US funding pause affect 1.7m people in Pakistan including refugees  

UNITED NATIONS: UN agencies offered a dire assessment of the global impact of deep cuts to grassroots humanitarian funding by the incoming Trump administration and reiterated calls for U.S. to retain its position as a global aid leader.

The development follows the pause announced to billions of dollars of funding on 24 January by the US administration affecting “nearly all US foreign aid programmes, pending a 90-day review”, said Pio Smith from the UN’s sexual reproductive health agency, UNFPA, briefing journalists in Geneva.

In Pakistan, the UN agency warns that the US announcement will affect 1.7 million people, including 1.2 million Afghan refugees, who will be cut off from lifesaving and reproductive health services, with the closure of over 60 health facilities.

In Bangladesh, nearly 600,000 people, including Rohingya refugees, face losing access to critical maternal and reproductive health services.

“This is not about statistics. This is about real lives. These are literally the world’s most vulnerable people,” Smith insisted.

In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee camp complex –where more than one million Rohingya refugees remain trapped in dire conditions – nearly half of all births now take place in health facilities, with UNFPA’s support.

“This progress is now at risk,” Smith continued, noting that the agency requires more than $308 million dollars this year to sustain essential services in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, in a letter to all UN personnel released in New York on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had responded to the executive order from US President Donald Trump with a call to “ensure the delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities”.

The UN chief said the organization will remain actively engaged in assessing and mitigating the impact of the order.

“Now, more than ever, the work of the United Nations is crucial…Together, we will ensure that our organization continues to serve people in need around the world with unwavering commitment.”

On his part, UNFPA’s Smith said that in response to the executive order, the agency “has suspended services funded by US grants that provide a lifeline for women and girls in crises, including in South Asia”.

The UNFPA Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific warned that between 2025 and 2028 in Afghanistan, the absence of US support will likely result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths and 109,000 additional unintended pregnancies.