Irish aid agency Goal hit by Trump spending freeze

The aid agency Goal, which received more than €100 million in funding from the giant US government humanitarian organisation USAid in 2023, has said its operations in some countries have been affected by the freeze in spending ordered by the Trump administration.

However, it said that despite the funding restrictions, it had received waivers which, for example, will allow it to continue its work in Syria where it has a large operation.

Accounts show that between 2022-2023, USAid provided Goal with funding of more than €200 million.

Separately, the Government also has a partnership arrangement with USAid concerning some projects in Africa.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was talking to a range of other groups and the government of Malawi to ensure a programme – which had USAid involvement – continued to improve food security and nutrition in rural areas in the African country.

The Trump administration put in place a 90-day freeze on funding provided by USAid to assess its programmes, although spending on some projects was permitted to continue.

It was reported on Thursday that the agency is facing severe personnel cuts and that the number of staff could fall from 10,000 to about 290 positions.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who took control of USAid as acting administrator on Monday, maintained the takeover was “not about getting rid of foreign aid” but rather was to deal with insubordination at the agency.

A group led by Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, has spent the last week combing the spending programme of USAid and has been highly critical of the agency.

[ Panic in Africa and concern in Dublin after Trump takes aim at US aid agencyOpens in new window ]

Few, if any, Irish aid groups which receive money from the agency have spoken publicly about the implications of the developments in Washington.

However, in a statement, Goal chief executive Siobhán Walsh said the support it received from the public allowed it “to take that important step of responding immediately to a humanitarian crisis”.

She said “the larger institutional donors allow us to scale the responses, from food and nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene to livelihoods related humanitarian aid and development work”.

Goal’s annual report for 2023 describes USAid as its “largest donor”. The report said Goal received €103 million in 2023 “which equates to 54 per cent of the total portfolio”. In 2022 Goal received €113 million from the agency.

“Like many humanitarian organisations across the globe, Goal receives US foreign assistance and the work of our teams has been impacted by the recent suspension of this foreign assistance in some of our countries of operation. However, we have secured a number of waivers from the US government to continue our life-saving work in countries such as Syria, where we provide life-saving services for over two million people,” Ms Walsh said.

Goal did not say in which countries its operations had been affected by the funding restrictions in Washington or how much of its total budget for its Syria programme came from USAid.

The Government, through Irish Aid, is involved in a partnership with USAid in relation to projects in Zambia and Malawi in Africa.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said that since 2023, Irish Aid and USAid had collaborated in Malawi on a programme to improve food security and nutrition in rural areas affected by climate change.

“Ireland remains committed to this work and is in discussions with a range of partners, including the Government of Malawi, to ensure that it will continue,” it said.

“In 2024, Irish Aid and USAid agreed to launch a new partnership in Zambia focusing on food security. This programme is still in design phase and is not yet operational.”

Neale Richmond, Minister of State for International Development, said the Government remained “absolutely committed to working with a range of partners in both Malawi and Zambia to ensure that food security and nutrition, as well as the empowerment of women and girls, will remain key priorities for Ireland’s bilateral aid programmes in both countries”.