United States President Donald Trump has rewarded what he calls “my beautiful Christians,” establishing an antibias task force and appointing a conservative evangelical firebrand as his White House faith adviser. At the United Nations, the new administration has targeted initiatives that promote gender and sexual and reproductive health rights, key priorities for conservative Christian activists.
But those political perks have provided little comfort to Christian missionaries, Jewish relief agencies, and other faith-based aid organizations grappling with an unprecedented freeze on federal aid that has crippled their relief projects. Some of the largest Christian aid organizations, including World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, and Samaritan’s Purse, have been subject to the same cuts as other secular aid agencies, and are competing for waivers.
“It’s a disaster. Most of the faith-based organizations’ budgets depend on their partnerships with USAID,” Samah Norquist, who served as the first Trump administration’s religious freedom envoy at USAID, told Devex in a phone interview. “It stopped everything. … Every faith-based organization USAID partners with is unable to deliver … assistance, including food and commodities.”
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.
