The Trump administration’s assault on U.S. foreign aid is jeopardizing access to clean water and could worsen disease and flood risks in poor countries, according to humanitarian experts and aid groups scrambling to make up for lost funding.
The administration paused virtually all funding for U.S. Agency for International Development programs last week and will place almost all agency personnel on leave starting Friday.
The abrupt changes have forced some foreign aid organizations to stop working on clean water and sanitation initiatives in some of the poorest communities in the world, aid experts said.
“The stop work order is costing human lives and livelihoods,” said John Oldfield, CEO of Accelerate Global, which advises nonprofits and governments on water issues. “The timing is particularly bad for the water sector because of population growth and movement and changing weather and climate patterns, which are decreasing the resilience of households and communities.”
