US humanitarian aid cuts loom: Can EU avert crisis?
Hadja Lahbib, EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management (photo: Dmytro Semeniuk, RBC-Ukraine)
The European Union has called the US decision to cut humanitarian aid dramatic. Due to a shortage of funds, the EU is forced to change its plans to make support more effective, Hadja Lahbib, EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, says in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
There is currently a significant funding shortfall, which continues to grow. This is due to US President Donald Trump's decision to cut spending on many international organizations.
In particular, Washington has announced cuts to funding for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), many UN agencies, and international non-governmental organizations that help women and civilians.
Hadja Lahbib stresseі that the consequences of these decisions are dramatic, as they represent a deliberate refusal to save lives.
In response to these challenges, the European Union has shown flexibility and adapted its plans.
"We adapted our plans, but we are not going to replace the United States. The main purpose now is to be more efficient and to work on the supply chain, which represents 70% to 80% of the cost," she says.
Since transportation is very expensive, the EU is focusing on localization—maximizing the involvement of local participants and resources, she notes.
"We are working closely with all the UN agencies. Mainly with OCHA, which is the coordinator for UN agencies," she explains.
The EU hopes that greater efficiency and new approaches will alleviate the suffering of nearly 300 million people around the world who are currently critically dependent on international humanitarian aid.
Earlier, the Trump administration announced that it was cutting more than 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts. This amounts to $60 billion in US aid worldwide for development and humanitarian issues.
The USAID inspector general was also dismissed. He was forced to resign after his agency published a report criticizing Trump's actions to eliminate the agency.
