U.S. humanitarian aid efforts stalled despite Rubio's assurance: sources

United States-funded aid efforts have largely come to a halt worldwide, despite claims by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the U.S. would continue to provide humanitarian aid, multiple sources said on Saturday.

Rubio said earlier this week that he had issued a waiver allowing life-saving U.S. humanitarian aid to proceed during a 90-day review of U.S. foreign aid efforts.

However, several staff and contractors of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have said that this does not reflect the situation on the ground, with almost all USAID humanitarian aid projects currently at a standstill, China Media Group (CMG) reported, citing the sources.

Just hours after taking office on January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the 90-day pause to review U.S. foreign aid contributions to see if they align with his "America First" foreign policy.

Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Friday, accused USAID of corruption and fraudulent spending and called for it to be closed down.

USAID is the U.S. federal government's agency responsible for most non-military foreign aid, operating under the guidance of the U.S. State Department. It has recently become a key target for restructuring by the Trump administration, with Rubio appointed as the agency's acting head to oversee the reforms.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration ordered that most of USAID's global employees be placed on "administrative leave" starting on February 7, with only a few designated personnel exempted. Meanwhile, USAID staff stationed abroad were instructed to return to the U.S. within 30 days.

Reports from U.S. media suggest that the administration aims to reduce USAID's global workforce from over 10,000 employees to fewer than 300, representing a 97 percent reduction.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington D.C. said he would pause plans to place 2,200 USAID employees on leave as part of a temporary, "limited" order blocking the Trump administration from taking certain steps to dismantle the agency. These temporary orders are effective until February 14.

According to data from relevant U.S. congressional agencies, USAID has a global workforce of over 10,000 employees, with two thirds working overseas. U.S. media have reported that for a long time, USAID has funded activities that interfere in the internal affairs of other countries under the guise of foreign aid.

Halt in U.S. aid cripples global efforts to relieve hunger

The Trump administration's effort to slash and reshape American foreign aid is crippling the intricate global system that aims to prevent and respond to famine.

Struggling to manage hunger crises sweeping the developing world even before Trump returned to the White House, the international famine monitoring and relief system has suffered multiple blows from a sudden cessation of U.S. foreign aid.

About 500,000 metric tons of food worth $340 million is in limbo, in transit or storage, as humanitarian organizations wait for U.S. State Department approval to distribute it, said Marcia Wong, a former senior USAID official who has been briefed on the situation.

U.S.-provided cash assistance intended to help people buy food and other necessities in Sudan and Gaza also has been halted, aid workers told Reuters. So has funding for volunteer-run community kitchens, an American-supported effort in Sudan to help feed people in areas inaccessible to traditional aid, these people said.

Humanitarian organizations have hit roadblocks in getting paid for emergency food operations. Questions about what programs have permission to continue have gone unanswered, because the people who normally field such inquiries – officials at USAID – have been placed on leave, at least six sources said.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, the U.S. entity that produced regular food security alerts meant to prevent famine, also has been shut down. Its loss leaves aid organizations without a key source of guidance on where and how to deploy humanitarian relief.

UN agencies on Tuesday offered a dire assessment of the global impact of deep cuts to grassroots humanitarian funding by the U.S. administration and reiterated calls for Washington to retain its position as a global aid leader, according to UN News.

In a letter to all UN personnel released on Tuesday morning in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had responded to the executive order from Trump with a call to "ensure the delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities."

(With input from Reuters)