As regular readers of this blog know, I try to modestly support an NGO close to my heart, Terre des hommes, the leading Swiss organization for children’s rights. If you remember the charity watch sale a few of us organized at the end of last year, they are the ones for whom we raised the funds – by the way, the second edition will be on Sunday, December 7th, 2025.
Unfortunately, like most NGOs and international aid agencies around the world, Terre des hommes was hit hard when the new US administration suddenly cut international aid funding at the start of this year. To better understand what this means for Tdh and more generally the NGO sector and the world, I spoke to Stéphanie Simpson, the Communications & Resource Mobilization Director for the organization. After 15 years in the international aid sector – following a first career in banking – she shares a clear, acute and, I must admit, quite scary outlook on what the new paradigm means for the world.
In a nutshell, what is USAID? Why is it so important?
Most governments across the world have budgets to allocate to international aid. In the United States, the main department in charge of this aid allocation was the Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID was by far the largest donor globally, contributing over $40 billion last year, representing circa 43% of total international aid. The funding is vital to support the vast majority of humanity not as fortunate as we are in the Western world – it’s easy to forget we represent no more than 15% of the global population .
So what happened?
On January 24, the new US administration suddenly announced that USAID funding was suspended for three months. Then, a month later, on February 27, we received – overnight – some termination orders. No more funding for a dozen country programmes.
What does this mean for the NGO sector?
Large foundations, like Bloomberg, are stepping in to rescue UN institutions, such as the WHO, also impacted by the sudden loss of USAID funding. But the NGO sector remains at huge risk. About 80% of our funding comes from institutional donors, meaning governments or large foundations. Private sector and individual contributions correspond to about 20%. This all happened so fast, without any grace period or other form of transition. It even impacts already-spent funding USAID had committed last year but not yet provided.
What is the impact on Terre des hommes?
From one day to the next, we’ve had to put on hold or stop programs across 10 countries, including Bangladesh, Kenya, Egypt and India. We’ve had to let go of hundreds of people on the ground, and stop supporting local NGOs we were empowering locally. We’re also going to have to cut jobs at our HQ here in Lausanne. We’re still trying to evaluate the total loss because we are also an implementing partner of UNICEF and UNHCR whose funding has also been cut. So while the USAID corresponded to 10% of our global budget, the actual impact is much greater.
Can you share an example of a program impacted?
We were just about to launch in India a large digital health program for children under the age of 5, following its success in Burkina Faso. Every year, in the world, about as many children die under the age of 5 as adults above the age of 80. Half of them in their first 1 month. We could have saved thousands of children’s lives with this program alone. Now, it has been canceled.
How will the NGO sector evolve as a result?
It’s too early to tell. Surely, some consolidation will be needed if we want to survive. And while we would surely benefit from more efficiencies and synergies down the line, cutting us off so brutally will have disastrous consequences. Imagine if Credit Swiss and UBS, who are just finalizing their merger agreed two years ago, had to do it all overnight.
What does this mean for the world?
As often, the first victims will be the most vulnerable. Sadly, according to experts, young girls will be the amongst the most impacted. They are often treated as commodities, on many levels. Children around the world who had gained access to clean water will now go back to – literally – drinking mud. More generally, although the West is now focused on its own news, the impact will be strongly felt here too after further massive displacements occur as a result of increased famine, diseases and wars. Especially in the already dire context of climate change, if three quarters of the planet is suffering, our bubble will burst.
If you’d like to donate to Terre des hommes or find out more, please follow visit their website.
Photo credit: Terre des hommes
