Journalism and sponsorship USAID

Ivan Farion 29.01.2025, 16:05



Not without reason in Ukraine, a extremist decision by the fresh U.S. administration to suspend financing of public projects could undermine useful initiatives

The fresh administration of the United States of America, like a fresh broom, moves in a fresh way. On a large scale! Sometimes there are sparks from the "killing" that Donald Trump arranged rather presumptuously, 1 might say, in a voluntary style.

As shortly as the emotions associated with his highly tough migration policy subsided, it was time to catch your breath due to the mass limitation of abroad aid programs. The talk of freezing for 90 days of national grants and loans, which the erstwhile US executives, according to The fresh York Times, gave various countries an amount of about $3 trillion.

Among the beneficiaries of these grants is Ukraine. Many crucial projects for us, which the State is incapable to support with its budget, is financed by the United States Agency for global improvement (USAID) with the aid of the State Department. According to associate Marian Zabłocki We are talking about 112 specified programmes for which they are intended $7 billion from the U.S. Treasury. Now they have been halted.

Washington conducted a thorough audit of all its charitable programs in the world. They want to see how they correspond with American abroad policy, the election program of the current White home owner and its slogan "America First!". They want to know whether there was fraud in granting these benefits.

There is an opinion that abroad grants are sometimes awarded for "fantom" projects that are not worth eating an egg. Acute criticism concerns public whistleblowers of corruption,political experts and another informal movements, journalistswho seem to live freely thanks to generous abroad donations, translation of newspapers, overflowing from empty to empty. In another words, they donate for American money. In my opinion, specified assessments are mostly populist, superficial.

I will mention to the certificate known (in peculiar for the courageous work on Euromaidan) of the Kiev photographer Vladislav Sodel, the husband of erstwhile worker of Olga Snitsarchuk's "High Castle".

For 8 years Vlad recorded all the events that were implemented in Ukraine thanks to the USAID.

"You can't even imagine how much all the money the United States has donated to Ukraine has intertwined in our lives!" says the photographer.

And it reminds me that thanks to the aid of the United States Many Ukrainian farmers now have modern lines for packing grown potatoes, onions and carrots in supermarkets. That thanks to subsidies from the United States, they received advanced quality seeds and costly fertilizers. That many peasants from the Lviv region who supply early vegetables to the markets received highly favorable loans from the USAID. The same program "Donbas Gardens" was implemented before the large war began with American aid. In the same chicken, now inhabited, by 2022 there were large "climate" vegetable shops and modern lines for processing vegetables and fruit.

As an eyewitness, Vlad said that thanks to the charitable dollars of this agency Many residents of Kiev have warm houses, hot water, which comes from modern sparing boiler rooms. This clean, artesian, cold water no longer reaches them through rusty iron pipes of russian production, but through rugged plastic arteries. That during the Russian bombings they were supplied with electricity by generators purchased at the cost of USAID. That not a single school was built for them, but many public utility facilities purchased modern equipment. That in almost all hospitals Ukrainians are now being examined for the magnetic resonance resonance and CT scans purchased by this foundation, and at its expense European repairs were besides performed there. Vaccines against covid were besides partially USAID.

Vlad says that even during the war USAID grants gave jobs to unemployed miners who moved from Soledar to Dnieper. These funds have helped decision many strategical businesses from east to west.

The celebrated veteran pizzeria in Kiev besides began to function thanks to the relaxed USAID arm.

And how many artistic projects have been implemented with American aid!

This besides helped many paper editors to stay on the surface, primarily from the front zone. 1 of Ukraine's top achievements, freedom of speech, was mostly ensured thanks to the support of independent journalists from USAID grants. Oksana Romaniuk, manager of the Mass Information Institute, said Almost 90% of Ukrainian media survived thanks to abroad grants.

It is no secret that financial assistance from states contributed importantly to the improvement of local government, the provision of electronic services and alleged digitalisation in the field of public administration.

According to Suspilne, after starting a full-scale invasion, the USAID donated $2.6 billion to Ukraine for humanitarian aid, $5 billion for improvement and another $30 billion for direct budget support.

So will all of this be over now? Does current American leadership not realize that his "anti-grant" sanctions torpedo democratic initiatives and thus endanger democracy itself, Which host and defender do the United States consider?

Trump's decision to "grant" was blocked

There are those abroad who are very afraid about specified a "cutting of arms" performed by Trump. The national court in Washington, D.C., after a suit filed by a group of activists Democratic Forward, temporarily blocked the fresh team's decision to frost abroad aid. It is said that this decision violates the Act on administrative procedures. akin lawsuits were besides brought by prosecutors from 22 states and the territory of Colombia. respective diplomats working at the Office for Europe and Eurasia of the State Department turned to their chief, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asking for non-limitation of USAID work in Ukraine.