Statement by Dr. Rajiv J. Shah on the Human Cost of Foreign Aid Cuts

Over the last several years, wealthy countries, including the United States, have significantly reduced their commitments to feed the hungry, cure the sick, and lift up the most vulnerable people around the world. With these actions, governments are undermining an eight-decade global consensus that the world can and should cooperate to advance human dignity — for its own sake and for the sake of global security and prosperity. Now, just over a year since the United States announced it would eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development, new data illustrates the profound human toll of recent decisions by the United States and other countries.

A peer-reviewed study, published this week in The Lancet Global Health, finds that in a severe, worst-case scenario in which countries continue cutting lifesaving assistance, more than 22 million people could die by 2030, including more than 5 million children under the age of five. These findings give a voice to millions of vulnerable people and show the profound moral cost of the zero-sum approach many political leaders are taking. Though it will take years to adequately assess the full toll of aid cuts, this early projection is an urgent call to action. This humanitarian catastrophe is not inevitable, but preventing it will require all of us to act with urgency.

As we answer this call, we cannot pursue a status quo approach to advancing dignity and fighting poverty. Instead, we need to follow the leads of developing countries themselves, leveraging every dollar in the system to its maximum, mobilizing private investment wherever possible, and building support among leaders with the power to prevent suffering. The future of development is locally led, grounded in public-private partnerships, propelled by scientific and technological innovation, and relentlessly focused on measurable results. As countries take on more responsibility, global cooperation and developmental assistance will remain vital, including for communities suffering most acutely through wars, famines, and other humanitarian crises.

In this moment, action will save lives. The question before us is whether we will allow a global retreat to define the future or whether we will reimagine and strengthen our collective humanitarian commitment to those in need. Recent polling makes clear how people around the world feel: they believe that international cooperation, when undertaken effectively, can improve their own lives while helping others. The Rockefeller Foundation agrees. Through our Build the Shared Future Initiative, we are committed to working with anyone interested in building more modern, effective, and sustainable mechanisms of global cooperation that can mobilize investment, earn and keep public trust, and deliver measurable, enduring results for the world’s most vulnerable people.