(Washington, DC) – The US government’s suspension of most foreign aid is putting lives around the world at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order pausing “foreign development assistance” for the duration of a budget review. On January 24, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work and stop-spending directive on foreign assistance by all US government departments and agencies for an 85-day review period.
The State Department cable included a list of waivers that included “emergency food assistance” and “foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt.” The cable directs the State Department foreign assistance director to approve any further waivers. However, no waiver or appeals process has been made available to US-funded organizations or other recipients of US foreign assistance.
“Any new administration is entitled to review existing foreign aid, but continuing the delivery of important assistance is critical while the review is being conducted,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “US assistance supports medical programs, mine clearance, and the protection of human rights defenders and other vulnerable communities, all of which are at risk without steady funding.”
Secretary Rubio should continue US assistance during the review period in recognition of the increased risks recipients now face, particularly those in crisis zones and under repression, Human Rights Watch said. The government should also expedite decisions to resume assistance, particularly if people have been put at risk by the funding pause.
The US funds important, lifesaving human rights, development, and democracy work around the world that is on hold for at least three months under this order. The order will halt critical work, including vaccinations for thousands of children and demining programs. Among the programs affected is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which would effectively stop and has long provided lifesaving antiretrovirals for more than 20 million people receiving HIV treatment.
The US also uses foreign aid to promote and protect human rights and confront abuses abroad. The State Department funds rapid protective support to human rights defenders in grave danger for their human rights and democracy work, anti-trafficking efforts that protect women and children from forced labor and sexual exploitation, and programs that keep and build free and open societies and document abuses by authoritarian governments.
“US support to human rights defenders has saved lives and exposed the worst violations in the world as they occur,” Yager said. “A gap in that support leaves many people battling rights violations vulnerable to detention or worse under repressive regimes that will take advantage of this aid suspension to silence them.”
