Afghanistan Peace CampaignUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the 90-day suspension of aid is intended for a thorough review of the programs.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has warned that the suspension of aid could result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths and 109,000 unintended pregnancies in Afghanistan between 2025 and 2028.
Pio Smith, UNFPA’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, expressed concern over the US aid cuts, stating that this decision will have catastrophic consequences in Afghanistan.
“On 24 January, the US Administration paused nearly all US foreign aid programme pending a 90 days review, in response, UNFPA has suspended services funded by US grants that provide a lifeline for women and girls in crises, including in south Asia, If I just take the example of Afghanistan, between 2025 and 2028 we estimate that the absence of U.S. support will result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths and 109,000 additional unintended pregnancies,” Smith said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the 90-day suspension of aid is intended for a thorough review of the programs. He assured that effective and reasonable aid would continue. Rubio pointed out that some organizations, particularly the US Agency for International Development (USAID), had refused to provide information.
“In some cases, with USAID, 10, 12, 13 percent, maybe less of the money was actually reaching the recipient and the rest was going into the overhead and the bureaucracy. This isn’t my money. This is taxpayer money. So, we’re not going to eliminate foreign aid. We’re going to have foreign aid that makes sense. We’re going to have foreign aid that works. We’re going to have foreign aid that furthers the national interest. We’re going to have foreign aid that benefits our trusted partners and our allies,” Robio added.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has also reported that 89% of Afghan families require humanitarian support.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan emphasized that humanitarian aid should remain separate from political issues.
Abdul Latif Nazari, the ministry’s technical deputy, told TOLOnews: “We believe that humanitarian aid must remain humanitarian, and it should be kept separate from political matters.”
The USAID website announced that, except for essential staff, its employees worldwide would be placed on administrative leave starting Friday. The New York Times reported that USAID has approximately 10,000 employees globally.