NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Freezing . Withdrawing from the . Prohibiting nonprofits that receive U.S. foreign aid .
Then Monday, the new Trump administration announced a , though .
Nonprofits of all sizes are now grappling with how these changes will impact their missions 鈥� with some even stepping in to replace a very small part of the funding the U.S. government is withholding.
The U.S. government is the largest single global humanitarian funder, giving , and largest supporter of U.N. agencies, meaning any changes to foreign assistance have . The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development are the main agencies that oversee foreign assistance, which Trump paused for 90 days to review if every grant and dollar aligns with his foreign policy.
Yuriy Boyechko, who founded the New Jersey-based nonprofit, Hope for Ukraine, said he woke up to a barrage of messages on Sunday from the grassroots organizations he works with in Ukraine. They feared what would happen if USAID stops making grants there.
He pointed specifically to programs sending trucks of firewood to rural areas that don鈥檛 have electricity. The people who remain are often elderly and poor, he said, and use the wood both to heat their homes and to cook.
鈥淚 really don鈥檛 know how they鈥檙e going to get through the winter,鈥� he said.
The organizations that make the deliveries are mostly volunteer run, Boyechko said, and don鈥檛 have the capacity to buy the wood or fuel needed to transfer it without regular funding from USAID鈥檚 office in Kyiv. He suggested that anyone who is concerned about the funding for humanitarian aid in Ukraine call their representatives or the White House.
鈥淲hat made America great and what makes America great is generosity. And this is not a good move for America, and this is not a good move for humanity as a whole,鈥� he said, noting that Ukraine has really relied on the U.S. for its support.
USAID said 鈥渁ll programs and grants without a waiver approved by the Secretary of State,鈥� are paused, but did not specifically say whether humanitarian aid to Ukraine would be halted.
In fiscal year 2023, the , $68 billion had been obligated in U.S. foreign aid to programs ranging from disaster relief to health and pro-democracy initiatives in 204 countries and regions.
It is not the first time billionaire philanthropist Mike Bloomberg has stepped in after Trump announced he was withdrawing from the landmark Paris climate agreement. The former New York City mayor pledged on Jan. 23 to fund the U.S. government鈥檚 share of the budget for the main offices of U.N. Climate Change. He also covered the cost of the U.S. commitment from 2016 to 2019, in the amount of $10.25 million.
鈥淏eing able to step in to be nimble and quick, not to replace the role of government, but just to show what鈥檚 possible and to continue to move progress forward when governments are not, is really important to Bloomberg Philanthropies,鈥� said Antha Williams, who leads its environment program.
The U.N. climate body was established as part of the historic 2015 climate agreement that aims to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. It organizes the , where countries set emissions reduction targets and commit to financing climate adaptation and mitigation measures, and tracks progress toward those goals.
Williams said Bloomberg Philanthropies wanted to offer certainty to U.N. Climate Change that their budget would be met.
In addition to funding the U.N. Climate Change secretariat, Bloomberg Philanthropies will continue to support a coalition now named America is All In. It brings together local governments, companies and universities, who , which the federal government will stop doing after pulling out of the agreement.
Joanna Depledge, a historian of international climate negotiations, called that reporting 鈥渃ritical, as it provides a picture of trends in emissions and therefore progress made toward,鈥� the Paris agreement targets.
Communication from USAID and the State Department with their grantees and contractors has been sparse, according to attorneys and consultants who work with foreign aid recipients. The publication Devex, which reports on international development, convened a on Monday to field questions about how to comply with stop work orders, how to manage cash flows, the likelihood of receiving a waiver.
Susan Reichle, a retired senior USAID officer, said organizations need to make the case that their work is important not just to the agency, but to the American people and to Congress.
鈥淓very day that goes by that the U.S. is not leading and meeting its obligations, whether contractual obligations or cooperative agreements or grants, we are actually hurting our national security,鈥� she said.
Some organizations are hit by both the pause on foreign aid and the order called the Global Gag Rule that prohibits nonprofits receiving U.S. foreign assistance from providing abortion services or even talking about abortion as a potential option.
MSI Reproductive Choices, an international nonprofit that provides reproductive health services, did not sign onto the rule under the last Trump administration, meaning that it hasn't won that much U.S. funding in recent years. Still, a mobile health clinic they run in Zimbabwe is funded through the U.S. embassy there, and Beth Schlachter, senior director of U.S. external relations, said that work would stop unless another funder comes forward.
However, she said no amount of philanthropic funding can make up for the loss or pause of U.S. funds, meaning large donors are facing very difficult choices.
鈥淕iven the breadth of what鈥檚 just happened in the last week, it鈥檚 not as if other donors are only looking at gaps in reproductive health services now. They鈥檙e looking across the range of their development concerns,鈥� she said.
___
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP鈥檚 collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP鈥檚 philanthropy coverage, visit .
Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press
