Caritas Internationalis says USAID freeze, closure threaten millions of lives

The head of the Catholic Church's aid agency says US President Donald Trump’s move to suspend and eventually scrap the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) would expose millions of people across the globe to vulnerabilities.

In an interview with The Tablet, Caritas Internationalis president and Tokyo Archbishop Cardinal Isao Kikuchi expressed concern over the impact of the move on people worldwide who benefit from the assistance.

“Making any drastic change in policy, especially the policy affecting millions of vulnerable people, should be done with caution and concern for the precious gift of God, human dignity,” Kikuchi said.

The Trump administration’s push to freeze and eventually abolish USAID would result in massive suffering across the globe, said Alistair Dutton, the Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, in an interview with Crux.

“Stopping USAID abruptly will kill millions of people and condemn hundreds of billions more to lives of dehumanizing poverty,” he said. “This is an inhumane affront to people’s God-given human dignity that will cause immense suffering.”

According to Dutton, terminating the assistance would leave humanitarian efforts grappling with tremendous difficulties.

“Killing USAID also presents massive challenges for all of us in the global humanitarian community, who will have to completely reassess whom we can continue to serve and how,” he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the USAID suspension has a serious impact on global health. 

WHO’s programs on HIV, bird flu, polio, and pox have been affected.

The USAID freeze prompted a pause in HIV treatment, testing, and prevention services in 50 countries.

The USAID is the US government agency responsible for administering assistance to foreign civilians and developments. 

Trump argued that USAID's spending is "totally unexplainable."

Meanwhile, a federal judge on February 14 ordered Trump’s administration to temporarily lift the suspension of funding that has halted US assistance for civilians and development worldwide.

The ruling pointed out the financial ravages triggered by the cutoffs in payments suffered by suppliers and non-profits. 

The court gave the Trump administration a five-day deadline to comply.

Kikuchi has appealed to the Trump administration to consider the impact of the USAID freeze and its eventual closure on millions of vulnerable people worldwide.

Every year, Caritas, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Catholic Charities receive billions of US dollars from the US government.