Deaths rising in aftermath of Western aid cuts, relief agencies say

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Humanitarian agencies, alarmed by reports of mounting deaths caused by Western aid cuts, are campaigning to persuade Ottawa to reverse billions of dollars in planned aid reductions.

In the Aid Works campaign on social media, ordinary Canadians talk about helping their communities and the world. “Cutting foreign aid that is saving lives is cruel,” the ads say. “Are we just going to let this happen?”

But so far the campaign has had little impact on the federal government, which in November announced a $2.7-billion cut to foreign aid over the next four years. The spring economic update, released last week, offered no hint of restoring any of this.

The slashing of funding from the world’s biggest aid donors is severely hurting humanitarian agencies at a time when their fuel and food costs are already escalating sharply because of shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. This double whammy, they say, is leading directly to higher rates of malnutrition, disease and death.

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A new report by the OECD found that Western governments chopped their aid budgets by 23 per cent last year, the largest decline ever recorded, with Africa suffering the biggest losses.

For the first time, it said, the world’s five biggest donor countries – the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan − have all simultaneously scaled back their aid spending. They were led by the Trump administration’s 57-per-cent cut, but several other governments reduced their spending by as much as 17 per cent. Canada’s cuts amounted to 2.3 per cent last year, according to the OECD, but are scheduled to be deeper in the future.

Those Western cuts are now rolling through the world’s poorest countries, inflicting havoc on life-saving aid programs. The cuts are “unprecedented” and are destroying a “critical buffer” in fragile states, according to Abebe Aemro Selassie, Africa director at the International Monetary Fund, in a commentary last month.

In Somalia, hundreds of nutrition centres and health clinics have shut down for lack of money, while the number of Somalis facing crisis-level hunger has almost doubled in the past year, climbing to a projected 6.5 million people.

Only 15 per cent of Somalia’s humanitarian response plan is funded this year, the lowest level ever recorded. The collapse of aid funding “may soon lead to catastrophic outcomes for children not seen since the 2011 famine, which killed over 257,000 people,” relief agency Save the Children warned last week.

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In Zimbabwe, malaria deaths have increased dramatically this year, after the shutdown of its largest malaria prevention program because of aid cuts. Zimbabwe has recorded 65,000 malaria cases and 174 deaths this year, compared with 17,000 cases and 34 deaths at the same time last year. The program’s shutdown has led to a shortage of mosquito nets and a weakening of disease surveillance, Save the Children says.

In Bangladesh, one of the most serious measles outbreaks in decades has killed more than 200 people in recent weeks. The outbreak is linked to aid cuts that forced a reduction in life-saving health programs, according to the International Rescue Committee, a U.S.-based humanitarian agency that has been obliged to cut back its own services in the country.

In Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the aid reductions have hindered the response to two of the world’s most devastating conflicts. “The needs remain overwhelming, while funding is declining and access to basic services is running out,” said Amadou Bocoum, country director in Congo for humanitarian agency CARE, in a statement last week.

“It means families going without food, children without medicine, women who have survived sexual violence without treatment or protection.”

Bob Rae, the former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, is among those who have criticized Canada for joining the aid cuts. “These cuts are taking place at exactly the same time as the situations are becoming more dire,” Mr. Rae told a recent panel discussion on the Sudan crisis.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, in a recent report, said the Canadian aid cuts are “setting the clock back six decades.” Aid levels, as a share of the Canadian economy, will fall to 0.17 per cent by 2029 – the lowest level since 1964, it said.

Global Affairs Canada says the government is still responding to global crises and trying to alleviate poverty. “We remain firmly committed to supporting those most in need, especially as global challenges intensify,” department spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod told The Globe and Mail.

Canadian campaigners, however, say the government is showing no real interest in foreign aid. “An important pillar of our foreign policy is just missing,” said Louis Belanger, director of Bigger Than Our Borders, the group organizing the Aid Works campaign with support from humanitarian agencies.

“Canada talks a big game about being a convener and a serious global actor − but there is no plan and no real ambition behind that claim,” Mr. Belanger told The Globe. “We’re all a bit baffled by it.”