Press Statement: 90-Day Halt on US Foreign Aid
29 January 2025
For immediate release
We are devastated by the decision made by newly elected President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, to put in place an executive order calling for an immediate 90-day halt on foreign aid. This directly impacts initiatives such as PEPFAR (United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) as well as USAID (United States Agency for International Development), who are key funders for programmes that aim to provide humanitarian needs, healthcare services, strengthen advocacy efforts- especially for key populations such as women and girls, refugees and members of the LGBTQI+ community.
The executive order has had a crippling impact on the international community, particularly organisations and facilities which depend on US foreign aid to run their operations. The announcement has resulted in the closure of several essential services across the global south, all of which who have been fully or partially dependant on the foreign aid programmes to provide sexual and reproductive healthcare services ranging from HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation services, reproductive care and provision of hormonal medication for transgender and gender-nonconforming persons. Many organisations have begun announcing the closure of their facilities, with immediate effect, whilst others have announced the suspension of specific community engagement programmes.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS, and whilst the government has made significant strides towards ending the pandemic, we anticipate that the closure of the aforementioned facilities will subsequently result in an increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS due to the decrease in management and mitigation services. Gender-affirming healthcare services, which have always been limited are also under threat as a result of the halt.
As South Africa’s State of the Nation Address approaches on the 6th of February 2025, we urge President Cyril Ramaphosa to directly tackle the impact of the halt of US foreign aid and to put in measures to address the gaps in funding for healthcare programmes which might not survive a 90-day closure. We also urge all stakeholders to continue and mobilize towards a repeal of the 90-day halt.
Contact details
Mogau Makitla
Media Officer,Iranti