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By Kimone Witter
Local civil society organisations directly funded through the United States Agency for International Development USAID are pondering the future of their operations after news came today that the agency is on the cusp of being shuttered by the Trump administration.
The blow comes days after the US government ordered a 90-day pause to all foreign aid, pending a review of efficiencies and consistency with Donald Trump's foreign policy.
The Trump administration's foreign policy decision has already negatively affected local aid groups, with many contemplating how staff will be paid and their continued operation.
Among the civil society groups in limbo are Eve For Life, Jamaica Aids Support for Life, Rise Life Management and Jamaica Network of Seropositives.
When contacted for comment, the groups indicated that they have been placed under gag orders since the Trump administration's announcement of the foreign aid pause.
Programmes being administered by USAID through government ministries, including Health and Education are also expected to be negatively affected by the development.
The announcement of the shutdown of USAID was made by the Trump administration's billionaire adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has been wrestling for control of the USAID in recent days.
Mr. Musk held a live session on X Spaces and said he had spoken in detail about USAID with President Donald Trump who has agreed that the agency should be shut down.
Mr. Musk asserted that the agency is beyond repair.
"As we dug into USAID, it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have actually just a bowl of worms. And so... if you've got an apple that's got a worm in it, maybe you can take the worm out. But if you've got actually just a bowl of worms, it's hopeless. And USAID is a bowl of worms. There is no apple.... That is why it's got to go," he said.
In a notice Monday morning, USAID staffers were instructed to stay out of the agency's Washington headquarters.
The website of the US agency also went offline on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave on the weekend.
The move reportedly came after Director for Security John Vorhees and Deputy Director for Security Brian McGill refused to allow personnel from the Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency to access classified material in restricted areas.
The US is by far the world's largest donor of humanitarian aid, with USAID administering billions of dollars in humanitarian, development and security assistance in more than 100 countries.
More concerns
In the meantime, former Jamaican Representative at the UN Security Council, Ambassador Curtis Ward, said there are questions about whether the Trump administration can legally remove the independence of the USAID.
Ambassador Ward is also concerned that the budget of the international agency will be severely curtailed.
"The USAID has operated as an independent agency since it was first established by President John Kennedy in 1961. So this has raised so many questions. First of all, it is not certain that President Trump can do this (shut down USAID) by executive order.... And the funding of the State Department of the USAID programmes will be shut. Many people have forgotten that in the first Trump administration, his first budget cut USAID funding by about one third; much of it was reinstated then by the Democratic Congress," he pointed out.
Ambassador Ward said it had been suspected that the humanitarian agency would be used as a coercive foreign policy tool.
"We expected based on the provisions of Project 2025 that USAID would be weaponised, not as a soft power part of the US foreign policy, but to coerce governments around the world who benefit from USAID to bend significantly to an 'America first' foreign policy, meaning supporting President Trump's policies across the board," suggested Ambassador Ward, who was speaking Monday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106.
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