Humanitarian aid SDC Director-General Danzi: US aid freeze is "a real earthquake"
The US decision to suspend its humanitarian aid for 90 days has far-reaching consequences. "This is a real earthquake," said Patricia Danzi from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in an interview with several newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland.
07.03.2025, 06:50
SDA
The sudden stop in US funding will have a lasting impact on humanitarian aid, development cooperation and multilateralism, said Danzi. The SDC has already been asked by numerous partners whether it could provide additional funds to at least partially compensate for the US withdrawal. "However, we are under considerable budget pressure ourselves, so an increase in Swiss aid is hardly realistic," she said.
With a budget of 42.8 billion dollars, the US development agency USAID provides around 42 percent of global funding. "The sums are enormous. Neither Switzerland nor other actors can fully compensate for the loss of funds," emphasized Danzi.
"Far-reaching reform of humanitarian aid"
The SDC is currently examining which of the projects co-financed with US funds can be continued. "We are making progress from day to day, but it is possible that some programs will have to be discontinued," said Danzi.
There is still a great deal of uncertainty, as many things in the USA are still open, but the reform of humanitarian aid will be far-reaching. This affects not only the UN goals for sustainable development, but also long-term development projects, International Geneva and Swiss NGOs.
According to Danzi, an abrupt end to US aid could cost lives. "If food distributions fail, medicines cannot be delivered or medical treatment cannot be carried out in times of crisis, this inevitably leads to deaths." In some countries, up to 60 percent of humanitarian programs are dependent on US funds.
