I'm alive thanks to US foreign aid

Ukrainian resident Dmytro Sherembei said, "I owe my survival to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)." He has been living with HIV in Ukraine for 24 years and stated that the agency provides billions of dollars in aid globally, helping to stop the spread of the virus in the country. This support has been critical for many individuals.

Sherembei added, "In Ukraine, one in every two HIV-positive individuals is identified through this program." However, the future of USAID is now very uncertain. The agency carries out extensive aid programs worldwide, which are vital to the livelihoods of many countries and regions. The potential loss of these programs is a serious concern.

After former U.S. President Donald Trump's return to politics, one of his initial actions was to sign an executive order suspending almost all foreign aid for 90 days for review. He had claimed that USAID was run by "radical left lunatics" and that there was "massive fraud," without providing evidence. Sherembei, who heads Ukraine's largest patient-led organization, "100% Life," recalled that warehouses storing HIV medication were bombed during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

It was USAID's assistance that made it possible to quickly procure alternative medications and distribute them throughout the country. Sherembei said, "USAID's slogan is that this is aid from the American people. But it turns out that this aid can be stopped by one person's decision." The reliance on a single point of failure is a precarious situation.

USAID was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. It has approximately 10,000 employees and a budget of nearly $40 billion, accounting for the majority of the U.S. government's total foreign aid expenditure of $68 billion. The agency has bases in more than 60 countries and operates in dozens of others. However, most of the field work is carried out by other organizations that it contracts and funds. Its activities are wide-ranging, including providing food in countries suffering from hunger and operating the world's gold-standard famine detection system, which uses data analysis to predict where food shortages will emerge.

Elon Musk, who was entrusted by Trump with the important task of reducing the size of the U.S. federal government, called the agency a "criminal organization" without providing evidence, and said "it's time for it to die." But in countries like Afghanistan, the end of USAID could create huge problems. The agency is one of the largest donors to the country's health sector, funding projects that provide life-saving services to mothers and children. A doctor in charge of a USAID-funded project said that more than 60 members of his team, including midwives, nurses, and doctors, were told to stay home after funding was suspended.

He said, "The future looks bleak, and the impact on patients is huge." A midwife said, "If funding stops continuing, mothers will be forced to give birth at home because facilities are closed, which will increase mortality rates." USAID's work also extends to areas such as cybersecurity. An Iranian activist focusing on anti-censorship said that their organization operates with funding from USAID. The activist, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said, "If an opposition figure, a university student, or a feminist activist is arrested in Iran, NGOs like the one I work for immediately take action so that the person's email and social media accounts are locked and deleted."

This means that if Iranian intelligence officers force detainees to reveal their passwords, they will not be able to access the person's communications. The activist added, "If an internet company cooperates with the regime to restrict Iranians' access to the internet, we publicly expose them and subject them to EU and U.S. sanctions." "All of this work will now stop due to the funding freeze." The impact of these actions is far-reaching.

Among other activities, USAID also provides scholarships, with 1,077 undergraduates receiving funding in Egypt alone. Trump's suspension of international spending, along with his comments about USAID, have cast doubt on the future of these students. One of the affected students, Mohamed Ashraf, said, "I feel like I don't know my fate. I used to be a bright, top student, but now my future is dark, and I'm afraid of going in the wrong direction." The uncertainty is causing considerable distress.

Trump has long criticized overseas spending, saying it does not represent the value of American taxpayers, and he has specifically pointed to USAID, calling it wasteful. But whether he can actually close the agency is unclear. Completely shutting down USAID, as Musk hopes, may require a bill from Congress, and Trump's Republican Party holds only a slim majority in both houses. Legislative hurdles may prevent such drastic action.

It has been reported that the current administration intends to merge the U.S. government's main overseas aid agency with the State Department. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he is now the acting head of the agency, which said that its thousands of employees around the world will be furloughed this weekend. For Sherembei in Ukraine, the stakes could not be higher. He said, "My life is now at risk. If my hospital runs out of this medication, I will have to look for it elsewhere."

He added, "But for HIV-positive people in Ukraine, the tragedy is that you can't simply go to the pharmacy and buy these drugs. You can't buy them on the black market. HIV-positive people here have no choice." "We're back in the Stone Age, it's barbaric." The situation is dire and underscores the critical role of continued support.