Chaos inflicted on USAID intensifies famine in Sudan
USAID, one of the leading international development agencies, has been vital in combating Sudan’s humanitarian crisis. Now turmoil in Washington threatens its lifesaving work.
•••••
When explosions and gunfire erupted in Greater Khartoum on April 15, 2023, Sahar knew she had to flee. “Most of the fighting at first was around government buildings and the airport,” Sahar says. “We could hear it and see the smoke a ways off and decided we had to leave before it was too late.”
A few hours later Sahar and other members of her extended family were navigating their way through military checkpoints. Had they waited any longer they likely would not have escaped. The war was spreading, fast. Sahar and many others fleeing the capital area headed northeast toward Atbara and Port Sudan. Within a matter of days, it was clear that the unfolding crisis in Sudan would be like few others in modern history. Humanitarian workers were targeted, hospitals bombed, and displacement soared. Refugees arriving in eastern Chad from Sudan’s western Darfur region spoke of barely escaping mass ethnic killing.
Today, Sahar has no idea when she will be able to return home. “All Sudanese are against this war,” she says through tears. “We want peace. We want to live or lives. I want to go home. We don’t want this.”
Sudan Crisis Guide
Trying to make sense of the war in Sudan? We’ll get you up to speed in just a few minutes.
The roots of this crisis and the American response
Sahar may have little to return to. Today, Khartoum lies in ruins, ravaged by war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—former allies who ousted Sudan’s transitional civilian government in 2019 and are now fighting for control of a nation that wants neither in charge.
Sudan is now home to the largest hunger, displacement, and childhood education crises in the world. Nearly 25 million people —half the country— are hungry, with famine already declared in multiple areas. One in three Sudanese has fled their home. The suffering is staggering, and the U.S. government recently recognized that genocide is being committed.
As Sahar was fleeing for her life almost two years ago, officials at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington D.C. were swinging into action. Agency staff coordinated with humanitarian partners, stayed in contact with local Sudanese staff, and deployed an elite Disaster Assistance Response Team to assess needs and direct incoming aid to where it was most needed.
Within weeks it was clear the crisis in Sudan was among the gravest USAID had faced in its 60+ year history. Nearly everything in Sudan has been weaponized by the army and RSF as they burn the country to the ground. Both warring sides have blocked aid and targeted humanitarian workers, and the RSF is using rape as a weapon of war on a massive scale.
Over the past 21 months, USAID and State Department staff have worked around the clock to overcome endless obstacles and pry open aid routes. Progress has been painfully slow, but aid convoys were finally beginning to reach some of the hardest-hit areas with American help. While most of the world abandoned Sudan at the outset of the war, many of the Sudanese people have found a friend in the United States. Last year, Americans provided nearly 50% of all humanitarian aid to Sudan, much of it delivered in sacks and boxes stamped with the USAID logo and the warm words: From the American People.
Mayhem in Washington now threatening lifesaving work in Sudan
On January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration said it was placing a freeze on nearly all foreign aid. Chaos quickly ensued across USAID as there was little guidance on what exactly was and wasn't allowed. Was this just a temporary pause so programs could be reviewed, or something else?
Confusion quickly morphed into mayhem. As has been widely reported, a team from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) breached USAID’s secure systems without the security clearances to do so. USAID security officials who intervened to protect classified and sensitive information were placed on leave, and that was after DOGE threatened to call the US Marshalls. Staff and contractors struggled to interpret conflicting directives—the freeze being enforced and another allowing lifesaving operations to continue with a waiver, though few partners knew how to obtain one.
Meanwhile, DOGE head Elon Musk declared USAID would be shut down, posting, “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead.” Days later, administration officials issued contradictory statements—some claiming USAID would close, others saying it would move under the State Department. Thousands of dedicated staff have already been fired or placed on forced leave.
This chaos has crippled USAID’s critical operations in Sudan. According to one former division head, the USAID staffer overseeing the humanitarian response in Sudan has been locked out of her email and key systems. But it’s the stories emerging from USAID’s mostly frozen work on the ground that range from depressing to horrifying. From ProPublica:
On Friday morning, the staffers at a half dozen U.S.-funded medical facilities in Sudan who care for severely malnourished children had a choice to make: Defy President Donald Trump’s order to immediately stop their operations or let up to 100 babies and toddlers die. They chose the children. In spite of the order, they will keep their facilities open for as long as they can, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation. The people requested anonymity for fear that the administration might target their group for reprisals. Trump’s order also meant they would stop receiving new, previously approved funds to cover salaries, IV bags and other supplies. They said it’s a matter of days, not weeks, before they run out.
