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The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Congress should be ashamed over helping Trump cutting foreign aid, activists say
The US Congress should be ashamed by its role in helping Donald Trump claw back billions of dollars in foreign aid funding already allocated to projects around the world, activists have said. The House of Representatives recently narrowly voted through a request to claw back $9.4 billion (£7bn) of funds – known as rescissions – with $8bn of that coming from foreign aid. It is the first step to making these cuts permanent. Programmes operating in 14 African countries have told The Independent they have been denied ring-fenced funding since Trump re-entered the White House in January and issued executive orders to slash aid spending, something HIV advocacy group, the Aids Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) has claimed was 'illegal' and 'immoral'. Each year, US legislators vote through a budget setting out what the government must spend on different activities. By not spending money already allocated by Congress on foreign aid projects, Trump had been acted beyond the powers of the presidency, said Prof Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University. A federal judge ruled in Marc h that Trump had overstepped in withholding funds and that his government owed aid recipients money for work done in the first few weeks of his presidency, before contracts were cancelled. That case is currently being appealed by the government. 'The president has no power to unilaterally withhold funding already allocated by Congress,' he said. However, using a 'rare vote of Congress to rescind the funds it has already allocated' allows Trump to withhold the promised money legally. 'And to its shame, the House of Representatives has done just that,' Prof Gostin said. The package of cuts must now go to the Senate for a vote before becoming law. It has been suggested that he Senate will pick up the bill next month, but may try to tweak the contents. Thursday's vote was a, 'pretty clear example that [lawmakers] are happy to roll over and give the president what he wants,' said Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC which sued the government. 'They still acted illegally and immorally,' Mr Warren claimed. 'This process does not change that'. Until it was allowed to expire at the end of March, the US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), which forms the backbone of the world's HIV response, set out in law that 10 per cent of its funds must be spent on orphans and vulnerable children. But since January, projects across Sub-Saharan Africa have not seen any of the promised funds, The Independent has learned, leaving vulnerable children without vital services to prevent HIV, access nutrition and report sexual violence. It's one example of the cuts which look set to become permanent, through claw backs of existing funds and a new budget proposed this month. Based on Trump's proposed budget for next year, the majority of specialised support for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) aside from basic medical treatment, are likely to be permanently excluded from receiving future US funds. These wider support services have been shown to protect children from contracting HIV and successfully link HIV-positive children to treatment. Project Hope in Namibia, which linked children in rural communities with HIV treatment and prevention, is another programme to have its OVC funding under Pepfar withheld since January. Early data showed children with HIV enrolled in Project Hope Namibia's programme were more likely to have the levels of virus in their blood brought down to undetectable levels – 96 per cent in January compared with 85 per cent the previous September. Suppressing the virus means they won't get sick or be able to infect others. 'They don't understand those programmes are lifesaving,' Leila Nimatallah, vice president of US advocacy group First Focus on Children, said. More than half of children with untreated HIV will die before their second birthday. 'Illegal and immoral' A State Department official said Pepfar continued to support 'lifesaving HIV testing, care and treatment' including for orphans and vulnerable children, but that all other services are currently being reviewed. But that's not how people working on the ground see things playing out. 'We will expect children to be dying who are not supposed to be dying,' said Desmond Otieno, project coordinator at HIV service the Integrated Development Facility in Kenya. The US has withheld money previously promised to IDF Kenya for services including medication counselling and psychological support since Trump took office, and the facility has already recorded deaths of children who were no longer able to access medication. 'That is the most outrageous [thing]' Mr Otieno said. The State Department spokesperson added that all foreign assistance programmes 'should be reduced over time' as they achieve their mission and move countries 'toward self-reliance". Project Hope in Namibia says its plan to make sure its services could be maintained by the local government by 2028 had been scuppered by the programmes abrupt ending, however. The process of transferring responsibility over including training up local staff will now be a lot harder, achieving exactly the opposite of this goal. Ms Nimatallah said she was calling on the Senate to 'reject this cruel rescissions package'. 'By passing this bill, Congress is taking back funding that it had already appropriated for the prevention of suffering and death of children under five from dirty water, infectious disease, and malnutrition,' she said, as well as funds 'set aside to protect Aids orphans from hunger and sex trafficking. 'The long and short of it is that the United States has turned its back on these children that it has promised to care for'.
