Continued U.S. funding cuts are not only sizing down the workforce but are also making it easier for criminals to get away with child sexual abuse and human trafficking.
The situation comes as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is ravaging its way through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It has since reduced the agency's workforce from 10,000 down to only 300.
Effects of Cutting USAID Funding
Several child safety groups argue that the latest developments have made it much harder for them to provide support to vulnerable children. These groups conduct child safety projects that are typically done in poorer nations, which usually have fewer resources to support victims or use to investigate crimes.
Sources revealed that funding for safe houses has been suspended, which could potentially expose victims to even more harm. Additionally, efforts to identify criminals responsible for these crimes, such as child exploitation, have been paused, according to Wired.
Chantal Yelu Mulop from the Coordination for Youth and the Fight Against Sexual Violence and Trafficking in Persons (CJVFFT) said that the situation would be very bad for them in trying to identify victims of these crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Children within the war-torn country have long been the victims of trafficking as they are forced to work inside cobalt mines that are linked to the manufacture of smartphones and EV batteries. This comes as the nation is also facing new fighting and humanitarian crises.
Furthermore, millions of lives are now in jeopardy as Pio Smith from the United Nations' sexual reproductive health agency, UNFPA, said that the recently announced pause affects "nearly all U.S. foreign aid programs, pending a 90-day review," UN News reported.
Efforts To Provide Assistance
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to all UN personnel stating that he had responded to President Donald Trump's executive order with a call to "ensure the delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities."
Trump's executive order to pause funding affects USAID, the largest single donor to humanitarian aid programs worldwide. Before the pause, USAID operated in over 60 countries and funded several grassroots organizations.
USAID is also responsible for the world's gold-standard famine detection system and the largest funder of global health programs, including polio vaccinations. As per Population Matters, after Trump's executive order, the State Department issued a memo to USAID-funded on-the-ground projects telling them to stop work immediately.
