"Soon after President Donald Trump froze foreign aid on his first day in office, my colleague Brett Murphy and I began hearing from government experts. We learned that despite explicit promises from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that food and other life-saving care would continue during the administration's review of foreign aid, programs were shutting down, putting millions of lives at risk."
"I've covered health in the U.S. and abroad for 15 years, and Brett has covered both the State Department and public health in the U.S. Brett and I teamed up, interviewing dozens of government officials and aid workers, and pouring over reams of internal government documents. Then, we traveled to Kakuma ( and South Sudan) to see for ourselves how these policies were affecting people."
"In an investigation we published last week, we wrote about how food rations were slashed throughout the camp of more than 308,000 people. We learned first-hand how the Trump administration's decision to withhold funding for the World Food Program's operations in Kenya led children to starve and forced thousands of families to make impossible decisions. One of the groups hit hardest by the cuts was pregnant women."
The U.S. froze foreign aid early in the administration, and promised continuity by Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not prevent program closures. Funding for the World Food Program's operations in Kenya was withheld, triggering cuts to food rations across Kakuma refugee camp of more than 308,000 people. Children experienced starvation and thousands of families faced impossible choices. Pregnant women were among the groups most severely affected. The camp's only hospital is run by the International Rescue Committee. Government experts and aid workers documented program shutdowns and the humanitarian consequences in Kenya and South Sudan.
Read at Truthout
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