Suspension of U.S. funds leaves dozens of projects in limbo.
KYIV — United States President Donald Trump’s sudden halt to all foreign aid programs is having an immediate effect on Ukrainian civil society and independent media.
Although the new administration’s surprise restrictions have not cut off the flow of U.S. weapons to Ukraine, they are wreaking havoc on NGOs.
Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy head of the president’s office of Ukraine, called the halt « unexpected and unpleasant. »
» I am confident that we will stabilize everything in the humanitarian direction, » she said in a Tuesday social media post. « In the near future, we will begin substantive consultations with our American partners with the aim of quickly continuing funding for humanitarian response projects in Ukraine. »
But the immediate reaction in Ukraine is consternation.
“So many good projects will probably have to close their operations, » said Oksana Romaniuk, director of the Institute for Mass Information, a media monitoring watchdog, adding: « This will not break us, but will definitely slow us down.”
Dozens of media outlets, as well as organizations involved in everything from fighting for judicial reform to battling corruption and helping Ukraine’s war veterans, have had to either reduce or completely halt operations. There is uncertainty if their programs will be renewed after the 90-day audit ends.
Hundreds of local workers could lose their jobs.
Veteran Hub, an NGO helping war veterans and their families was one of the first victims of the aid freeze. It closed its support line for veterans and shut an office in western Ukraine.
“We have more than 1,300 calls and some 700 in-person visits a month, » said Ivona Kostyna, a Veteran Hub co-founder. « We have many people returning from military service, or their relatives still waiting for their loved ones from the war. Those people need legal advice, information, sometimes just moral support from another human being to understand they have someone to help them.”
“This aid halt for us means no rent payment, no salaries, no utilities. We could lose our employees. During war, people cannot afford to be without a job. So, 31 people in our organization might lose their jobs because of the U.S. aid halt. It was so sudden; it did not give us time to prepare,” Kostyna added.
Trump’s action affects funds disbursed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the main agency for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
Although U.S. funding is frozen, Kyiv is still getting money because Ukraine has agreements with the European Union, the United Kingdom and the World Bank, Social Policy Minister Oksana Zholnovych said in Kyiv on Monday. « The situation is not critical yet.”
“This suspension does not apply to large projects that are included in the budget, it concerns support for the public sector, » Zholnovych said.
The U.S. is the world’s No. 1 provider of humanitarian aid, although it is not near the top in terms of percentage of gross domestic product. The flows are less than 1 percent of the U.S. federal budget.
Washington’s sudden decision stunned Ukrainian NGOs.
Some halted operations as of Jan. 24, while others issued notices about the immediate stop of projects and appealed for emergency funding from businesses and the Ukrainian public.
“Unfortunately, there is no consolidated register that helps determine the volumes of this funding; it is necessary to calculate the expenses for Ukraine of each donor, » said Uliana Movchan, founder of the Сonnection Agency, a body that helps people process grants.
« Military aid is provided separately and the Ukrainian authorities assured that everything is fine in this area now, » she said. « Aside from that, even those programs where Ukrainian organizations are sub-grantees were frozen. »
She said there is massive confusion over the freeze. Some USAID workers have received termination notices, and local USAID offices have been told not to make public comments.
Ukrainian NGOs are racing to find alternative sources of funding.
“It is true that the U.S. money mostly funded Ukraine’s civil society and independent media. But we hope our European partners now show some leadership, » said Romaniuk with the media monitoring watchdog.