Many non-governmental organisations and marginalised communities who benefit from different socio-economic services provided by these organisations in Bangladesh are already feeling the impact of the USAID fund freeze ordered by United States president Donald Trump in January.
Fear of losing jobs has gripped hundreds of employees in the country鈥檚 development sector after Donald Trump, immediately after his taking office, suspended the fund flow from the USAID, the US government鈥檚 main arm for overseas development assistance.
Development experts are also concerned that the fund suspension is going to hit millions of marginalised people who receive services from the development听 projects implemented with the USAID money.
Some of the NGOs have already served letters to their staff, releasing them from their jobs, while many are preparing to do so as they are directly affected by the Trump order.
On January 20, Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending development funding to all countries for 90 days to allow a review of the programmes funded by the USAID, the world鈥檚 single largest humanitarian donor.
On January 25, the USAID Bangladesh in a letter to its project implementing partners stated that along with other countries, the agency was declaring an immediate cessation or suspension of any work in Bangladesh under contracts, work orders, grants, cooperative agreements or other assistance or procurement instruments.
Bangladesh is among the agency鈥檚 largest fund receivers in Asia, implementing the world鈥檚 major food security and health programmes along with democracy and governance, basic education and environmental projects.
NGO Affairs Bureau director general (in-charge) Md Anwar Hossain said that currently 244 NGOs, both national and international, were implementing 452 projects with USAID funding, while few other programmes were also receiving funds from other US donors.
Sector insiders say that the fund suspension has put the jobs of around 50,000 employees working in over 200 NGOs at risk, while discontinuation or weakening of socio-economic services will affect several million marginalised people.听听
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, better known as ICDDR,B, is among those that have served job release notices to more than 1,000 of its employees following the USAID fund freeze.
Manusher Jonno Foundation coordinator Wasiur Rahman Tonmoy said that the Trump decision violated the rights of the people who worked to uphold human rights.
The fund freeze left more than 100 of their staff unemployed overnight, he added.
Legally, employers are bound to serve at least a month鈥檚 notice to their employees they intend to release, but the abrupt fund suspension had left them with no option but releasing employees, Wasiur said.听
Without any exit plan from the development behemoth, the benefits of the projects it funded would be severely stymied, he said, adding that the MJF currently ran four USAID-funded projects, working with various marginalised groups, including women, transgender, people with disabilities and youths.
Hasin Jahan, chairperson of the INGO Forum Bangladesh, a platform of international NGOs working in the country, and also country director of WaterAid in Bangladesh, said that the USAID was supporting health, nutrition, education, sanitation and disaster-related development projects for decades.
鈥楾he sudden decision of fund freeze will impact millions of people affecting their health, water supply, employment and entrepreneurship,鈥� she said, urging the Bangladesh government to discuss the situation to find feasible solutions.
NGO Affairs Bureau director general Anwar Hossain, however, said that the fund suspension would not hamper development projects for now because the NGOs had already secured their funds to run operations for this year.
鈥楾hey might face problems in the future if the projects are discontinued,鈥� he said.
USAID officials in Dhaka did not answer 抖阴精品 phone calls and requests sent through text messages and emails, while its website has remained offline since February 2.
A USAID official, in condition of anonymity, said that they were instructed from their US headquarters to refrain from responding to the media.
ICDDR,B insiders said that its USAID-funded 鈥楢lliance for combating TB in Bangladesh鈥� project was currently serving over 15,000 tuberculosis patients receiving all treatment services free of cost.
The organisation was working jointly with the government鈥檚 National Tuberculosis Control Programme to diagnose and treat the infection.
鈥楴ow there will be a dearth of skilled technicians for diagnosis. It may result in the number of TB patients to grow again in Bangladesh,鈥� said a TB project field facilitator who was served release letter, requesting anonymity.
Director general of the Directorate General of Health Services Abu Jafor said that the government had a three years鈥� deed with the USAID so they were not in a position to take any decisions on its own.
鈥楾his is not a time to comment on it. Let us see what happens,鈥� he said.
On September 27, 2021, a new 鈥楧evelopment objective grant agreement鈥� for the period of 2021鈥�2026 was signed between Bangladesh and the USAID with a funding commitment of $954 million.
So far, $425 million has been disbursed under the agreement. For its next phase, another agreement was signed between the two parties in September 2024 securing a pledge for $202.25 million from the USAID. The release of this amount, as it is understood, will be suspended as a result of the suspension order.
Currently, Care Bangladesh, ACDI/VOCA, Asia Foundation, World Fish, Democracy International, Winrock International, Chemonics International, BRAC, Save the Children, RTI International, Arannayk Foundation, Transparency International Bangladesh, Digitally Right, Internews, among others, are implementing USAID-funded projects, all of which have been affected, said development experts and officials of these organisations.
Top officials of the INGOs and NGOs admitted that they had no alternative funding sources to continue the USAID-funded projects after the suspension order.
Asif Saleh, executive director, BRAC, one of the world鈥檚 largest NGOs, in a text message said, 鈥楾his is a new development, and we cannot comment at the moment until we understand the full scenario. We will come back to you as the situation becomes clearer.鈥�
Arannayk Foundation halted two projects with total $3 million funding that are focused on biodiversity and forest conservation. One of its officials said that several of their coming projects with potential USAID funding also became highly uncertain in the situation.
Bijoyee, one of the USAID鈥檚 flagship projects in Bangladesh with $35 million and a timeline of 2023鈥�2028, has become uncertain now. The project is being implemented by CARE Bangladesh with multiple partners鈥擝angladesh Youth Leadership Centre, JAAGO Foundation Trust, Underprivileged Children鈥檚 Educational Programme, Dhrubotara Youth Development Foundation, The Earth, Access Bangladesh Foundation, Bandhu Social Welfare Society, Safety and Rights Society, and Tahzingdong.
The target of the project is to reach 2,50,000 youths aged 18鈥�35, providing them with employment skills and entrepreneurship capacities.
Also faced with uncertainty is the Women Thrive in Bangladesh Activity, another of the agency鈥檚 major projects with $5 million funding, with a span of 2021鈥�2026, that aimed at training 1,00,000 women readymade garment workers and their communities.
