Goats and soda: npr

After the cancellation of thousands of humanitarian aid programs last month, around 900 programs that worked worldwide received funds from the US Agency for International Development.

Over the weekend, however, at least 42 of these programs were informed that USAID has canceled their contracts, which financed the provision of auxiliary services over a specified period.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not say how many contracts were canceled. The number of canceled programs and the value of the contracts-$ 1.3 billion of one-at-one, a basic group of employees and partners who support the preservation of foreign help. OneAid has compiled this data from first -hand accounts. NPR confirmed the cuts with sources that have direct knowledge of them and which spoke about the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The contracts that included a large number of humanitarian activities, including the food aids managed by the UN World Heritage program, were canceled on the instructions of Jeremy Lewin, the incumbent deputy administrator for guidelines and programs at USAID. NPR received a copy of the form that was sent to the global and local organizations by e -mail, in which they were informed that their contracts were terminated.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that the recent cancellation round reflects the efforts of the Trump government to “renewed foreign support programs after decades of mismanagement, fraud and incorrectly oriented priorities in the delivery of foreign aid”. When asked about the numbers of OneAid, the agency was neither confirmed nor denied the amounts.

The list of cuts corresponds to the information collected by OneAid:

• Programs, which had previously been excluded from the suspension of the foreign aid by the Trump government, stated “life -saving” services on January 28, according to Foreign Minister Marco Rubio.
• Programs that were suspended in January as part of a review of USAI subsidies was announced last week that they could resume work on projects such as the provision of medical care, nutrition, safe drinking water and support for rape survivors – and then terminated at the weekend.
• Programs that were then set again. On Tuesday, the Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tammy Bruce, announced at a press conference that some of the weekend cancellations were made erroneous and that the USA -IID financing for some groups would be restored. She didn’t say how many cancellations were lifted. These reversals reduced the total amount of canceled programs.

“This is just totally whipped trauma,” says Jeremy KononykPresident of refugees internationally and top health officer of USAID in the Obama government, whose organization was not affected by the weekend cancellations.

How much was cut – and where?

The cuts do not necessarily mean that a program is no longer operated. Some humanitarian programs draw funds from several sources and could continue their work to a certain extent without US help.

OneAid also assembled data on cuts in certain countries and areas, including Gaza ($ 12 million), Haiti ($ 5.9 million), Lebanon ($ 10.1 million), Niger ($ 8 million) and Syria ($ 126 million).

The contract terminations in Syria are particularly confusing, said a USAID officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not entitled to speak to the press. A Syria program that offers food for hungry pregnant people and children under 5 years has been informed that his contract was not canceled, but a separate contract for the employees who operate this program was canceled, so that nobody monitors the work, said the official.

And all humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and Yemen have been removed.

In Afghanistan, the canceled contracts amounted to 280 million US dollars with the world food program, 24 million US dollars with the United Nations Population Fund and $ 257 million in other non -governmental organizations (NGOs).

The canceled contracts amounted to 67 million US Yemen status report Prepared by the United Nations, the said that “24.1 million people – 80% of the population need” humanitarian help and protection “.

Contracts that Jemen provide help were “due to the concern that the financing of terrorist groups, including the Houthis and the Taliban, benefited,” said Bruce at the press conference on Tuesday. The Houthis, which are supported by Iran, are the most powerful group in Yemen. You hold the capital Sanaa. They began to attack the international shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians after the Israel Hamas War had broken out in 2023.

“The help for the internationally recognized government in Yemen – especially while it is actively fighting against the Houthis – is a significant setback for humanitarian efforts,” said Middle East Mohammed Albasha analyst in a signal message to NPR. Albasha is the founder of the Basha reportA publication that focused on politics in Yemen and the Middle East.

Konynddyk said that the end of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and Yemen not only influences the regime that the US government sees as illegitimate: “We also cut off the people who are at the mercy.”

“We basically say very much that the Afghan people starve,” he said. “It makes the Afghan people add even more dependent on the Taliban, and it enables the Taliban to say ‘You see? The Americans don’t take care of you. We are your only hope.'”

The Foreign Ministry did not answer the effects of the cuts to a request for comments.

Cash is not approved, the ascent will be announced

Other projects financed by the United States in addition to Afghanistan and Yemen were terminated because they are based on the auxiliary groups based on bar Make people available with money Or vouchers to buy food and other necessities, a kind of help, “from which the administration goes away,” said Bruce. She cited “concerns about abuse and the lack of adequate accountability” as the reason for the termination of these awards.

Bruce also said that “nobody audited” or checked where USAID money ran for “years, decades”, even though the financing was tight supervised through the congress and the organizations that manage help.

Then there are the reversal. At the press conference on Tuesday, Bruce said: “There were some programs that were cut in other countries that should not be cut that was rolled back and introduced.” Although they had not given any examples or accidentally said in the number of countries, she said: “There are only a couple.”

According to OneAid, the World Food Program had shortened at least 464 million US dollars for aid recordings at the weekend and then reversed for programs in Ecuador, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Somalia and Syria.

Auxiliary shots with other humanitarian groups were also canceled and then set again on the Marshall Islands (1.6 million US dollars), Micronesia (2.1 million US dollars), Palau (2 million US dollars) and Papua -Neuguinea (6 million US dollars).

What’s next? According to Bruce, the weekend cancellations are not the last word. AID contracts are continuously checked, she said: “We are in a constant, regular examination. This will always be the case now.”

Melody Schreiber is a journalist and editor of What we hadn’t expected: personal stories about early birth.