US Aid Suspension
ISLAMABAD: The suspension of US foreign aid programs has begun to take a toll on Pakistan, with over 60 health facilities set to close. This abrupt halt will leave approximately 1.7 million people, including 1.2 million Afghan refugees, without access to critical reproductive health services.
These facilities, previously operated under the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), provided essential healthcare services to vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls.
UNFPA’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Pio Smith, voiced deep concern over the situation, emphasizing that millions of women and girls now face life-threatening risks due to the suspension of these crucial programs.
The decision to pause nearly all US foreign aid programs for a 90-day review has resulted in an immediate impact on healthcare services across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Smith noted that the programs funded by US grants were a vital lifeline for women and girls in crisis, and their suspension could have devastating consequences.
“This is not about statistics. This is about real lives. These are literally the world’s most vulnerable people,” Smith stated in a press release issued on Wednesday.
The regional director further estimated that UNFPA would require over $308 million in 2025 to sustain its essential services in these three countries. Without urgent intervention, the closure of health facilities will disproportionately affect marginalized communities, particularly Afghan refugees who already struggle with limited access to healthcare.
Meanwhile, the US government has announced a sweeping reduction in USAID operations. As of February 7, all direct-hire personnel at USAID will be placed on administrative leave, except for designated staff responsible for critical operations, leadership roles, and specially designated programs. Essential personnel are expected to be notified of their continued duties by February 6.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, currently on a visit to Guatemala, reassured that the country remains committed to funding international aid programs but emphasized that a “bottom-up” review process would determine which initiatives would be exempted from the freeze.
Rubio stated that the Trump administration had issued the order reluctantly, stressing that USAID had been unresponsive to previous government requests for funding reviews.
“We are now going to have to work from the bottom up, instead of the top-down, to identify which programs should be specially designated and therefore exempted,” Rubio told reporters, according to AFP.
The pause in US aid funding and the subsequent suspension of healthcare services highlight the fragile state of humanitarian assistance in the region. If alternative funding sources are not identified soon, millions in Pakistan and neighboring countries will face dire health consequences, exacerbating an already vulnerable situation for refugees and low-income communities.
