UN chief voices concern over US freeze on overseas assist beneath Trump, seeks extra exemptions

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday expressed concern after the US, the world’s largest overseas assist donor, froze nearly all help beneath President Donald Trump’s new administration.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio despatched an inside memo on Friday asserting the stoppage and making exceptions just for emergency meals provides, and army funding for Israel and Egypt.

Trump took workplace final week after profitable the election with a vow to place “America first” and to tightly prohibit assist abroad.

Guterres “notes with concern the announcement of a pause in US overseas help,” his spokesman mentioned in a press release.

“The Secretary-Normal calls for added exemptions to be thought of to make sure the continued supply of essential growth and humanitarian actions.”

Guterres mentioned assist was important for “probably the most weak communities around the globe, whose lives and livelihoods depend upon this assist.”

However he sought to strike a constructive be aware on US relations, including he “seems ahead to partaking with the brand new United States administration” on the difficulty.

The sweeping US order appeared to have an effect on the whole lot from growth help to army assist – together with to Ukraine, which acquired billions of {dollars} in weapons beneath Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden because it tries to repel a Russian invasion.

The directive additionally means a pause of US funding for PEPFAR, the anti-HIV/AIDS initiative that buys anti-retroviral medication to deal with the illness in creating nations, largely in Africa.

Washington has lengthy leveraged assist as a instrument of overseas coverage, saying it cares about growth and drawing a distinction with China, which is primarily involved about in search of pure assets.

The US memo made exceptions for army help to Israel – whose longstanding main arms packages from the US have expanded additional because the Gaza warfare – and to Egypt.

Rubio additionally made an exception for emergency meals help for crises around the globe together with in Sudan and Syria.