By Janet Ekstract NEW YORK – In a recent ProPublica article, the publication detailed the new massive layoffs after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the USAID organization shuttered. What this means is that many staffers for at least six U.S.-funded medical facilities in Sudan who are caring for severely malnourished children would be forced to stop operations. ProPublica reported that had they stopped operations, 100 babies and toddlers would have died so the staffers “chose the children.” Staffers decided they will keep their facilities open for as long as possible, according to three sources who have direct knowledge of the situation. Trump’s order “also meant they would stop receiving new, previously approved funds to cover salaries, IV bags and other supplies.” According to staffers, it’s a “matter of days, not weeks, before they run out.”
ProPublica reported that American-funded aid organizations worldwide, providing “lifesaving car for the most desperate and vulnerable populations” have been forced to stop all their operations. This means they are also being forced to lay off staff after a series of sudden stop-work demands from the Trump administration. Though an earlier announcement said that “lifesaving operations” could continue, that hasn’t happened. At issue, is the fact that many of the groups carrying out lifesaving humanitarian work, have no idea how to request an exemption to the order that’s called a waiver. These groups also have no idea about the status of their requests and haven’t received any substantial information from the U.S. government which leaves them in limbo. To add to the confusion, humanitarian officials were suddenly removed or prohibited from communicating with the aid organizations.
Aid groups and government officials have signaled the alarm about the consequences of Trump’s wide-ranging, massive shift on U.S. humanitarian policy. Programs that remain grounded since last Friday include emergency medical care for displaced Palestinians and Yemenis fleeing the war, heat and electricity for Ukrainian refuges and HIV treatment and mpox surveillance in Africa.
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