Food programs supported by USAID that have reached millions of hungry people are now shuttering. Hundreds of Sudanese-run community kitchens operating in areas too dangerous for internationals to work have already closed. In the past week alone, a shocking two-thirds of emergency kitchens in Khartoum have shut their doors. From the Washington Post:
A humanitarian worker in Sudan, who like others in this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation against their employer, said their organization got a stop-work order for grants covering hundreds of millions of dollars. “It means that over 8 million people in extreme levels of hunger could die of starvation,” said the aid worker. “What’s next? What do we do?”…
USAID had also provided security funds to the Emergency Response Rooms, cells of pro-democracy demonstrators that have worked to alleviate the suffering of the civil war. More than 60 of their volunteers have been killed since the conflict erupted nearly two years ago, and the young people moving food and medicine across the front lines are often arrested and abused by combatants on both sides, who suspect them of being spies. One volunteer is being hunted by a militia; another volunteer was recently tortured to try to reveal his whereabouts, according to Kuka. Normally, he said, USAID funding could help him escape; now they are trying to move him between safe houses as the militias advance. “We are saying our goodbyes,” he messaged, followed by a broken-heart emoji.
An internal report prepared by aid groups providing health services in Sudan and shared with The Post said more than half of the 10 million people targeted to receive health care probably would lose access because of the cuts. One medical group, which had treated more than 19,000 civilians, mostly women, in the past two months in Darfur, said it could no longer offer services without alternative funding. “There was no transition, just an abrupt stop,” an employee said.
An outsized impact for a small amount of money
USAID has long enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Washington. The agency makes up less than 1% of the entire federal budget —barely any money in the grand scheme of things— and has received high praise worldwide for helping to stabilize volatile areas and support poorer communities as they climb out of poverty. Exactly what the American public thinks about foreign aid can be a bit difficult to ascertain. According to Pew Research, “For many years, Americans have had, at best, mixed views about the effectiveness and desirability of foreign assistance.”
In recent years, USAID’s role in national security has also become much clearer. Its success in countering Russian and Chinese influence through development and humanitarian work has drawn the ire of both coutnries, and the agency plays a key role in preventing global health threats that emerge abroad from reaching the United States. Given USAID’s outsized global impact and the respect it brings to the United States abroad, it’s fair to say that the development agency is worthwhile investment, even if some reforms and tweaks are needed.
It’s also important to know that only Congress has the legal authority to close USAID. This has caused more confusion about the agency’s future as DOGE’s efforts do not appear to have legal legitimacy. A lawsuit was recently filed concerning this issue and it appears the courts will decide USAID’s future.
What happens now?
Operation Broken Silence does not receive USAID funding; we rely entirely on individuals, families, and private institutions. However, like many small nonprofits operating in countries where USAID has a presence, we benefit indirectly from the broader humanitarian and economic stability the agency can help create. Humanitarian work is incredibly complex and requires a network of organizations working alongside local heroes to tackle difficult challenges. No single group can do it all; but, when a powerhouse like USAID is suddenly removed from the situation, everyone suffers.
Sudan’s situation has been dire for months, but it can still get much, much worse. We expect to witness a surge in deaths from starvation, preventable diseases, and the further collapse of healthcare services in the coming weeks if USAID’s critical work in Sudan does not fully resume. The suffering of the Sudanese people is already unbearable. Abandoning them now would be unconscionable. We urge you to stand with them in this dark hour.
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as war and hunger spread. By joining Miles For Sudan or giving below, you will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.
$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.
$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.
$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.
$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.
$50 - Helps bring school supplies Yida to students in Yida Refugee Camp.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
Shareables
Short statements you can share online and text to others. Simply copy and paste.
Share Our Posts: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Threads | Reddit
USAID, one of the leading international development agencies, has been vital in combating Sudan’s humanitarian crisis. Now, turmoil in Washington threatens its lifesaving work. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/chaos-inflicted-on-usaid-intensifies-famine-in-sudan
Food programs supported by USAID that have reached millions of hungry people are now shuttering. Hundreds of Sudanese-run community kitchens operating in areas too dangerous for internationals to work have already closed. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/chaos-inflicted-on-usaid-intensifies-famine-in-sudan
USAID has long enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Washington. The agency makes up less than 1% of the entire federal budget, barely any money in the grand scheme of things. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/chaos-inflicted-on-usaid-intensifies-famine-in-sudan
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/chaos-inflicted-on-usaid-intensifies-famine-in-sudan
