“At 7pm on 26 February, UNFPA was informed that nearly all of our grants (48 as of now) with USAID and the US State Department have been terminated,” the UN agency said in a statement.
“This decision will have devastating impacts on women and girls and the health and aid workers who serve them in the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”
The USAID grants were designated to provide critical maternal healthcare, protection from violence, rape treatment and other lifesaving care in humanitarian settings.
This includes UNFPA’s work to end maternal death, safely deliver babies and address horrific violence faced by women and girls in places like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine.
From Afghanistan to Ukraine
The UN agency partners with 150 countries to provide access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services.
Its goal is ending unmet needs for family planning, preventable maternal death, gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation, by 2030.
“These termination notices include grants for which we had previously received humanitarian waivers, as they were considered lifesaving interventions for the world’s most vulnerable women and girls,” UNFPA said.
The grants funded programmes in countries including Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti, Mali, Sudan, Syria and its neighbouring countries, as well as Ukraine.
A woman has an ultrasound at a UNFPA-supported health centre in the eastern DRC. (file)
Previous defunding
The current cuts follow other US defunding measures against humanitarian aid organizations since late January, leaving millions in jeopardy, including those benefiting from critical services and supplies provided by UN agencies like UNAIDS and UNFPA.
UNFPA has been defunded several times by previous US administrations under the accusation that it supports coercive abortion or forced sterilisation, claims that have been refuted by other US administrations, independent investigations, and leaders at UNFPA and the UN more broadly.
“The mandate of UNFPA is in fact the opposite of this allegation – to secure rights and choices for all,” according to the UN agency.
UNFPA relies entirely on the voluntary donations of governments, intergovernmental organizations, foundations, the private sector and individuals.
