USAID cuts $522M in Zimbabwe: From health to rights activists

The US government has cut 83% of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) global programmes.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says after a six-week review of USAID operations, some 5,200 projects have been discontinued.

The list of cancelled projects highlights the significant impact on Zimbabwe. According to a list of dropped contracts, USAID had allocated a budget of $522 million for key projects.

Of this amount, $388 million worth of projects were being implemented—all of which are now terminated.

This list only details projects that USAID was directly funding. USAID also provided money to other aid agencies such as the World Food Programme. It was also the biggest contributor to Global Fund, which provides the bulk of aid support to Zimbabwe’s HIV, TB and malaria interventions.

Here’s a look at some of the key USAID projects – from health to political causes – that have been cut in Zimbabwe:

HIV support
USAID had various programmes targeting HIV. Among these are different projects worth $90,524,486 and another worth $20,000,000. The programmes provided “technical, financial and material support” to HIV programmes. This included wages for critical health workers.

HIV and young people:

Projects worth $53,195,423 aimed to “reduce the number of new infections among adolescent girls and young women”. A further $30,108,672 had been set for orphans and vulnerable children affected and infected by HIV in Manicaland and Masvingo. Another $17,373,720 was going to support services for vulnerable children.

Resilience
The “Resilience Anchors” projects, worth $19 million, targeted helping vulnerable communities to recover from shocks, such as drought, while conserving natural resources.

Malaria Prevention
USAID will no longer fund Zimbabwe’s malaria strategy, the Zimbabwe Assistance Programme in Malaria (ZAPIM), worth $25.7 million. Another $2.6 million for malaria research is also gone.

Maternal and child health
Zimbabwe will lose $16,492,935 in projects for maternal, neonatal, and child health in five targeted provinces.

TB programmes

USAID had two allocations of $29 million for TB prevention, which included prevention, treatment and support to health workers.

Agriculture
The Fostering Agribusiness for Resilient Markets (FARM) project, worth $19.8 million, is off the table. It aimed to boost crop and livestock production for 20,000 smallholder farmers in Manicaland and Masvingo.

Apart from healthcare, USAID will also discontinue some funding to civil society causes.

Political civil society support
USAID had a budget of $18,999,087 for “promoting greater and more effective citizen participation in governance processes”. There was also $4,911,191 for constitutional reform advocacy, plus $12 million for youth campaigns for good governance. There was a $5 million budget for torture victims.

USAID had $8 million for “New Narratives for Accountability”. Part of this programme funded musicians and other art creatives to take part in civil society campaigns for accountability. There was also $5 million to promote the independence of institutions in Zimbabwe’s justice sector

Media support
USAID had a $7 million budget for media organisations. This was meant to enhance “the capacity of the media to hold powerful state and non-state actors accountable for their acts and omissions”.

Election observers
The USAID spent $3 million for election observers in the 2023 election, funding “third-party, expert electoral assessment and observation based on international standards”.

NewZwire