The Trump administration's decision to close the U.S. Agency for International Development has drawn widespread criticism from congressional Democrats and raised questions about the influence billionaire ally Elon Musk wields over the federal government.
The United States is the world鈥檚 largest source of foreign assistance by far, although several European countries allocate a much bigger share of their budgets. While aid to Africa dwarfs the roughly $2 billion that Latin America receives annually, the Western Hemisphere has long been a spending priority of both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Here is a look at USAID鈥檚 impact around the world:
Protecting the Amazon rainforest and fighting cocaine in South America
USAID has been critical in providing . Recent USAID money has also supported emergency humanitarian aid to who fled economic crisis.
In 2024 alone, the agency transferred some $45 million to the U.N. World Food Program, mostly to assist Venezuelans.
In Brazil, USAID鈥檚 largest initiative is the Partnership for the Conservation of Amazon Biodiversity, which focuses on conservation and improving livelihoods for Indigenous peoples and other rainforest communities.
Over in Peru, part of USAID's $135 million funding in 2024 was dedicated to financing cocaine-production alternatives such as coffee and cacao. The humanitarian agency has been seeking to curb production of the drug since the early 1980s.
Disease response, girls鈥 education and free school lunches in Africa
Last year, the U.S. gave the sub-Saharan region more than $6.5 billion in humanitarian assistance. But since Trump's announcement, found locked doors at clinics funded by an acclaimed U.S. program that helped rein in the global AIDS epidemic.
Known as one of the world鈥檚 most successful foreign aid program, the , or PEPFAR, has been credited with saving more than 25 million lives, largely in Africa.
鈥淭he world is baffled,鈥 said Aaron Motsoaledi, the health minister of South Africa, the country with the most people , after the U.S. freeze on aid.
Motsoaledi says the U.S. funds nearly 20% of the $2.3 billion needed each year to run South Africa's HIV/AIDS program through PEPFAR, and now the biggest response to a single disease in history is under threat.
Meanwhile, without U.S. aid, other groups can鈥檛 give volunteers allowances for food and public transport as they do outreach to keep girls in school and out of early marriages.
In , which is , malaria and measles, the aid freeze means 600,000 people will be at risk of catching and spreading those diseases, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
A busy shelter left without a doctor in Mexico
In the southern Mexican city of Villahermosa, the Peace Oasis of the Holy Spirit Amparito shelter is one of several beneficiaries of U.S. humanitarian assistance to those
However, under the funding freeze, the charitable organization that runs the shelter had to cut its only doctor as well as a social worker and child psychologist. The shelter has since appealed to the Mexican government for alternate funding for programs managed by the United Nations to pay for flights and bus rides to Mexico鈥檚 border with Guatemala for migrants who want to return home.
鈥淭he crisis is only going to worsen,鈥 the shelter said in a statement. 鈥淭he most affected will be the population we serve.鈥
Wartime help in Ukraine
U.S. funding in Ukraine has for evacuation vehicles, salaries for aid workers, legal and psychological support, and tickets to help evacuees reach safer locations.
That includes the cost of using a concert hall in eastern Ukraine as a temporary center for civilians fleeing the relentless Russian bombardment. That shelter is now in peril because 60% of the costs 鈥 equivalent of $7,000 a month to run 鈥 were being covered by the U.S.
Ukrainian President his government expects $300 million to $400 million in aid to be cut. Most of that was for the energy sector that has been targeted by Russia.
