United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the United States to consider additional exemptions to a 90-day pause on its foreign assistance to “ensure continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities.” The pause was announced by US President Donald Trump just hours after taking office a week ago, to review if foreign aid contributions align with his foreign policy.
The move risks cutting off billions of dollars of life-saving assistance, as the United States is the largest single donor of aid globally, disbursing $72 billion in assistance in fiscal year 2023. Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, emphasized the importance of US contributions and the need to work together to address the concerns of the new administration while protecting the most vulnerable.
Initial confusion among US lawmakers, aid groups, and the United Nations over the scope of Trump’s order was cleared up on Friday when the US State Department issued a “stop-work” order for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio can issue waivers and has given an exemption for emergency food assistance.
“The Secretary-General calls for additional exemptions to be considered to ensure the continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities for the most vulnerable communities around the world, whose lives and livelihoods depend on this support,” Dujarric said.
Guterres looks forward to working with the new US administration on providing much-needed development support to people facing the most difficult challenges in the developing world. Aid and rights groups have also expressed concern about Trump’s order, emphasizing the importance of continuing the delivery of essential assistance during the review.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told Fox News on Monday that the review aims to assess and determine the best way forward for US foreign aid. The pause on US foreign aid represents a tougher stance than Trump took during his first term in office, when he threatened the measure but did not implement it.
At the annual UN gathering of world leaders in September 2018, Trump stated that his administration would examine whether countries receiving US aid and protection “also have our interests at heart.” He emphasized that moving forward, the US would only give foreign aid to those who respect and are friends with the country.
However, the US Congress, which sets the federal government budget, pushed back against Trump’s attempts during his first term to make large cuts to US diplomacy and aid budgets.