Latest news with #ex-USAID
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fear grows in Kenya for HIV patients as US aid cut halts drugs
STORY: At a children's home in Kenya's capital Nairobi, children living with HIV/AIDS play. But the staff here fear for their future, as U.S. aid cuts threaten to disrupt their vital drug supply. President Donald Trump's 90-day foreign aid freeze has upended the global supply chain for drugs to fight diseases including HIV. But it's also blocked the distribution of drugs that long ago reached their destination countries. The manager of Nyumbani Children's Home, Sister Tresa Palakudy, is concerned about access to life-saving HIV meds called antiretrovirals - or ARVs. 'What we are most afraid of is immediately they stop ARVs then the worst thing will happen here. Because if you stop ARVs for these children, there is drug resistance, afterwards they will get all kinds of opportunistic infections then we lose them one by one.' The executive director of the home said that if they start purchasing ARVs, a rough estimate is $120 per child per month. And that's without other drugs including TB medication and food supplements. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city, millions of doses of ARVs sit on the shelves of a warehouse, unused and unreachable. A Kenya health official said without U.S. funding, distribution of the $34 million worth of medication sitting there has ceased. :: File An ex-USAID executive said this stock, which Washington has not released funds to distribute, includes 2.5 million bottles of ARVs, 750,000 HIV test kits and 500,000 malaria treatments. In the meantime, Kenya is scrambling to fill the gaps. 'We are dependent on treasury to release funds…' Kenya's Health Minister Deborah Barasa said she expected her government to mobilize funds to allow the supplies to be released within two to four weeks. But it is not yet clear whether the government had allocated the money to do so. Kenyan Christian charity MEDS that runs the warehouse and the U.S. State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Fox News
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Off the Rails at the White House
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here's what's happening… -Here's who Biden blames for his 2024 election loss, Trump divulges after private convo -'Fired me illegally': Emotional ex-USAID employees leave building with belongings after mass layoffs -'Great job' or 'no idea what he's doing'? Elon Musk email sets Capitol Hill ablaze Conversations about a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia came to a screeching halt Friday after a tense meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy led to a canceled press conference, a minerals deal off the table and Trump asking the Ukrainian president to leave, a White House official confirmed. Trump accused Zelenskyy of "disrespecting" the U.S. during their meeting Friday and said the Ukrainian leader was not ready to secure peace for his country. "I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. "I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."…Read more 'YOU'VE TALKED TOO MUCH': Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy spar over Russian war in tense exchange: 'very disrespectful' 'SIDING WITH DICTATORS': Furious Dems attack Trump, Vance after explosive Oval Office meeting: 'Siding with dictators' MANY 'THANKS': Zelenskyy breaks silence on social media after fiery Oval Office exchange with Trump: 'Thank you America' 'DISGRACE': GOP Ukraine supporters alarmed after explosive Trump, Zelenskyy meeting 'TERRORISTS': White House touts extradition of cartel figures amid Trump admin crackdown FINANCING TERROR: Illegal immigrant ISIS operative charged with financing terror, firearms violations and immigration fraud 'DETERRENCE': Top House Republican threatens to expose CCP officials if China invades Taiwan 'MASTER DEALMAKER': Inside Trump's budget bill victory amid House GOP rebellion 'CHAOTIC': Democratic lawmaker demands Musk, OPM stop sending mass emails to staffers TICK TOCK: Pam Bondi sends fiery note to Kash Patel accusing FBI of withholding docs 'SUPERCHARGE': Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to 'streamline' FAA hiring process amid air traffic control shortage LOOKING THE OTHER WAY: Gabbard says Biden admin ignored 'highly inappropriate' chats happening at national security agencies 'INSUFFICIENT FUNDING': Biden-era Coast Guard failed to 'consistently' stop drug smugglers: watchdog 'FULL COOPERATION': Virginia gov promises 'full cooperation' with ICE to deport illegal immigrants Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Foreign aid recipients face crises after funding terminated, USAID workers fired
Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Foreign aid organizations are in turmoil after the Trump administration cut several million dollars of funding and fired nearly 1,600 employees of the United States Agency for International Development. United States is the world's largest foreign aid donor, accounting for 40% of assistance worldwide. In fiscal year 2023, the aid was $71.9 billion for humanitarian, economic development and democracy-promotion efforts, according to the Congressional Budget Office. For military purposes, it was 11.4%. The foreign aid represents about 1% of the federal budget. The United States Agency for International Development, which manages 61% of the U.S. foreign aid, had a workforce of 4,675 in March 204. Employees had 15 minutes to collect personal items from the federal building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday and Friday. People gathered outside the building to support the ex-USAID employees who were placed on leave, holding signs that read, "You're not the federal worker that should be fired" and "Make America compassionate again." On the day he took office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump placed a 90-day freeze on foreign aid. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday night temporarily paused a lower court-imposed midnight deadline to restart $2 billion in foreign aid payments. The Department of Government Efficiency, led by multi-billionaire Elon Musk, investigated the agency and recommended cuts after identifying "wasteful" spending and a liberal agenda on programs and initiatives around the world. President Donald Trump wants to kill the agency, which was formed in the 1960s, and turn over foreign aid to the Department of State. On Sunday, the Trump administration placed nearly 1,600 USAID employees on administrative leave globally. USAID provided assistance to around 130 countries in fiscal year 2023. The top 10 recipients were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria. How cuts affect organizations The State Department, after finishing a review, terminated nearly 10,000 government contracts worth in humanitarian work abroad with the agency and the State Department. Ninety percent of USAID contracts were ended. Representatives with nongovernmental agencies are fearful of being publicly identified. One spokesperson said they were afraid they could lose funding for the few remaining programs not hit by Wednesday's cuts and another hoped the administration would reconsider the cuts altogether. "There seems to be no pattern to it" other than shutting down U.S. foreign aid, one humanitarian official told NBC News. "It's going to be really hard to drive this truck in reverse, because they've washed out the road behind us," a humanitarian official also told NBC News. "We are no longer the shining city on a hill," one humanitarian leader said to ABC News. The aid cuts are far-reaching, affecting drought-prone populations in Africa, school feeding programs in West Africa, outreach to youth at risk of recruitment to extremist organizations like the Islamic State group, and public health efforts focused on HIV/AIDS. "Any type of communicable disease, I think we will see rage rampant," said Jocelyn Wyatt, CEO of Alight, an international organization that provides food, medicine and services for refugees in 20 countries around the world, told ABC News. "I think we will see increased conflict in the world. I think we will see increased terrorism in the world. And so, I think, the implications are going to be really dire in terms of the instability that this creates in already very unstable regions of the world." Alight halted programs in Uganda and Myanmar but secured waivers from the State Department for lifesaving humanitarian aid to keep their operations going in Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. But on Thursday, all of Alight's U.S. contracts have been canceled going forward, even ones related to those programs that had received waivers to continue in the last few weeks. UNAIDS, the joint United Nations program responding to HIV/AIDS globally, on Friday said it had received a letter terminating funding with immediate effect. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known at PEPFAR, has been credited with saving more than 26 million lives in 55 countries since its creation in 2003, according to UNAIDS. "The U.S. funding cuts are dismantling the system," International AIDS Society President Beatriz Grinsztejn said in a statement to NBC News. "HIV treatment is crumbling. TB services are collapsing. No data means no tracking of who's in care. No counsellors, no HIV testing -- even in hospitals. No outreach means people fall through the cracks. Services for the most vulnerable people, including mobile clinics and drop-in centres, are shut down. Lives are on the line." Groups dealing with gender-based violence are affected. The International Rescue Committee has been forced to shut down some of its operations, according to its president. "These are people who depend on the U.S.-funded services for the basics of survival," President and CEO David Miliband said in a statement to ABC News. "These programs are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; they represent real lives and real futures. The countries affected by these cuts -- including Sudan, Yemen, Syria -- are home to millions of innocent civilians who are victims of war and disaster. We now face the starkest of stark choices about which services can be protected, and are calling on the American public, corporations and philanthropists to show that America's generosity of spirit and commitment to the most vulnerable has not been lost." A spokesperson for the U.S. International Organization for Migration told NBC News that the cuts directly affect the organization's "ability to support some of the world's most vulnerable people." Development Alternatives, a USAID-funded international development organization, works in 160 countries and said it received