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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Mark Townsend, Karen McVeigh, Charles Pensulo in Lilongwe, Caroline Kimeu in Nairobi and Luke Taylor in Bogota

Deaths predicted amid the chaos of Elon Musk’s shutdown of USAid

Close up shot of WFP/USAid bag of sorghum, as porters in the background supervise the loading of bags onto trucks. The side of a ship can be seen behind them.
Part of a USAid delivery of sorghum to Sudan, part of the agency’s assistance to 1 million people facing starvation after violence, floods and displacement in 2020. Photograph: Leni Kinzli/WFP

Critical supplies of life-saving medicines have been blocked and children left without food and battling malnutrition as multiple effects were reported across the globe after Elon Musk resolved to shut down the US government’s pre-eminent international aid agency.

Chaotic scenes were seen in scores of countries as aid organisations warned of the risk of escalating disease and famine along with disastrous repercussions in areas such as family planning and girls’ education, after President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze funding to USAid. In 2023, the agency managed more than $40bn (£32bn).

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