One year after the freeze on U.S. international aid: unprecedented human consequences
Published on 02/01/2026.
One year after the suspension of U.S. official development assistance (ODA), the consequences are now documented across health systems, humanitarian responses, and multilateral financing. As the world’s leading donor country until 2024, the U.S. withdrawal is profoundly reshaping the architecture of international solidarity and weakening the trajectory toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
A withdrawal decided in January 2025, expanded month after month
On 20 January 2025, a presidential decree suspended U.S. official development assistance for an initial period of ninety days, while also formalizing the country’s withdrawal from several major multilateral frameworks, including the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement. This decision marked the starting point of a series of subsequent measures that have deeply redefined U.S. international engagement.
Timeline of a gradual disengagement
Between January 2025 and January 2026, several structural decisions were adopted:
In the short term, Congress is examining a partial limitation of budget cuts for 2026, with a cap of 16%, compared to the initially proposed 50%. This option would preserve certain programs at around USD 50 billion, particularly in health, education, and humanitarian aid. The outcome of these arbitrations remains uncertain.
A major shock to development financing
With USD 65 billion in ODA in 2024, the United States ranked first among public donors. Its withdrawal has immediate effects on international organizations and low- and middle-income countries.
According to a projection published in The Lancet, conducted by ten research institutes, the dismantling of USAID could result in 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five, due to the interruption of essential health programs.
Another study, also reported by The Lancet, estimates that U.S. cuts, combined with those announced by several European countries, could lead to more than 22 million additional deaths by 2030. The OECD, for its part, anticipates an 18% decline in global ODA in 2025, confirming a spillover effect beyond the U.S. withdrawal alone.
Impacts on women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health
The United States previously accounted for up to 42% of global humanitarian funding. In countries formerly supported by USAID, major disruptions are emerging, particularly in health systems. In 2025, U.S. health ODA decreased by 67%, representing more than USD 9 billion. For over twenty-five years, the United States had been the leading source of international health financing, accounting for more than a quarter of global funding.
In sub-Saharan Africa, international health aid declined by 25% between 2024 and 2025. In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, approximately 2.4 million people depended on U.S.-funded humanitarian aid. The suspension of funding led to the halt of nutrition, vaccination, and access-to-medicine programs, as well as the dismissal of 5,000 local health workers involved in HIV response, according to Associated Press.
Similar situations have been observed in Haiti, South Africa, and other countries, with the closure or suspension of essential health services, including HIV prevention and treatment programs or care for survivors of sexual violence, as documented by Amnesty International.
Impacts on women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health
The effects of the U.S. withdrawal are particularly significant regarding women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health.
Before 2025, USAID supplied around 35% of contraceptives integrated into global family planning supply chains and supported 23 countries. The removal of this funding, combined with the withdrawal from UN Women and UNFPA, the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule, and efforts to weaken language related to sexual and reproductive rights in United Nations resolutions, has led to disruptions in access to services.
These interrupted funds enabled an average of 130,390 women per day to access contraceptive care. In 2025, approximately 11.7 million women and girls were denied access to contraceptives, resulting in 4.2 million unintended pregnancies and around 8,340 deaths linked to pregnancy and childbirth complications over one year.
In the longer term, estimates for the 2025–2030 period indicate:
- 55 million unintended pregnancies;
- 16 million unsafe abortions;
- 4.1 million deaths related to AIDS.
Indirect effects: weakened data systems and organizations
A risk of “statistical blindness”
A recent United Nations study highlights that U.S. funding cuts are severely undermining Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which provide up to 50% of data on child mortality in least developed countries and in sub-Saharan Africa. Reduced financial support threatens the continuity of statistical monitoring, limiting the ability to guide public policies and measure progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
Weakened organizations
In France, 94% of non-governmental organizations report being affected by cuts in international aid, according to Coordination SUD, the national platform of French NGOs. These reductions affect around 15 million beneficiaries, 10,000 jobs, and more than 1,200 projects.
In France, a budget trajectory under pressure
The draft finance bill for 2026, currently under debate in Parliament, provides for a reduction of €704 million, or 16%, in the budget allocated to the “official development assistance” mission. For the fourth consecutive year since 2024, this mission is among those most affected by budget cuts, while representing approximately 0.6% of the state budget. These trade-offs take place in a broader context of declining international funding.
