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113

USAID contractors fire staff, face cash crunch as Trump causes chaos in aid world (www.reuters.com)

submitted 1 day ago by MicroWave@lemm.ee to c/world@lemmy.world

4 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Summary

Trump’s overhaul of U.S. foreign aid has thrown USAID into turmoil, forcing contractors to fire staff and struggle with unpaid invoices.

His administration halted aid projects and tasked Elon Musk with downsizing USAID, leading to layoffs and funding freezes.

Contractors face millions in unpaid dues, with some considering legal action. The cuts have disrupted global health and humanitarian programs, sparking protests.

USAID funding, less than 1% of the U.S. budget, is key to diplomacy and countering China and Russia’s influence, raising concerns about long-term global impact.

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[–] hansolo@lemm.ee 13 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

It's hard not to get into the weeds of this because of how complex these contracts get.

Typically, a country asks the US for help with something like developing their agriculture sector, or e-governance, or dealing with a famine. USAID doesn't do the work itself to limit government liability. So they put up a notice that says "we want proposals to do this job, in this place, and get these results. Don't go over $XX"

Bids come in, and because these are programs in developing countries, it's rare that the country had any organization capable of reliably taking on a $5 million contract with tons of legal and compliance obligations. So a lot of times US-based companies that specialize in this kind of work, staffed by people who don't mind moving their family to Malawi or wherever of necessary. Many people, both contractors and USAID staff are killed, sometimes abducted and tortured, in the course of trying to deal with humanitarian crises in dangerous places.

Because local tallent IS a cruicial part of the way these programs work, the main contracter will hire local staff, and then because no one company can do everything, they also hire small local contractors to do singular tasks, like JUST community engagement about financial planning. So unless it's a war zone (often even then), dozens, mayne even hundreds, of local jobs might come from one contract. This is a VERY reductive version of the process in general terms.

Meaning that during this aid "review" and dismantling, it's likely that 100,000 people or more, mostly in poor counties, are suddenly out of work. It's unlikely that Rubio will reinstate programs without a GOP Congressperson asking, or obvious "lives will be lost" support ends.

[–] jumperalex@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

or obvious “lives will be lost” support ends.

It's funny (not funny!) that you think they care about lives being lost.

The cruelty IS the point.

[–] hansolo@lemm.ee 2 points 22 hours ago

They care about the optics of halting obvious immediate lifesaving assistance because it makes them look like they're making "responsible" decisions.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 day ago

observe! the plan for peace in Ukraine is there will be peace once there's no Ukraine