Abdelrahman
When Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last month that crucial humanitarian efforts would be exempt from a freeze on international assistance, many global health professionals felt a wave of relief. However, a recent directive has placed these exemptions on pause.
On Tuesday, several senior officials within the U.S.A.I.D. Bureau of Global Health received a notification urging them to refrain from any further approvals until they receive updated instructions from the acting chief of staff, as reported by The New York Times. Similarly, high-ranking officials from the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance were given comparable guidance during a recent meeting, according to sources familiar with the situation.
For weeks now, U.S.A.I.D. personnel, along with their partner organizations, contractors, and consultants, have been working diligently to sustain the essential services Mr. Rubio committed to protecting—such as lifesaving medical care, food, shelter, and critical support services.
While some waivers have been granted for programs deemed “lifesaving” under Mr. Rubio’s criteria, the payments system utilized by U.S.A.I.D., known as Phoenix, has been inaccessible for several weeks. This has hindered even those programs that received waivers from effectively continuing their operations, as indicated by multiple employees from U.S.A.I.D. and associated organizations relying on the financial support.
The State Department did not respond to inquiries regarding this issue.
On Tuesday, Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur empowered by President Trump to address concerns with the agency, claimed during a press briefing in the Oval Office that funding for Ebola and H.I.V. prevention had been “activated.” In contrast to his statement, two U.S.A.I.D. employees and various aid organizations assert that funding for both Ebola prevention and nearly all H.I.V. prevention programs remains frozen.
