.social on the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy:
25.01.2025 22:43 — 👍 2 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
Javier Guzman, a senior policy fellow and the director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development said:
“We don't know the full extent of the disruptions, but the US is the largest aid provider in the world, with millions of lives depending on its support, making the potential disruptions hugely consequential.
“The impact on bipartisan programs like PEPFAR is particularly unfortunate. PEPFAR’s work, including the distribution of antiretroviral drugs to millions of HIV-positive individuals in low-income countries, represents the kind of cost-effective, life-saving aid that US funding should prioritize.
“Crucially, the memo appears to allow ongoing activities, such as distributing HIV medications, to continue in the short term. However, the way this provision is interpreted will be critical in determining the scope of these programs' survival amidst the uncertainty.”
Gyude Moore, a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and the former public works minister of Liberia, said:
“Some of these spending decisions are long-term contracts, and suspension could carry liabilities for breach of contract.
“These programs include ones that distribute essential medicines, like PEPFAR, which provides anti-retroviral drugs to people who are HIV-positive. Disrupting them puts lives at risk.
“Others are the only thing keeping refugee communities alive. Very vulnerable people will be hurt and it is unclear how this advances American interests.
“US relations with the world are meant to survive any given four-year period, and these actions raise serious questions about the reliability of the United States going forward.”
Statements from CGD's Javier Guzman and Gyude Moore on the foreign aid freeze:
24.01.2025 21:31 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
🚨New paper! 🚨(well, to Bluesky)
Making Migration Work for Adaptation: Classifying Remittances as Climate Finance
An exciting paper that we hope might make a difference (esp. after NCQG).
Huge thanks to co-author @jonathanbeynon.bsky.social & to all who reviewed/shared comments.
Thread below! 1/
27.11.2024 09:42 — 👍 9 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 1
I think I'm joking but I'm not sure? Honestly seem like it could be a pretty good tactic for an extremely niche issue
27.11.2024 17:29 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I'm possessed by an overwhelming urge to hire Snoop Dogg to talk about the IDA private sector window or SDR recycling or something like that
27.11.2024 17:27 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
How Should Canada Spend Aid?
Three weeks ago, I was in Montreal for a very interesting meeting on the future of Canadian foreign assistance, hosted by Global Canada and CanWaCH, the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's H...
A good piece from @charlesjkenny.bsky.social—if you're facing aid cuts, you're better off spending a smaller aid budget really well than keeping it big at the cost of spending it on less effective but (theoretically) politically popular stuff:
www.cgdev.org/blog/how-sho...
22.11.2024 19:23 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
For those negotiating in Baku on the #NCQG climate finance goal
@edwickstead.bsky.social and I have calculated two new scenarios in our @cgdev.bsky.social model of baselines relating to multilateral development banks and the latest negotiating text
1/5
22.11.2024 18:02 — 👍 5 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 1
We miss you Dave! Sadly the list is just current staff—otherwise it’d be overflowing with impressive alums
21.11.2024 03:17 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
CGD staff and experts—all over bluesky now! bsky.app/starter-pack...
20.11.2024 16:23 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Center For Global Development
The Center for Global Development works to reduce global poverty and improve lives through innovative economic research that drives better policy & practice.
Hello from CGD’s official @bsky.app account! 👋
Follow us here for our latest work on reducing global poverty & improving lives through innovative economic research that drives better policy.🌍
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14.11.2024 20:48 — 👍 38 🔁 13 💬 2 📌 0
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