Toll of Trump’s USAID cuts on Australian aid revealed, with projects to help children among hardest hit

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 07:18:07 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/16/toll-of-trumps-usaid-cuts-on-australian-aid-revealed-with-projects-to-help-children-among-hardest-hit>

"The Trump administration’s gutting of foreign aid has seen a $400m hit to
Australian projects, with 120 projects affected, at least 20 offices closed and
people left without crucial support for health, education, humanitarian and
climate change issues, the Australian Council for International Development has
found.

Acfid has surveyed its members and their partners who deliver projects on the
ground on the impact of the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
cuts, which took effect when the president, Donald Trump, froze funding for 90
days from 20 January.

By the time the 90 days expired, despite a waiver for humanitarian assistance,
5,200 of the agency’s 6,200 programs had been stopped. Those that were left
were absorbed into the state department.

Workers in Australian programs described “chaos” and “total panic” at the time,
and warned programs could shut, causing “unnecessary deaths and suffering”.

Some Australian aid projects had direct USAID funding, while others were
jointly funded or subsidised through US funding.

“Australian NGOs and their partners have had to reduce operations and staff
with dire consequences to local communities that are now no longer receiving
essential healthcare, education, food or other assistance,” Acfid’s report,
released on Monday, says.

“At least 20 partner organisations and/or country offices of Australian NGOs
have closed. Some local organisations have also had to close their doors
permanently.”

The report points out that it collected information during that 90-day period,
that it was a time of “upheaval” and many organisations did not have a clear
picture of the impacts.

Less than half provided financial data, so the figures “should be read as a low
estimate of impact on the Australian aid agencies and the local partners they
work with around the world”, the report states.

More than 120 projects were hit, with a financial value of more than $400m. The
projects were mostly in the Pacific and south-east Asia.

Projects to help children, combat climate change and provide humanitarian
support were the hardest hit."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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