When Aid Disappears

The Fallout of Dismantling USAID

So What?

For some, the dismantling of USAID might feel like the grand victory of a long-overdue reckoning. For others, it’s a heartbreaking loss of an agency that embodies America’s global generosity. And for most? They’re simply indifferent.

We’ve all heard the familiar refrain: America gives too much. Too much aid, too many resources, too much of our tax dollars to people far from home. But in all that noise, have we really stopped to ask: What is USAID actually doing? And what happens when the force behind billions in global development and humanitarian assistance is suddenly pulled apart? 

On January 20, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid”, which ordered a 90-day suspension of foreign assistance to assess the efficiency of the programs, as well as their alignment with American values. Just over a month later, the order’s fallout has had tremendous consequences. 

Healthcare clinics across the globe have been forced to shut their doors on patients who once relied on USAID support. Overnight, programs that delivered clean drinking water simply stopped. A large faction of USAID funding is spent on healthcare programs overseas. Communities that depended on these programs are now defenseless against crises like disease and malnutrition. And while some might read this and think, “That’s far away, that’s someone else’s problem”, the reality is that in our globally interconnected world, the collapse of globalization and interconnectedness, the collapse of foreign healthcare systems and economies “can reach the US faster than ever”. The collapse of international development, an initiative spearheaded by the United States, will have everlasting implications for society. 

So what?

So, the children who once received life-saving vaccines are left vulnerable. So, the communities that once had clean water now face the resurgence of preventable diseases. So, the fragile economies that USAID helped stabilize begin to crumble, fostering cycles of poverty, displacement, and conflict. And so, whether we acknowledge it or not, the ripple effects of this dismantling will find their way back to us—through public health crises, economic instability, and the erosion of American influence on the global stage.