Why USAID matters to global health

(This is the first in a 4-part series about the topic of foreign aid and how the apparent closure of USAID affect global health. To read the rest of the blogs, scroll down to the bottom of this page.)

Why USAID matters to global health: Introduction

On January 20, the White House issued a presidential action titled “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” in which the new administration announced that all foreign aid contracts would be paused for 90 days. Strong opinions immediately flew about this pronouncement, both in support of and against it. On January 25, an amendment was made to the original action. As of February 3, USAID (the government agency devoted to managing most American foreign aid) appears to be nearly closed – with employees being told not to report to work and the website disabled.

While it may be tempting to jump on one side or the other (and it is the truth that such a knee-jerk, sudden response jeopardizes the safety of Americans and others around the world), in this blog series we will use only facts that can be supported with real data to answer questions such as: what is “foreign aid”? and Who does it benefit? At that point, we will talk about what the potential effects are of these drastic and sudden actions from the federal government to hinder USAID and change foreign aid. 

To be clear, Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, like many other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), does not have any contracts with the federal government nor do we receive grants from entities who are contracted with the federal government. Therefore, this decision has neither an immediate nor direct impact on our operations. 

However, as a global health entity, Mission Outreach does have a vested interest in the relationships the American government has with other parts of the world, particularly those that are low-resource areas. The relationships and feelings toward America and our actions shape policies that impact customs and the acceptance of humanitarian aid – which is vital to our non-profit business. We work directly to support hospitals, clinics, and other organizations that seek to improve access to care in low-resource areas; the willingness of people, communities, and governments to work with us and organizations like us is affected by how much they trust Americans and value American intervention. Finally, Mission Outreach is rooted in Franciscan values that implore us to consider the perspectives of those who are poor in resources – and advocate for dignity and equity for each human being, regardless of where he or she happens to be born.

That means when policy such as this is produced, we who work in global health – such as Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach -- are obligated to analyze it thoughtfully and ask ourselves, “How does this policy/action affect not only Americans, but also the lives of those in our world who are poor or who do not have fair access to basic resources?” 

OTHER BLOGS IN THIS SERIES:

Part 2: What exactly is "foreign aid" and who gets it?

Part 3: What does foreign aid actually do?

Part 4: What is going on with USAID and why you should care