Caritas Internationalis warns sudden USAID cuts will kill millions

Source: Vatican News, Caritas Internationalis

Caritas Internationalis' Secretary General, Alistair Dutton, has voiced grave concern over the decision to close USAID-funded programmes and offices around the world, saying the sudden shutdown "will kill millions of people and condemn hundreds of millions more to lives of dehumanising poverty."

With an annual budget of more than 40 billion dollars, USAID has funded humanitarian and development aid in some 120 countries, especially the world's poorest.

In a statement issued today, Monday 10 February, Alistair Dutton said the decision marks a grave threat "to people's God-given human dignity" and "will cause immense suffering." He also noted the result "presents massive challenges for all of us in the global humanitarian community, who will have to completely reassess whom we can continue to serve and how." He warned: "the resulting harm to people, particularly the poorest, will be catastrophic, threatening the lives and dignity of millions."

Speaking from Burkina Faso, Alistair Dutton said the very real consequences of this suspension of aid is causing "complete uncertainty for the humanitarian system worldwide." He said: "ships are arriving in ports with cargo, but we can't pay to unload them, store their contents or transport them to the people who need them."

In West Africa, for example, more than six million people will not receive their medicines. The same applies to 750,000 people facing starvation in Sudan or refugees in camps in Syria, where essential supplies of water are provided, without which "critical health problems immediately arise, which can kill millions of people...the people who need help are going to suffer enormously, if they don't simply die."

The new US administration is in the process of downsizing the US government, with foreign aid provided through the USAID agency being greatly reduced.

Since Saturday 8 February all the agency's staff have been on administrative leave and funding has been cut for 90 days. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that this suspension precedes an evaluation of the programmes.

Caritas Internationalis said it recognises the right of any country to review its aid policies, but warns that chaos could ensue due to the abrupt stop, because the United States provides around 40% of the world's total humanitarian aid budget.

USAID has been an "essential partner" of Catholic relief efforts for over 60 years. Faced with this financial but also human deficit in meeting the massive humanitarian needs worldwide, Caritas Internationalis has appealed for a reconsideration of the cuts and for governments, international agencies, and stakeholders to work together to reaffirm the "commitment to compassion and peace by supporting the most vulnerable people around the world."

Immediate efforts are underway to reduce the impact of the freeze and ensure continued support for as many vulnerable people as possible since, as Alistair Dutton says, "the lives and dignity of millions hang in the balance."

LINK

Caritas Internationalis: www.caritas.org/