Rotary responds to USAID funding freeze, withdrawal from WHO Soon after assuming office on Jan 20, US President Donald Trump signed executive orders announcing withdrawal of the US from WHO and a 90-day freeze on foreign assistance. Subsequently the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office was stopped from disbursing assistance across the world. RI has explained its stance following these orders.
Rotary International has stated that irrespective of the US government’s intention to withdraw from the WHO, a partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), it remains “resolute in our mission to eradicate polio. As a founding partner of the GPEI, Rotary has for decades worked closely with GPEI partners, the US government, and other governments to end polio worldwide.” This effort has reduced the number of children paralysed by polio by 99.9 per cent since 1988. The global effort to eradicate polio has innovated many times over the years to come close to protecting every last child.
Although this decision creates new challenges, Rotary remains dedicated to ensuring that every child is protected from this preventable disease. We are confident that the GPEI will continue to adapt, innovate and implement effective strategies to keep polio vaccines available for every child in the US and around the world, especially those in the most challenging and remote regions.
“We remain committed to working with all GPEI partners to fulfil the promise of a polio-free world. Together, we have ended smallpox, and together, we can ensure that polio becomes the second human disease to be eradicated from the planet,” it said.
Rotary, USAID projects
Rotary has collaborated with the USAID since 2009 on different types of programmes. “Our current programmatic efforts and communications with USAID personnel and leadership are on hold due to the stop-work order issued by USAID. RI has already notified members whose projects are directly impacted by this order and is working to continue to support them in their impactful work. We are navigating the implications of the recent stop-work order issued for Hearts of Europe projects that are part of a partnership with USAID.”
Our current programmatic efforts and communications with USAID personnel and leadership are on hold due to the stop-work order issued by USAID.
All projects that are currently in an implementation phase have been notified and given information about what action needs to be taken while the stop-work order is in effect. We are working directly with those projects that are not yet being implemented to determine alternative funding for their important work,
it adds.
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