U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “severe cuts” in U.S. foreign aid are undermining international support for millions of vulnerable people, from Afghanistan to Sudan and Ukraine, impoverishing the world’s neediest and threatening to erode U.S. influence around the world.
In an extraordinary public rebuke, the U.N. leader said that the deadly impact of the cuts in foreign assistance is spreading mayhem around the globe, ending lifesaving aid for victims of war and natural disasters, hindering social development, and setting back efforts to fight terrorism and illicit drug trafficking. He appealed to the Trump administration to reverse course.
“I want to start by expressing my deep concern about information received in the last 48 hours by UN agencies — as well as many humanitarian and development NGOs — regarding severe cuts in funding by the United States,” he told reporters outside the U.N. Security Council on Friday morning. “Now going through with these cuts will make the world less healthy, less safe, and less prosperous. The reduction of America’s humanitarian role and influence will run counter to American interests globally.”