{"id":15607,"date":"2025-02-10T19:38:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T19:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/10\/canadian-charities-ask-ottawa-to-fill-catastrophic-gaps-left-by-usaid-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-10T19:38:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T19:38:54","slug":"canadian-charities-ask-ottawa-to-fill-catastrophic-gaps-left-by-usaid-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/10\/canadian-charities-ask-ottawa-to-fill-catastrophic-gaps-left-by-usaid-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian charities ask Ottawa to fill \u2018catastrophic\u2019 gaps left by USAID – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Canada\u2019s aid sector is bracing for cataclysmic suffering worldwide, and is asking Ottawa to help fill gaps as Washington winds down the U.S. Agency for International Development.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Numerous Canadian projects are in limbo<\/a> as the world\u2019s largest aid funder freezes funding to multilateral programs, and it\u2019s unclear what will happen to millions of dollars Ottawa had sent to USAID<\/a> for programming.<\/p>\n

The aid coalition Cooperation Canada says millions of people are being abruptly cut off from lifesaving supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact of this is catastrophic, for thousands and likely millions of people around the world,\u201d said the group\u2019s head Kate Higgins. \u201cIt forces Canada and Canadians to think about what sort of country we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump has tasked billionaire ally Elon Musk to cut the U.S. budget. The exercise has involved a 90-day freeze on most American foreign aid, pending a review aimed at ensuring the spending aligns with American interests. Thousands of staff have been placed on paid leave, though courts are reviewing those orders.<\/p>\n

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Multiple news reports have contradicted claims by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that most of that agency\u2019s life-saving programs abroad are still operating through waivers.<\/p>\n

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The Associated Press reported examples last Friday, such as $450 million U.S. in food grown by U.S. farmers \u2014 sufficient to feed 36 million people \u2014 which had not been paid for and thus not delivered. Some 1.6 million people displaced by war in Sudan\u2019s Darfur region are cut off from the funds needed to run water pumps in the desert.<\/p>\n

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Cooperation Canada represents dozens of Canadian non-profits working in international development and humanitarian assistance, many of whom run projects that run off of systems operated by USAID, or United Nations agencies that have significant U.S. funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of those will need to shut down,\u201d Higgins said of Canadian programs.<\/p>\n

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That includes emergency medicine, basic education and hunger relief. It\u2019s leaving organizations trying to redesign their programs and working with organizations from other countries to try filling the gaps.<\/p>\n

Higgins said Global Affairs Canada has been in touch with the aid sector to help manage the disruption, but things are already falling apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical partners, that are part of the implementation of those projects, are shutting their doors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In addition, data from Global Affairs Canada shows a total of $40 million in development projects listed as currently operational that Ottawa had funded USAID to execute. The projects included climate-change adaptation in Peruvian watersheds and a fund that helps LGBTQ+ activists fleeing violence.<\/p>\n

Global Affairs Canada did not provide the status of each project, including how much of the Canadian funding allocated to USAID has yet to be spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlobal Affairs Canada is assessing the situation following changes to U.S. foreign aid,\u201d wrote spokesman Louis-Carl Brissette Lesage. \u201cNo further decisions have been made at this time, and we will have more to say as the situation evolves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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