{"id":39042,"date":"2025-03-22T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=39042"},"modified":"2025-04-06T16:44:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T16:44:44","slug":"defending-humanitarian-aid-in-terms-of-national-security-obscures-its-real-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/defending-humanitarian-aid-in-terms-of-national-security-obscures-its-real-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Defending humanitarian aid in terms of national security obscures its real purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chen Reis<\/a>, University of Denver<\/a><\/em> and Maryam Z. Deloffre<\/a>, George Washington University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 305 million<\/a> people require lifesaving humanitarian aid today. Most of them live in areas wracked by conflict, such as Sudan, Gaza, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By many estimates<\/a>, there is more need than ever for this assistance \u2013 and the need is growing. But humanitarian funding, which is primarily provided by governments, is declining. The Trump administration stopped disbursing nearly all U.S. humanitarian aid<\/a> on Jan. 20, 2025. It made these cuts at a time when the Netherlands<\/a>, the United Kingdom<\/a>, France, Switzerland, Belgium<\/a> and other wealthy countries are slashing their own aid spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judges have ruled that the U.S. government must rehire aid workers<\/a> and make overdue payments<\/a> for aid already delivered by nongovernmental organizations, international agencies and private contractors. While legal disputes wend through the courts, these cuts are already having disastrous consequences<\/a> for people in Afghanistan, Sudan<\/a> and other places facing crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As scholars who study<\/a> humanitarian aid<\/a>, we are seeing not just a crisis of funding but also one that jeopardizes the credibility of the entire global system that provides this lifesaving assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When conflict breaks out or a disaster like an earthquake strikes, people require emergency medical care, temporary shelter, food and water. In countries where the government is unable or unwilling to provide these services, humanitarian organizations and international agencies step in to fill the gaps. Humanitarian aid is based on empathy and the recognition that everyone has a right to live with dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When discussing the impacts of its aid freeze and challenging the Trump administration\u2019s misinformation<\/a> about the U.S. Agency for International Development, many NGOs and experts on humanitarian assistance<\/a> have not focused on empathy and rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have in their defense of the agency responsible until now for most of the foreign aid the U.S. provides<\/a> instead relied on arguments that appeal to U.S. national security<\/a>, soft power<\/a> and economic<\/a> interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Chris Coons, a Connecticut Democrat, has warned that China will benefit from the U.S. aid cutoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur biggest global competitor and adversary is delighted that we\u2019ve handed them an opportunity to say to communities and countries around the world that we are not a reliable partner,\u201d Coons said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By highlighting geopolitical, security and economic arguments for humanitarian aid, in our view, they risk further hurting the sector\u2019s legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Protesters
Protesters rally in support of USAID in Washington on Feb. 5, 2025. Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A \u2018seismic shock\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tom Fletcher, who leads the United Nations\u2019 humanitarian efforts<\/a>, has called the Trump administration\u2019s aid reduction \u201ca seismic shock to the sector.\u201d But the latest cuts are part of a longer-term trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While needs have increased, humanitarian funding has been flat or declining for years, leaving millions of people<\/a> who need food, health care, shelter and protection without the assistance they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year, the U.N. assesses humanitarian need for the coming year and issues what amounts to a global budget request to meet those needs. Government donors commit funds toward that budget request, and those funds are then distributed to U.N. agencies and NGOs that implement humanitarian programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2016, the gap between funding requirements and funding commitments<\/a> has grown. In 2024, the U.N. requested US$49.5 billion<\/a> in humanitarian funding and received less than half, or $23.9 billion, with the U.S. contributing 41%<\/a> of that amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until January 2025, the U.S. accounted for 35%-46% of total annual global humanitarian funding<\/a>. The abrupt cutoff of funds has led to a scramble to pay for food for malnourished children in Sudan<\/a>, health care for refugees from Myanmar, and maternal health services in Yemen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without U.S. funding, the humanitarian work of the United Nations agencies<\/a> and NGOs that deliver humanitarian aid in part funded by governments<\/a> is in jeopardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the cuts, Catholic Relief Services<\/a> and the International Rescue Committee<\/a>, for example, have laid off staff and shuttered health clinics that prevent or treat infectious diseases like malaria and HIV\/AIDS<\/a>. They can no longer provide access to clean water and sanitation services or other lifesaving aid in many places where they work<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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