On the first day of his second term in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that paused funding for USAID, the US government’s main foreign aid agency, for a 90-day review.

While the long-term effects remain unclear, the order has already frozen vital programs relied on by millions of people globally, forced the closure of USAID’s overseas offices, and jeopardised thousands of jobs.

As one of the world’s largest foreign aid providers, the US plays an essential role with no other country or organisation fully able to fill the gap. But some recipient countries see this move as an opportunity to seek solutions closer to home.

This week on The Inquiry, Charmaine Cozier explores the consequences of this shift in US foreign policy, asking “What is filling the USAID funding gap?”

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier

Contributors to this programme:

Fatema Sumar, Executive Director of the Harvard Center for International Development (CID) and an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, US

Michael Jennings, Professor of Global Development at SOAS University London, UK

Francisca Mutapi, Professor of Global Health Infection and Immunity and Deputy Director TIBA Partnership at the University of Edinburgh, UK

George Ingram, Senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings Institution, US