Eyewitness News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
PEPFAR withdrawal has spurred on govt to become more self-reliant
CAPE TOWN - Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the withdrawal of funding from the United States (US) to fund the country's HIV/Aids programmes has spurred on government to become more self-reliant. He said African governments need to use their own natural resources to fund their programmes and should not have to go cap in hand to anybody. Again, responding to questions in the National Assembly on Thursday on the impact of the withdrawal of President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) funding, Mashatile said no HIV/Aids patient would suffer as a result. READ: Godongwana lists PEPFAR withdrawal as one of several spending pressures in his budget Mashatile has reiterated that the R8 billion in lost funding for HIV/Aids programmes in 2025 won't impact the supply of anti-retroviral (ARV) medication nor the target of getting another 1.1 million people on life-saving drugs before the end of 2035. While the South African National Aids Council, which Mashatile chairs, is hoping the National Lottery comes through for it to plug the gap, Mashatile said if it does not, other options like the national fiscus are already being explored. 'I'm not saying we will abandon the US. They remain one of our biggest trading partners, but we must not go cap in hand to anyone.' Mashatile was then involved in a tense exchange with the Freedom Front (FF) Plus's Philip van Staden, who said people were suffering as a result of government 'blunders'. He wanted to know how thousands of healthcare workers who had lost their jobs due to the withdrawal of PEPFAR funding would be compensated, but he refused to clarify his comments when asked by Mashatile. 'People are suffering because of government blunders. I don't know what you are talking about. What blunders are those?' Mashatile said government is looking to the BRICS groups of countries and the African Union (AU) to collaborate in the fight against HIV and Aids.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump to slash funding for flagship US HIV programme by 40pc
America is proposing to cut its flagship anti-HIV programme by almost 40 per cent next year, according to new budget details that reveal sweeping reductions to global health spending. Details from Donald Trump's 2026 budget request show nearly a two-fifths fall in funding for the United States President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). The long-running programme is estimated to have saved more that 20 million lives in the past two decades, and is often cited as one of the world's most successful public health schemes. A recent analysis published in the Lancet found that as many as half a million more children could die from Aids by the end of the decade because of disruptions to Pepfar. The details on global health funding for the State Department, USAID agency, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) also show deep cuts elsewhere. Analysis by the San Francisco-based KFF health policy charity found the government departments were planning a 55 per cent cut in separate tuberculosis funding, a 47 per cent cut in malaria funding and a 92 per cent cut in maternal health funding. The proposal also withdraws all £221m ($300m) given to Gavi, the vaccine alliance which provides jabs to children in poor countries. In total, the request for money for the American government's main global health funding account is £2.8bn ($3.8bn) in 2026, down from £7.4bn ($10bn) in 2025. Setting out the cuts, the State Department said the request for money 'eliminates funding for programmes that do not make Americans safer, such as family planning and reproductive health, neglected tropical diseases, and non-emergency nutrition'. Mr Trump's government upended US aid spending days after taking office, saying it would suspend all aid while projects were reviewed. It then proceeded to close hundreds of aid programmes, including Pepfar projects, resulting in lay-offs for thousands of health workers, particularly in Africa. The budget proposals now give a clear indication that Mr Trump intends to continue with sharp cuts and will quash any hopes that the funding taps could be switched back on again. A State Department explanation of the budget request uses the phrase 'America First' 37 times as it explains a new focus on cutting costs and protecting US national interests. For the 2026 fiscal year, which begins on Oct 1, the budget proposals request £2.1bn ($2.9bn) for Pepfar, a 38 per cent reduction from the £3.5bn ($4.7bn) requested in 2025. The State department said that after spending a total of £88bn ($120bn) in the past two decades, it was now focussing on finding a responsible 'off ramp' to hand over responsibility for the campaign against HIV to countries themselves. 'This [budget] request will allow the United States to accelerate the transition of HIV control programmes to recipient countries and increase international ownership of efforts to fight HIV/Aids.' Some projects may still be paid for by other government funds, but overall the KFF analysis found the budget included 'significant reductions in global health funding including the elimination of some programs and activities'. The details will prove a severe disappointment to aid projects who had hoped that despite Mr Trump's rhetoric, there was a chance funding could be renewed in the new fiscal year. Public health officials argue that continuing to fund global health projects to stamp out infectious diseases is still in America's best interests as infections often cross borders. One executive at a major South African anti-HIV organisation said: 'Nobody wins unless we all win. No one can make it out of this alone. This is how we achieve epidemic control.' Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Irish Independent
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Bono tells Joe Rogan US global aid cuts have led to 300,000 deaths and reveals conversations with Marco Rubio
