How Trump's assault on USAID 'will lead to surging mortality' in Sudan

In warehouses across Africa, food originally intended to aid famine victims in war-torn Sudan is rotting, its fate uncertain. This food, including rice, wheat, lentils, flour, and beans, is stored in locations like Cameroon and Djibouti, requiring air conditioning to prevent spoilage and pesticides to ward off infestations. The situation highlights the dire consequences of delayed or disrupted aid delivery.

Since the Trump administration announced an immediate halt to all foreign aid, international organizations, including UN agencies and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), are struggling to assess the impact of this move on millions of vulnerable people in need. The situation is further complicated by the U.S. government's allowance of so-called "carve-outs" for goods that have already been paid for. Catholic Relief Services has already begun laying off staff, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and hindering their ability to respond effectively.

With funding chains broken and funds for transporting and distributing life-saving food drying up, these organizations are forced to spend money to prevent food spoilage while struggling to find sources of funding. Banks, aware of the situation and skeptical that the Trump and Musk administration's government efficiency departments will abandon their plans to cut government spending, are hesitant to immediately provide funds to cover the related expenses. This financial uncertainty further jeopardizes the delivery of critical aid.

The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has worsened an already dire situation into the world's largest humanitarian crisis, displacing over 12 million people and leaving two-thirds of the population in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The withdrawal of U.S. aid is dramatically exacerbating this situation, pushing the country closer to the brink. Last year, humanitarian agencies in Sudan needed $2.7 billion to meet the most pressing needs of 14.7 million people, but ultimately received only $1.8 billion, with the U.S. contributing nearly half ($805.7 million).

Since the beginning of 2024, the U.S. approach to funding Sudan has shifted, with a portion of the funds flowing through international agencies and organizations to a network of mutual aid groups known as Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs). These ERRs originated from resistance committees within Sudan's democratic revolution movement. The existence of Emergency Response Rooms fills the void left by the withdrawal of aid workers and aid providers from Sudan, offering a crucial lifeline to communities in need.

Esraa Omer, a project coordinator for Khartoum ERRs, stated that the Emergency Response Rooms have been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize but currently face a 77% funding gap. Due to the freeze on U.S. aid, the ERRs can currently only operate 324 of their 1,460 community kitchens across Sudan, leaving 1.8 million famine-affected people without access to food. Food security expert Timmo Gaasbeek warns that this will lead to a surge in displacement and mortality rates within weeks, pushing the region into deeper despair.

Kholood Khair, founder of the Sudanese think tank Confluence Advisory, stated that the cuts by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are catastrophic for Sudan, as the U.S. is the country's largest aid donor. Without predictable and sustainable funding from the U.S., mutual aid groups will have to rely solely on donations from Sudanese abroad, which are already stretched thin. Khair also pointed out that the EU and the UK are also cutting aid budgets in response to Washington's refusal to continue providing aid to Ukraine, diverting more funds to defense.

Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for UNICEF, stated that their work was already severely underfunded before these cuts, and these reductions will make it even more difficult to provide life-saving supplies and services to vulnerable children in Sudan. In addition to the impact on health, food, water, and sanitation, the cuts will also have an impact on the social cohesion of a war-torn country. Khair stated that U.S. funding for Emergency Response Rooms enabled mutual aid groups to "stitch together the social fabric torn apart by war," and without aid, this social structure will immediately change, potentially leading to further instability.