Sudden freeze of USAID sends shockwaves through social work and puts lives at risk

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a key global partner in addressing poverty and humanitarian crises, was frozen following an executive order from Donald Trump in January.

USAID has provided essential programs that enable lifesaving assistance, strengthen democratic institutions, and promote economic stability.

International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) Secretary-General Rory Truell says that social workers worldwide have reported that they are experiencing mass job losses and witnessing the immediate consequences. The Commonwealth Health Professions and Partners Alliance (CHPA) likewise reports of hundreds of social workers, nurses and community workers who have been made redundant, with a spokesperson adding that they know personally of at least one suicide.

The freeze has led to the immediate shutdown of essential health and food distribution services, with the Commonwealth Organisation for Social Work (COSW) reporting that supply of essential drugs for children stopped with as little as two hours’ notice.

Releasing a statement, the CHPA says it is ”gravely concerned” that the freeze of USA overseas aid at very short notice has “put lives at risk when life-saving medications, medical procedures, and essential research have been withdrawn without time to put alternative arrangements in place.”

It adds that the freeze has “brought significant hardship to the people who benefited from those programs, and to local people working within those programs” and “resulted in the immediate cessation of programs and the consequential closure of organisations and agencies, dispersal and unemployment of staff, and loss of infrastructure, which will be costly to replace.”

“The CHPA urgently calls on the USA government for the immediate restitution of life saving medical and humanitarian aid, even if only for a limited period, to enable governments and organisations to adapt, and people to survive.”

Similarly, IFSW has urged the US administration to reconsider this strategy and reaffirm its commitment to global solidarity, sustainable development, and the well-being of all communities.

Joachim Mumba, IFSW President, commented: “These cuts will have a disproportionate impact on marginalised populations, including children, refugees, and those affected by conflict and climate change, and it is totally irresponsible to radically and unilaterally withdraw funding.”