“We go back 30 years”, according to Claire Becker

Is the sudden judgment of USAID funding, is it really so serious?

Yes. It’s brutal. A clear break without notice or plan B.

How is it going on the field?

I was in Côte d’Ivoire in February 2025, when the financing is announced. I accompanied an NGO which distributed treatments against HIV. Everything stopped. Employees continued volunteering until stocks exhausted. Today, clinics close.

What else?

In Mozambique, after the Chido cyclone (in December 2024, note)),, International Solidarity supported 200,000 people for water access. Since February 26, 2025, there is no more distribution.

Are lives threatened?

Yes, tens of thousands of people are in danger in the very short term. In Sudan, a child not followed for acute or severe malnutrition dies. Without antiretroviral treatment, a baby born with HIV has 50 % risk of dying before the age of 2 years. Same thing for measles …

Who are the first victims?

The millions of beneficiaries. Then, employees of local NGOs, these humanitarian workers who have no unemployment in their country and find themselves without income. Then employees of international NGOs, affected by layoffs.

Did USAID support states?

Yes. In Uganda, the agency was funding the Ministry of Health. Anti-mosquito repellents, mosquito nets against malaria … It’s over. Overnight.

Can other donors compensate?

That’s the worst. France, Germany, the United Kingdom also reduce their funding. Because of budgetary difficulties, other things are deprived.

Are you talking about going back?

Yes. We go back thirty years. On HIV, malaria, tuberculosis. I’ve been working in humanitarian work for twenty-five years. It’s unheard of.

Some say that it will force Africa to become independent …

Not like that. To get out, it takes a time, a transition.

And after the USAID? The void?

Changes take place. The Chinese, for example, are very present in Africa. But they don’t finance NGOs. They negotiate with states, in a logic of exchange: access to resources against infrastructure construction.

Would you say that we are going through a crisis in the humanitarian sector?

It is no longer a crisis but a collapse. People die. It’s a moment of rocking.