This story has been updated to correct the headline and text regarding the impact on Americares. The 92 clinics closing in Africa are part of Save the Children’s network.
Save the Children and Americares aid organizations are in crisis mode as vital funds and contracts with USAID have been cut off by the Trump administration.
Both non-government organizations (NGOs), which are based in Fairfield and Stamford, respectively, have reached out to their donors and prospective philanthropists to raise necessary funds to counteract the unprecedented reduction in U.S. foreign assistance. As of Feb. 28, the Trump administration had begun the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which included about 2,000 terminations and a 90-day freeze on foreign aid. In total, if dismantled nearly 10,000 people would lose their jobs at the federal agency.
“Earlier this week, the U.S. government made further cuts to the U.S. foreign assistance budget, announcing that 5,800 of 6,200 USAID awards ($54 billion) and 4,100 of 9,100 State Department grants will be eliminated,” according to a Feb. 28 Save the Children press release.
The Trump administration and the Elon Musk-run DOGE (Department of Governmental Efficiency) announced the reason for the cuts: “clearing significant waste stemming from decades of institutional drift” and “to use taxpayer dollars wisely to advance American interests.”
Save the Children has used its social media channels to promote the need for replenishing the funds.
On its international website, the NGO details the effect the foreign aid cuts have had on the organization in just one month. They will have to close 463 health facilities, close five nutrition centers and stop child protection programs in 13 countries. The federal government is Save the Children’s largest provider, funding about 25% of its global work.
“Suspension of this funding is catastrophic for the children and families whose lives and futures depend on it,” a Save the Children statement said. “The speed and scale of the terminations are not only impacting the ability to deliver immediate life-saving services, but they are also creating chaos and confusion, leaving organizations with impossible decisions on staffing, prioritizing needs, and withdrawing from communities where we have had long-standing operations.”
Janti Soeripto, Save the Children president and CEO, explained the impact of cutting such aid.
“It’s critical to understand that these decisions to cut foreign assistance funding and withdraw in such a disorderly fashion have life and death consequences and it’s imperative that we, as humanitarians, shed light on these very real implications,” she said.
As of March 7, Save the Children’s U.S. operations announced staff reductions of about 300 with more layoffs expected in the NGO’s international offices. On its website, Save the Children gave some examples of the impact of the aid cuts: “In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we will be forced to close 92 health clinics providing health care to over 200,000 people. In Sudan and Syria, malnutrition treatment for infants and young children is at risk. Over 4.4 million pounds of food is stuck in warehouses across multiple countries, waiting to be delivered to families experiencing catastrophic hunger.”
“We are asking many of our donors to consider increasing their level of support, accelerating their funding – example, donating now rather than year’s end – and donating flexible funding,” a Save the Children spokesperson said.
Flexible funding allows the NGO’s teams and partners to fill urgent funding gaps and adapt as the situation changes.
Americares’ immediate response to the lost funds and USAID job losses has been to create a resilience fund.
“The U.S. administration’s abrupt termination of foreign assistance puts lives on the line and futures at risk,” Americares stated in a recent release. “Humanitarian assistance increases access to health care for people in the most desperate situations. It can make the difference between life and death.
“Millions of people around the world depend on humanitarian assistance to survive. Now, with U.S. foreign aid cuts, children and adults in the most desperate situations will suffer, or even die. Health systems will be overwhelmed. Decades of progress will be reversed, threatening the already fragile state of global health. Now more than ever, we need your support to deliver on #Americares mission to help people and communities around the world increase access to health in times of disaster and every day.”
Americares 2025 Resilience Fund is designed to raise funds to make up for the lost U.S. government money.
The aid cuts have also been devastating for the International Rescue Committee.
“As of February 28, the State Department had terminated at least 10,000 grants and contracts — a decision that will significantly impact humanitarian aid clients around the world,” according to a statement. “The terminations include programs that were previously classified as “life-saving activities” and had been given a waiver from foreign aid suspension.”
