{"id":22567,"date":"2026-01-19T07:30:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T05:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/us-aid-cuts-under-trump-have-fuelled-rising-child-deaths-global-humanitarian-collapse\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:33:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:33:31","slug":"us-aid-cuts-under-trump-have-fuelled-rising-child-deaths-global-humanitarian-collapse","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/us-aid-cuts-under-trump-have-fuelled-rising-child-deaths-global-humanitarian-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"US aid cuts under Trump have fuelled rising child deaths, global humanitarian collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Oxfam\u2019s <\/span>latest analysis<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, these cuts could result in the death of a child under the age of five every 40 seconds by 2030. Conservative projections suggest that <\/span>200 000<\/span> children under five will die in 2025 alone, marking the first rise in global child mortality this century.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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<\/span>, and it<\/span> remains uncertain whether further funding will follow.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d said Abby Maxman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oxfam America. \u201cWe are seeing years of progress unravel, and more children suffer and die preventable deaths because of these cuts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shabnam Baloch, Oxfam\u2019s Country Director in South Sudan, <\/span>said<\/span> the country is receiving its lowest level of humanitarian aid since independence, despite widespread displacement, <\/span>rising<\/span> waterborne diseases and imminent hunger.<\/span> \u201cLifesaving organisations are working with a fraction of the resources we had in previous years,\u201d she warned.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the Philippines, where communities faced some of the world\u2019s strongest storms last year, the Centre for Disaster Preparedness Foundation had to cancel programmes across eight communities, affecting more than <\/span>2 000<\/span> families, due to lost funding.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\u2011affected communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

–Oxfam\/ChannelAfrica–<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13995,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44,26],"class_list":["post-22567","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Oxfam has warned that a series of \u201ccruel and illegal\u201d cuts to United States (US) humanitarian and development aid under President Donald Trump has already cost lives and severely undermined the global aid system. ","published_date":null,"news_description":"Oxfam has warned that a series of \u201ccruel and illegal\u201d cuts to United States (US) humanitarian and development aid under President Donald Trump has already cost lives and severely undermined the global aid system. ","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25820,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22567\/revisions\/25820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=22567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}