Inside Geneva: aid, cuts and consequences
On Inside Geneva, we take a deep dive into the United States’ cuts in foreign aid.
“In Colombia, they’ve just had to lay off 200 staff who were doing the demining in the south of the country. So, all of a sudden, these families have no work. And the alternative in the area, you know what it is: coca plants. So how is that in the US interest?” asks Tamar Gabelnick, director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
“The freezing is not democratic. Congress has voted for some of these programmes and it’s Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk, etc. who are cutting them out without the approval of Congress. So, legally, I don’t see how they can do this,” says political analyst Daniel Warner.
+ ‘Ukraine can be a tipping point’ for ridding the world of landmines
Why is Washington cutting something that is a lifesaver for vulnerable people worldwide, but costs just 0.2% of the US gross national product?
+ Geneva plans to pay NGO wages after US foreign aid freeze
“President Trump and Musk will say that these cuts to USAID are about shrinking a bloated bureaucracy and getting rid of waste and fraud. But I’d say that this whole thing has more to do with ideology and politics,” continues Dawn Clancy, a journalist based in New York.
What happens when ideology cuts humanitarian aid?
“It’s not just American isolationism. It’s not just America first. There seems to be a quite deliberate undermining of fundamental freedoms,” says Imogen Foulkes, host of the Inside Geneva podcast.
More
“We don’t have four years. The international legal framework and universal human rights are at a critical juncture and are being eroded, threatened and instrumentalised in unprecedented ways. Now is the time to step up,” says Phil Lynch, Executive Director of the International Service for Human Rights.
Search for Inside Geneva wherever you get your podcasts.
Find out more about the ‘Inside Geneva’ podcast and our other Swiss podcasts in English here.
Subscribe below to the ‘Inside Geneva’ newsletter to make sure you never miss a new episode.
More
The citizenship obstacle course facing spouses of Swiss Abroad
More
‘Swiss engineering at its best’: the steepest cable car in the world
More
Swiss budget cuts increase pressure on International Geneva
More
A new start for the ‘sleeping beauty’ of the Swiss Alps
More
Foreign aid cuts: where does Switzerland stand?
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.