When Mr Trump took office earlier this year, DOGE, led by Mr Musk, was set up to cut wasteful spending in the US government. The Trump administration has moved to cut funding to government foreign aid agency USAID and other global initiatives, including the United States President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), which has saved more than 25 million lives since it was established in 2003. During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Bono told host Joe Rogan of how the world's relationship with the US seems to be changing, and revealed he is in contact with US secretary of state Marco Rubio. 'I think America's more vulnerable now than it's ever been. It feels like America's fallen out of love with the rest of the world. I don't think the world wants to fall out of love with America,' he said He then cited a report estimating 300,000 people have already died as a result of cuts made to USAID funding and said food intended for foreign aid is being left to rot because the workers who had access to it have been fired. "There's food rotting in boats, in warehouses. There is - this will f**k you off - you will not be happy, no American will, but there is, I think it's 50,000 tonnes of food that are stored in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai and - wait for it - Houston, Texas. "And that is rotting rather than going to Gaza, rather than going to Sudan, because the people who know the codes for the warehouse are fired, they're gone. What is that? That's not America, is it?" Mr Rogan agreed there "have been organisations that do tremendous good all throughout the world" but added there was "a money laundering operation" with no oversight that saw billions or trillions of dollars of US public money go missing. The levels of waste, abuse and fraud in the US government claimed by Mr Trump and Mr Musk have been disputed by fact checkers in the American and international media. Mr Musk has responded to the claims made by Bono in a post on his social media platform X: 'He's such a liar/idiot. Zero people have died!' he wrote. ADVERTISEMENT During his conversation with Mr Rogan, Bono said a Christian aid organisation working with malnourished children is being forced to 'choose which child to pull off the IVs' because of funding cuts. "It just seems to me like a kind of, I don't know if evil is a strong word, too strong a word, but what we know about pure evil is it rejoices in the deaths, the squandering of human life, particularly children's. "It actually rejoices in it and whether it's incompetence, whether it's unintended consequences, it's not too late for people.' Bono said he is contact with Mr Rubio, who does not agree people are dying as a result of cuts to funding. "I have conversations with Marco Rubio. He's convinced people aren't dying yet. I don't know who's telling him, or not telling him, rather. But his instincts are correct.' He said Mr Rubio used to wear an armband for the One Campaign, the organisation co-founded by Bono in 2004 for providing aid in Africa. "Americans, no matter what political colour, you seem them, just the size, they just grow in stature when they know they're being useful.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Donald Trump must reverse his aid cuts and lift the death sentence on HIV patients
One of the most arresting moments in The Independent's latest documentary by Bel Trew, our chief international correspondent, about the chilling effects of Donald Trump shutting down America's aid programme, comes when she asks a boy in Zimbabwe, orphaned when his parents died of Aids, what he was called. 'My name is Hardlife,' he says. Before Mr Trump returned to the White House, this young man had hope for the future. The President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, a programme set up by George W Bush in 2003, was one of the world's most successful health initiatives ever. The world was on track to end Aids in five years' time, by targeted and realistic intervention, delivering antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive people in countries of the global South. Within days of Mr Trump's second inauguration, however, he announced a freeze in United States aid spending. Two months later, he confirmed the closure of USAID, the aid agency that he said was 'run by a bunch of radical lunatics'. Since then, as is typical of the Trump administration, confusion has reigned. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, has said that he wants the programme supplying life-saving drugs for babies with HIV and adults who are sick with Aids to continue, but that it should get smaller. (If it were allowed to achieve its aim of eliminating Aids by the end of the decade, it would indeed be smaller.) The president has signed a waiver for 'life-saving care' – but, as Trew reports from Uganda and Zimbabwe, this has not resulted in restoring the supply of drugs that was abruptly cut off in January. When The Independent asked Mr Trump about this on board Air Force One, he said: 'We did a waiver.' When our reporter pointed out that this had not restored the supply of vital medicine, he replied: 'I can't help that.' He said that 'you have to get your people to act properly', as if The Independent were responsible for administering the US foreign aid programme. The president also complained that it was unreasonable to expect the US to take sole responsibility for tackling Aids. 'Other countries should be helping – where is France, where is Germany, where are those other countries?' he asked. 'Nobody does anything but the United States.' This is, of course, not the case, although it is true that the US had the biggest aid programme of any country in the world, as might be expected of the richest country in the world. It might also be expected that the president of the US would be proud of the Aids programme in particular, one set up by his Republican predecessor, which has saved millions of lives and was on track to save many millions more. Unfortunately, the British government responded to Mr Trump's semi-legitimate complaint about the US bearing too great a share of the cost of defending Europe by cutting its aid budget to increase spending on defence. So when Mr Trump makes the less justified claim that the US funds too great a share of the world's aid budget, the UK government looks the other way. We defy anyone to watch Trew's report from Uganda and Zimbabwe and say that the withdrawal of life-saving Aids medicines is not a tragedy. There is hope that the Trump administration will resume the Aids programme, but the UK and other rich nations could put pressure on it to do so by offering to step in to sustain it. Even the most cynical and isolationist parts of British public opinion, which is, we realise, sceptical about foreign aid, must accept that President Bush's Aids programme has been a moral triumph – and should continue to be supported.
