According to Oxfam’s latest analysis, these cuts could result in the death of a child under the age of five every 40 seconds by 2030. Conservative projections suggest that 200 000 children under five will die in 2025 alone, marking the first rise in global child mortality this century.
The Trump administration froze billions of dollars in lifesaving support, shut down USAID operations, and introduced chaotic bureaucratic processes that halted or crippled essential programmes providing food, water, healthcare and emergency assistance. Much of this funding had already been approved by Congress.
While the administration recently pledged $2 billion to the United Nations (UN) for humanitarian aid, Oxfam says this represents only a fraction of the money previously cut, and it remains uncertain whether further funding will follow.
“We have run out of words to describe the depths of suffering we have witnessed after President Trump took a sledgehammer to US humanitarian assistance and the entire global aid system,” said Abby Maxman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oxfam America. “We are seeing years of progress unravel, and more children suffer and die preventable deaths because of these cuts.”
Maxman recounted harrowing testimonies from communities stripped of support, including a young woman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo forced into sex work to survive, and a mother whose daughters fell pregnant after suffering sexual violence while working in unsafe conditions.
Aid organisations worldwide report severe strain, with the global humanitarian system already overstretched before the cuts. Many groups were forced to shut down operations overnight. Although Oxfam America does not receive US government funding, its global programmes have been affected as partners such as UN agencies have scaled back or halted work.
Shabnam Baloch, Oxfam’s Country Director in South Sudan, said the country is receiving its lowest level of humanitarian aid since independence, despite widespread displacement, rising waterborne diseases and imminent hunger. “Lifesaving organisations are working with a fraction of the resources we had in previous years,” she warned.
In the Philippines, where communities faced some of the world’s strongest storms last year, the Centre for Disaster Preparedness Foundation had to cancel programmes across eight communities, affecting more than 2 000 families, due to lost funding.
Oxfam has urged Congress and the Trump administration to acknowledge the deadly consequences of these cuts and restore aid without political conditions. The organisation says funding must reach frontline humanitarian groups working in conflict‑affected communities.
Oxfam continues to pursue legal avenues to challenge the cuts, support local partners filling the gaps, and advocate for a full restoration of US humanitarian assistance.
–Oxfam/ChannelAfrica–
