On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump’s government unveiled specifics on how “ridiculous” initiatives over years were supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This comes a month following Mr. Trump’s executive order suspending foreign aid for 90 days and reevaluating and realigning US assistance with the policy of the new government.
Just ten days before the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that claimed at least 1,200 lives, the papers state that USAID paid $500,000 to address sectarian unrest in Israel. It also provided $5 million to EcoHealth Alliance, one of the main non-governmental organisations supporting Wuhan lab Bat Virus Research.
The Trump administration claimed that at least $10 million worth of USAID-funded food were delivered to a terrorist organisation connected to Al Qaeda.
The records also showed that the USAID paid millions of dollars to nations for LGBT groups and their advocacy, a topic Mr. Trump is seeking to overlook from the US.
The money covers: $7.9 million to teach Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid “binary-gendered language,” $2 million for sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala, $1.1 million to an Armenian LGBT group, $1.5 million to support LGBT advocacy in Jamaica, $2 million to support LGBT equality via entrepreneurship in Latin America, $3.9 million for LGBT causes in the Western Balkans, $5.5 million for LGBT activity in Uganda, $6 million for promoting LGBT concerns in priority nations worldwide, and $6.3 million for males who have sex with men in South Africa.
With a workforce of around 10,000 people worldwide and an annual budget of tens of billions of dollars, USAID is by far the biggest humanitarian and development arm of the US government. Congress authorises USAID’s annual budget. The State Department supplies Congress with foreign policy direction; the humanitarian agency then sets its investment priorities working with Congress and the White House.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that the United States leads all other countries in formal development assistance provision. USAID channels most of its support.
