Trump’s USAID cuts leaving people starving in Sudan
Trump’s cuts to the USAID budget has left people starving in Sudan as emergency food kitchens are forced to close.
According to the BBC on February 25th, the freezing of US humanitarian aid has forced the closure of almost 80 percent of the emergency food kitchens, or more than 1,100 kitchens, after aid was stopped for 90 days.
It is estimated that nearly two million people will be affected by the USAID cuts with Duaa Tariq, one of the emergency room organisers telling the BBC, “People are knocking on the volunteers’ doors… People are screaming from hunger in the streets.”
Donald Trump and Elon Musk, in an apparent effort to remove wastage in the US government, abruptly ended all US aid last month for a period of 90 days to examine whether spending was “serving US interests.”
Whilst the US State Department has issued an exemption for emergency food assistance, Sudanese groups on the ground say communication has been confusing and they’re left uncertain about what the cuts mean in practice.
As the Sudan Civil War was waged on, it has become increasingly difficult for international organisations to enter the warzone so they relied on funding local networks of communal feeding centers to help those suffering from the war.
Whilst the US was the largest single donor to Sudan in 2024, both in direct donations and in contributions to the UN’s Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan, the startling dismantling of USAID has made it impossible for emergency kitchens to buy food.
The US State Department replied to a BBC query stating, “the aid review process is not about ending foreign aid, but restructuring assistance to ensure it makes the United States safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”
Yet, whilst the US waits to see if the suspension of humanitarian aid makes it a safer country, the humanitarian conditions inside Sudan continue to deteriorate with constantly rising levels of displaced people and refugees, a lack of food, and a lack of healthcare and sanitation facilities, with Maghrebi reporting on a recent cholera outbreak.
With the US wanting out of their international aid responsibilities, Egypt appears to be stepping up as a regional player as Cairo commits to collaborating on Sudan’s rebuilding. The Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty has said, “what has been destroyed in the devastating war, we hope to rebuild soon.”
BBC, Maghrebi
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