US aid cuts and policy shifts are hurting people caught in conflict and crises.
Leila Rafei June 26 2025, 6:00pm
Alert is a biannual magazine published by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF USA) that features ground reporting from our work around the world. Below are excerpts from the Summer 2025 issue (Vol. 26, no. 1), Displaced: Lives on the Move.
By Avril Benoît, CEO, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA
I’ve helped respond to a lot of disasters during my time with MSF. But the earthquake currently shaking apart the international humanitarian aid system is unlike any other emergency I’ve experienced. Five months since the Trump administration first suspended all international assistance pending review, the US has terminated much of its funding for global health and humanitarian programs, dismantled the federal government architecture for oversight of these activities, and fired many of the key staff who implement them.
One of the first policy changes was the administration’s decision to shut down CBP One, the mobile application asylum seekers used to schedule an appointment with US border authorities. In 2023, the Biden administration began requiring people to use CBP One as part of a series of policies aimed at curbing migration. These policies left many people stranded for weeks or months in dangerous border cities in Mexico as they waited for appointments to begin the asylum process, often without access to essential services and at risk of being harmed by criminal groups. In January, this sole, flawed pathway for asylum requests was closed when the Trump administration removed the scheduling functionality from CBP One. This change has left vulnerable people waiting at the southern US border with even fewer options to seek asylum.
US assistance has been a lifeline for millions of people, and yanking this support will lead to more preventable deaths and untold suffering around the world. We can't accept this dangerous new normal.
The closure of CBP One is just one example of the policy changes already impacting people’s lives. Cuts to US aid funding have left patients around the world scrambling to understand how they can continue treatment. And they’ve left medical providers struggling to maintain essential services as aid groups sound the alarm about exploding needs in countries with existing emergencies.
The sudden slashing of US foreign aid, closures of avenues for vulnerable people to seek safety, and dismantling of crucial parts of the humanitarian aid system are unprecedented. MSF does not accept funding from the US government, and this financial independence helps ensure that we are able to continue to provide medical humanitarian aid. But we work in many parts of the world—in conflict zones, refugee camps, disaster areas, and other places where access to health care is limited— hand-in-hand with people who are profoundly affected by these destructive cuts.
People are already feeling the consequences
The US has long been the leading supporter of global health and humanitarian programs, responsible for around 40 percent of all related funding. These US investments have helped improve the health and -being of communities around the globe—and totaled less than 1 percent of the annual US federal budget.
Abruptly ending this huge proportion of global support is already having devastating consequences for people who rely on aid, including those at risk of malnutrition and infectious diseases and those who are trapped in humanitarian crises around the world. These major cuts to US funding and staffing are part of a broader policy agenda that has far-reaching impacts for people whose access to care is already limited by persecution and discrimination, such as refugees and migrants, civilians caught in conflict, LGBTQI+ people, and anyone who can become pregnant.
MSF remains committed to providing medical care and humanitarian support in more than 70 countries across the world. However, no organization can do this work alone. We work closely with other health and humanitarian organizations to deliver vital services, and many of our activities involve programs that have been disrupted due to funding cuts. It will be much more difficult and costly to provide care when so many ministries of health have been affected globally and there are fewer community partners overall. There will also be fewer places to refer patients for specialized services, as well as shortages of lifesaving medications and other vital medical supplies.
Amid ongoing chaos and confusion, our teams are already witnessing some of the life-threatening consequences of these deep cuts. For example, the US canceled nearly all humanitarian assistance programs in Yemen and Afghanistan, two countries facing some of the most severe humanitarian needs in the world. After years of conflict and compounding crises, an estimated 19.5 million people in Yemen—over half the population—are dependent on aid. The decision to punish civilian populations caught in these two emergencies undermines the principles of humanitarian assistance.
Across the world, MSF teams are seeing US-funded organizations reducing or canceling vital activities, including vaccination campaigns, protection and care for people caught in areas of conflict, sexual and reproductive health services, the provision of clean water, and adequate sanitation services.
It’s shocking to see the US abandon its leadership role in advancing global health and humanitarian efforts. US assistance has been a lifeline for millions of people, and yanking this support will lead to more preventable deaths and untold suffering around the world. We can’t accept this dangerous new normal. We urge the administration and Congress to maintain commitments to support critical global health and humanitarian aid.