We Cannot Let Children Die on Our Watch

Save the Children Warns of Devastating Impact of Global Aid cuts on Health, Nutrition, and Education Services Worldwide

FAIRIFELD, Conn., February 28, 2025 - Earlier this week, the U.S. government made further cuts to the U.S. foreign assistance budget, announcing that 5,800 of 6,200 USAID awards and 4,100 of 9,100 State Department grants will be eliminated. These cuts effectively terminate funding for hundreds of Save the Children programs globally, drastically changing the outlook for the 1 in 11 children around the world whose lives depend on the health care, nutrition, education and protection we have helped provide for over 100 years. The speed and scale of the terminations are not only impacting the ability to deliver immediate life-saving services, but they are also creating chaos and confusion, leaving organizations with impossible decisions on staffing, prioritizing needs, and withdrawing from communities where we have had long-standing operations.

Decisions of this magnitude have devastating effects on our ability to deliver live-saving aid. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we will be forced to close 92 health clinics providing health care to over 200,000 people. In Sudan and Syria, malnutrition treatment for infants and young children is at risk. Over 4.4 million pounds of food is stuck in warehouses across multiple countries, waiting to be delivered to families experiencing catastrophic hunger.

These are only a few examples out of hundreds where our work is directly impacted, where children’s lives and livelihoods are at stake.

“It’s critical to understand that these decisions to cut foreign assistance funding and withdraw in such a disorderly fashion have life and death consequences and it’s imperative that we, as humanitarians, shed light on these very real implications,” said Janti Soeripto, President and CEO of Save the Children. “We understand these decisions are not intended to create such life-threatening ripple effects – but, unfortunately, this is the reality of the situation unless other funding solutions can be found.”

Less than one percent of the U.S. federal budget is appropriated to foreign assistance, and it creates profound impact. And the return on investment is significant: creating healthier, safer, more prosperous and educated communities, building stronger, more sustainable and self-sufficient economies, and promoting immediate and long-term peace.

“Save the Children has been delivering life-saving aid for over 100 years in the most difficult and hardest-to-reach places, operating in over 100 countries. The U.S. has long been a steadfast partner in ensuring millions of children and families around the world have brighter, safer and healthier futures, and we remain hopeful this commitment will be renewed in some way,” continued Soeripto. “In the meantime, we will endeavor to continue our work at whatever scale possible, despite the overwhelming challenges and constraints we now face.”

Save the Children firmly believes that children, no matter where they live, deserve the best possible start in life and to grow up healthy, educated and protected.