Perhaps no one prepared better for the Trump administration’s assault on foreign aid than the United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA. Every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has stopped funding the agency, while Democratic presidents have restored it, forcing the agency to hunt for other sources of money.
The scope of the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze on foreign aid has caught them off guard. The last time Trump was in the White House, he moved swiftly to end funding for the agency, which has long been the target of social conservatives, who have falsely accused it of supporting coercive abortion policies in China. He is expected to do the same now.
But the freeze has done more to disrupt its operations because Trump permitted UNFPA to spend money that was already appropriated and in the pipeline, granting it some fiscal runway before the money ran out.
About the author
Colum Lynch
Colum Lynch is an award-winning reporter and Senior Global Reporter for Devex. He covers the intersection of development, diplomacy, and humanitarian relief at the United Nations and beyond. Prior to Devex, Colum reported on foreign policy and national security for Foreign Policy Magazine and the Washington Post. Colum was awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award for digital reporting for his blog Turtle Bay. He has also won an award for groundbreaking reporting on the U.N.’s failure to protect civilians in Darfur.
