US suspension of aid is gambling with lives. The support of private donors is crucial now

In our case alone, US government funding supports humanitarian projects in Ukraine, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Armenia. In the vast majority of cases, this aid provides basic nutrition, shelter, and access to essential health care in areas affected by conflict. 

Another group threatened by the cessation of aid are human rights defenders in places like Belarus, Venezuela, and other countries where they may be in danger of imprisonment or direct threat to their lives. 

Our priority at the moment is to ensure that we do not put lives at risk by cutting aid wherever it would have disastrous consequences.

"Humanitarian aid and support to human rights defenders have unfortunately become, from the point of view of many countries, instruments of foreign policy," says Jan Mrkvička, Director of the Relief and Development Department at People in Need. "To continue to provide humanitarian aid and not be dependent on governments that are driven by political preferences, we need as much support as possible from our donors. Thanks to individual and other donors, we will be able to prevent the worst effects of the funding cuts on the people we help," adds Jan Mrkvička.

Although we hope to get an exemption for life-saving activities such as medical care or water and food distribution, we must find funding to provide the missing aid for thousands of more individuals and groups in precarious situations. Support from individuals and companies is already helping to save lives and will only increase in importance in the future. "Thanks to individual donors from Czechia and abroad, we will also be able to help human rights activists and independent journalists who will not be able to be helped by our international partners," explains Nadiia Ivanova, Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy at People in Need.

A major blow to humanitarian and development aid around the world

US aid is absolutely critical to humanitarian and development assistance around the world. According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), US official development assistance (ODA) totalled $64.69 billion in 2023, or 0.24% of Gross National Income (GNI). The Czech Republic contributes 0.24% of GNI (although its long-term commitment is 0.33% of GNI).

Furthermore, eight rich—excluding the US—countries announced cuts in ODA last year totalling $17.2 billion, according to the OECD. Three other countries are planning reductions over the next five years. In addition, the EU has proposed to cut around €2 billion over the next two years. Compounding matters, Germany and France, two of the big donors, have already cut aid by nearly €3 billion between them last year. The current trend, therefore, suggests that spending on humanitarian and development aid is seen as excessive by rich countries, even though aid has substantial support among their populations, strengthens security in the world and opens up trade opportunities.

The freeze in US funding has already severely undermined key health initiatives, halting monitoring of the spread of disease, vaccination campaigns or malaria prevention, putting millions of children and groups at increased risk of deadly diseases. The cessation of US-funded aid will have disastrous consequences, particularly in conflict areas where food security programmes are collapsing and famine threatens. Refugees will lose access to essential aid, and millions of people dependent on medical aid may lose critical supplies of antiviral drugs used to treat HIV, potentially triggering a return of the epidemic.

We hope, however, that the US administration will urgently restore funding for programmes that contribute to stability and security in the world.