Abdul Fatorma, director general of the human rights campaign and international development, has been working on the expansion of democracy in Sierra Leone for seven years.
The civil war tormented the West African coastal nation for decades, ending in 2002 – and slowly, peace had returned, helping to reduce migration and violence. Essential to this progress, according to defenders of Sierra Leone, defenders of the public service to feed democracy and human rights. The basic campaign of Fortorma obtained American funding of $ 1 million in 2023 to continue working on these objectives.
About two years later, the project – which favored a significant participation of all citizens in their political systems, expanded the scope of civic education and encouraged aspiring women to present themselves in the elections – ended last week when Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a break On all new US foreign foreign assistance programs funded by the State Department and USAID. Almost all agency workers are leave on leave.
“It was a shock and devastating,” said Fatorta From his office to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. He added the loss created “a gap” of funding and a “governance vacuum” which he declared that Russia or China could rush to fill.
Usaid Managed more than $ 40 billion in credits in 2023, according to the Congressal Research Service, a figure less than 1% of the federal budget. A large part of the financing is allocated to American organizations which grant funds to local partners or basic groups, which implement projects in their respective countries.
Basic groups are involved in carrying out a range of projects and humanitarian activities, in particular by working in Hospitals or health clinicsFighting human trafficking and managing programs that advance democracy, entrepreneurship or conservation.
The complex financing structure has has been systematically criticized As not reaching basic groups quickly or directly, but whatever, thousands of defenders and workers from around the world depended on the USAID to carry out a huge spectrum of civil society work.
AMR Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Collaborative freerA global network of around 3,000 defenders against traffic, deposited 80% of its budgetary decrease after receiving a work prescription last week, said CEO Julia Mayer, who is based in Berlin. The organization said it was funded by a USAID sub-actor Winrock InternationalAn international development organization that manages 100 projects in 40 countries mainly for the US government.
Macheer said that since the freezing of federal funding, his group had been contacted by at least 50 partners. In a Freedom collaborative newsletter, Macheer cited organizations in the Balkans who provide direct services to survivors and Thailand where shelters have no funds to pay essential elements such as food, medical care and transport . The work of Chab Dai du CambodgeA support program for survivors funded by USAID has been suspended, affecting nine staff and dozens of survivors, said collaborative Freedom.
The situation is particularly disastrous for groups in Latin America, said the newsletter, including an equator organization which had to let go of 11 staff working with migrants and individuals of the trafficking, and groups in Colombia who had to stop all their operations.
The financing of this type of complex work – often carried out at a large personal risk for local staff and victims – is already very difficult to obtain. Often, the US government is said to be the only donor willing to provide funds, Mayer said. She stressed that the advantages of these programs go far beyond individuals receiving aid.
“It helps global stability, and it is the broader argument,” she said. “Work helps reduce organized crime. And if there is no answer or to look at these crime groups, they can start to expand, and it is very frightening because it is then a training effect. It is not only a question of the humanitarian aspect. »»
Stoping the work so suddenly has a huge impact on real human lives, “said Mayer.
Rubio told us diplomats On Wednesday, the United States does not plan to stop distributing foreign aid entirely, saying that the agency must do a better job to explain and defend where money is going.
“We will continue to provide foreign help and be involved in programs, but it must be programs that we can defend. It must be programs that we can explain. It must be programs that we can justify, “Rubio told around 200 members of the United States Embassy in Guatemala City, according to a partial transcription of his remarks obtained Wednesday by CBS News.
Rubio also noted that although foreign aid spending is not popular with the public, “for those of us responsible for doing the work of foreign policy, we understand that it is essential.”
contributed to this report.