termination notices for more than 90% of its contracts. DAI assistance includes help after natural disasters. "We prefinance all that work, then we invoice the government for reimbursement; without that reimbursement, we can't pay our staff, our partners, our vendors, our creditors," spokesman Steven O'Connor told NBC News. International Medical Corps, one of the largest first responder and disaster relief organizations in the world, said in a statement that they received cancellation notices for "the majority of our U.S. government-funded programs" late Wednesday night. The IMC, which works in over 30 countries, said they provided direct health care services to over 16.5 million people It had received about half of its funding from the U.S. It is running only two of the only field hospitals still operational in Gaza.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Fired me illegally': Emotional ex-USAID employees leave building with belongings after mass layoffs
Former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) employees were seen collecting their belongings and exiting the federal building a final time following a slew of layoffs, video obtained by Fox News Digital showed. Dozens of individuals gathered outside the USAID building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to support the ex-USAID employees who were recently placed on leave, holding signs that read "you're not the federal worker that should be fired" and "make America compassionate again." The ex-USAID employees were met by supporters outside protesting the layoffs, carrying their belongings and flowers as they left the building together in a line. "DOGE fired me illegally, and all I got was this stupid sign," one employee's poster read. Trump Administration Cutting 90% Of Usaid Foreign Aid Contracts, Documents Show Workers and supporters were seen getting emotional as the former employees left the building, images captured by Fox News Digital showed. Read On The Fox News App The slew of layoffs came after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, conducted a sweep of the agency and recommended cuts after identifying "wasteful" spending on programs and initiatives around the world. Following the DOGE probe, the Trump administration placed nearly 1,600 USAID employees on administrative leave globally on Sunday. Those fired or placed on administrative leave were given two days, Thursday and Friday, to enter the building and collect their belongings, according to instructions from USAID. Employees were given about 15 minutes to collect personal belongings from their workspaces. Supreme Court Temporarily Allows Trump's Freeze On Usaid Payments "Staff will be given approximately 15 minutes to complete this retrieval, and must be finished removing items within their time slot only," USAID stated in their instructions. "Staff with a significant amount of personal belongings to retrieve must be cognizant of time; however, flexibility may be granted in select circumstances with the approval of the Office of Security," the agency said. USAID did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for article source: 'Fired me illegally': Emotional ex-USAID employees leave building with belongings after mass layoffs
Fox News
28-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
'Fired me illegally': Emotional ex-USAID employees leave building with belongings after mass layoffs
Former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) employees were seen collecting their belongings and exiting the federal building a final time following a slew of layoffs, video obtained by Fox News Digital showed. Dozens of individuals gathered outside the USAID building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to support the ex-USAID employees who were recently placed on leave, holding signs that read "you're not the federal worker that should be fired" and "make America compassionate again." The ex-USAID employees were met by supporters outside protesting the layoffs, carrying their belongings and flowers as they left the building together in a line. "DOGE fired me illegally, and all I got was this stupid sign," one employee's poster read. Workers and supporters were seen getting emotional as the former employees left the building, images captured by Fox News Digital showed. The slew of layoffs came after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, conducted a sweep of the agency and recommended cuts after identifying "wasteful" spending on programs and initiatives around the world. Following the DOGE probe, the Trump administration placed nearly 1,600 USAID employees on administrative leave globally on Sunday. Those fired or placed on administrative leave were given two days, Thursday and Friday, to enter the building and collect their belongings, according to instructions from USAID. Employees were given about 15 minutes to collect personal belongings from their workspaces. "Staff will be given approximately 15 minutes to complete this retrieval, and must be finished removing items within their time slot only," USAID stated in their instructions. "Staff with a significant amount of personal belongings to retrieve must be cognizant of time; however, flexibility may be granted in select circumstances with the approval of the Office of Security," the agency said. USAID did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
