Unrest and anxiety grow among those whose futures and lives are now at risk after US funding cuts

The termination of US-funded programmes has caused growing desperation among refugee populations. Fears of increasing unrest, suicide rates, school dropouts and teenage pregnancies are among the swathe of consequences that FCA’s field staff witness. 

EVENTS HAVE unfolded rapidly since the US State Department informed Finn Church Aid (FCA) of the termination of 6.95 million USD of funding in Uganda and Kenya – part of a decision that abruptly terminated 10,000 foreign assistance contracts.  

FCA was forced to stop its work overnight after the US froze its funding on January 24th. Now, with the final decision from the US government to terminate the funding with immediate effect on February 27th, the dire consequences are already impacting the most vulnerable people, who are cut off from critical support.

One of the hardest tasks for FCA staff is communicating the loss of these essential services to communities in both countries, where 209,000 schoolchildren risk losing their education directly due to US cuts to FCA funding.  

US-funded work in refugee areas ended overnight

In FCA’s programmes, schools and related services have been ordered to stop work since the initial order to freeze funding was received. Since then, 206 teachers and school staff have lost or are at risk of losing their jobs, and the growing class sizes of hundreds of students overburden those continuing their work.

Enormous mental distress is already evident in people who are suddenly left on their own, FCA staff report. Yet other services such as FCA’s mental health and psychosocial support for children, youth, and teachers dealing with trauma have also been cut. 

“It is about their survival and future, and the situation is deteriorating daily. Our internal funds have run out and we need urgent support to keep children in schools”, says John Bongei, FCA’s Country Director in Kenya. 

FCA faces similar challenges in Uganda. The termination of US funding will also directly wipe out the gains in education access for girls and their transition to secondary school, says FCA’s Country Director Wycliffe Nsheka.

Uganda was still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced schools to close for two years. To further compound this, the termination of grants comes at an increasingly difficult time, especially with increasing new refugee arrivals escaping the current ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and immediate threats from the Ebola and MPox viruses in Uganda especially. 

“Refugees have seen a reduction in provision of all services as a result of the US funding freeze. Usually, we witness suicide cases in such a situation as some people in their desperation may decide to take their own lives. We are heading towards that”, says Nsheka.  

Suicide rates more than doubled in Uganda’s refugee settlements in 2020, during the first year of the pandemic. Refugee settlements also saw a drastic increase in gender-based violence and teenage pregnancies, which also led to school dropouts. 

While the funding cuts take immediate effect, it will take time to actually realise all the actions. While the funding cuts that will force FCA to close its field offices in Moyo and Obongi in the north of Uganda are immediate, FCA will keep the field offices operational until May. 

“As a rights-based organisation, we cannot abandon our accountability to the affected populations and have to do what we can to mitigate the consequences, which are nothing less than devastating”, says FCA Uganda Country Director Wycliffe Nsheka. 

International aid work in unprecedented transition

FCA’s Executive Director Tomi Järvinen emphasises that we are witnessing an unprecedented change in the aid sector, which will plunge people into poverty, ignite conflicts and cost lives. A leaked USAID memo estimates that malaria cases will increase by up to 17.9 million, USD and a million malnourished children will lose their treatment. 

Also according to the memo, suspending maternal and child health programs could cause tens of millions of pregnant women, newborns and children to lose access to lifesaving care. A suspension of nutrition services could result in 1 million children not being treated annually for severe acute malnutrition. 

”This is about human lives, people whose lives and future are dependent on the support they receive”, says Järvinen. 

“Every time children and young people are forced to interrupt their education, whether it is due to war and refugee status or because an existing opportunity to attend school is taken away on a whim by cutting off funding, it is a serious crisis for the future of them and their communities.” 

Although unprecedented, it is not the first time a global disaster has hit hard on the most vulnerable people in so many places simultaneously. 

“Already during the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw the ripple effects of a major service disruption, with the loss of lives and consequences like mental health issues, school closures, teenage pregnancies and early marriage. Now we are witnessing it again, the main difference being that it is someone’s conscious decision”, says Järvinen. 

“We will not give up on the people we work to serve, but we will need all the donor support that we can get.” 

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You can support FCA’s work by donating directly here. 

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For further information contact: : 

FCA Executive Director Tomi Järvinen 
tomi.jarvinen@kua.fi, +358 40 641 8209. 

FCA Kenya Country Director John Bongei 
John.Bongei@kua.fi, +254 73 374 8355 

FCA Uganda Country Director Wycliffe Nsheka 
Wycliffe.Nsheka@kua.fi, +256 77 296 1551 

FCA Manager of International Communications Ruth Owen 
Ruth.Owen@kua.fi, +358 50 409 7848 

You can find pictures for media use here.