The United States has suspended aid to Pakistan, leading to the temporary halt of several key projects as they await a review to be conducted by officials.
This decision, which comes days after President Donald Trump ordered a pause to review if aid allocation was aligned with his foreign policy, impacts 11 governance programmes in Pakistan, along with projects under the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).
This move follows a “stop-work” order by the US State Department on Friday for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid, according to a cable seen by Reuters.
The cable, drafted by the State Department’s foreign assistance office and approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said waivers were issued for military financing for two Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt. No other countries were mentioned in the cable.
Additionally, the decision impacts various sectors in Pakistan, including five projects in energy, four related to economic growth, five in agriculture, four in education, and four in health.
Furthermore, funds related to democracy, human rights, and governance have also been temporarily halted as a result of the latest US move.
The pause in aid risks cutting off billions of dollars of life-saving assistance as the US is the largest single donor of aid globally — in fiscal year 2023, it disbursed $72 billion in assistance.
US officials will decide whether to continue the programmes after a review.
“This is lunacy,” Jeremy Konyndyk, a former USAID official now president of Refugees International, said. “This will kill people. I mean, if implemented as written in that cable … a lot of people will die.”
“There’s no way to consider this as a good-faith attempt to sincerely review the effectiveness of foreign assistance programming. This is just simply a wrecking ball to break as much stuff as possible,” Konyndyk said.
