USAID cuts hit vulnerable communities across the world

A group of people stand around a large pit in a dry, rural area, with some individuals wearing reflective vests, and a ladder is visible leading into the pit. — Community members in the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan had joined with Practical Action to help construct the infrastructure they needed.

Sudden cuts to the USAID budget mean thousands of people affected by civil war and climate change are not receiving the support they have been promised.

At the time of writing, a programme in Sudan supporting displaced people and farming families by improving food production and bringing clean water to villages hosting thousands of internally displaced people is on hold.

This is lifesaving work and we still maintain hope that the project will be able to be restarted. Three other programmes have been terminated early.

Currently, thousands of families in Sudan have not got the tools, training, seeds and support they need to help them continue to feed themselves and people who have come into their villages after fleeing violence elsewhere.

This programme is the largest of a number of Practical Action projects which have stopped as a result of the decision to cancel USAID funding.

Abdalla, a farmer in Kassala state in Eastern Sudan said:

“When Practical Action introduced the water yard to our village, we were overjoyed. We used to struggle with recurring diarrhoeal diseases that claimed many lives.

“Now we fear that future generations will continue to suffer.”

A newspaper page features an article about an early warning system for flood-prone areas, with images of landscapes, individuals, and a phone displaying a warning message.

How the Kathmandu Post reported on our USAID funded work in Nepal (click image to enlarge)

Whilst Practical Action has not had official confirmation that the Sudan project is permanently cancelled, three other programmes of work in Peru, Zimbabwe and Nepal have had received notice that funding has been cancelled.

These projects support people living in poverty and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change by improving warning systems and farming outputs.

Despite the loss of funding, Practical Action has continued to work with communities affected by the cuts.

Rachel Hudson, Director of marketing and fundraising at Practical Action said:

“When we received the ‘Stop Work’ orders, we couldn’t just stop work overnight. We need to explain to the people we are working with what’s happened and close the projects as responsibly as possible.

“The work we have continued to deliver will help us leave these projects in a state where, if we are able to raise more money in the future, we can pick them up again and build on what we have already started.

“Financial realities mean we won’t be able to complete the projects now.

“We have incurred additional costs since the ‘Stop Work’ orders. While this causes a significant financial shortfall, these cuts affect only a small part of our overall funding, and we will continue to deliver our other programmes as planned.”

If you would like to work with us or to find out how to support Practical Action’s programmes, please call (+0044) (0)1926 634552.

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Sudden cuts to the USAID budget mean thousands of people affected by civil war and climate change are not receiving the support they have been promised.