00:00The golden age of America begins right now. During every single day of the Trump administration,
00:12I will very simply put America first.
00:17Hello, hello.
00:21Since Trump's return to office in November 2024, it's safe to say he wasted no time bringing
00:26back his often chaotic style of rule.
00:29Revoking nearly 80 destructive, radical executive actions of the previous administration, they'll
00:34all be null and void within about, what, five minutes? Is that them over there? Five minutes?
00:40From clashing with Vladimir Zelensky in front of cameras, because who doesn't like our world
00:44politics to be treated like wrestling?
00:46You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.
00:51He's not speaking loudly. He's not speaking loudly. Your country's in big trouble. Wait
00:55a minute. No, no. You've done a lot of talking.
00:57After canceling billions in government contracts, the U.S. president is making changes on a
01:02global scale.
01:03It's about making America great again, making it strong and prosperous again. Thank you
01:07very much.
01:08But perhaps the biggest story being felt around the world is the abolition of the U.S. Agency
01:13of International Development, otherwise known as USAID.
01:20For over 60 years, USAID has provided humanitarian and development assistance to other countries.
01:27But the USAID is really corrupt. I'll tell you, it's corrupt. It's incompetent and it's
01:32really corrupt.
01:33The swift closure by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, quote, likely violated
01:39the constitution in multiple ways.
01:41This will cause people to die without help from critical humanitarian aid that USAID
01:46provide.
01:47The golden age of America has only just begun.
01:52The Trump administration withdrew billions of dollars in foreign aid affecting people
01:55and humanitarian projects in 157 countries worldwide.
02:00But Trump is not the only world leader to backpedal on aid promises.
02:04In the UK, Keir Starmer has also U-turned on his manifesto commitment to boost global
02:09aid.
02:10In fact, the UK is slashing the foreign aid budget nearly in half to just 0.3% of gross
02:15national income in order to boost defence spending in this period of geopolitical insecurity.
02:22Starmer announced the change in order to boost defence spending from 2.3% to 2.5% in
02:28the midst of Russia's war in Ukraine.
02:30Both changes will come in the next two years to 2027.
02:33To really understand this topic, we need to break it down.
02:36Foreign aid has been a cornerstone of modern international relations since the post-war
02:40period, with John F. Kennedy establishing USAID in 1961 using the Foreign Assistance
02:45Act.
02:46We continue working with the people in those countries to try to work with them in developing
02:52the economic thrust of their countries so that they can make a determination that they
02:58can solve their problems without resorting to totalitarian control and becoming part
03:02of the bloc.
03:03That's the issue.
03:05Humanitarian aid has propped up medical systems, delivered education for millions of children
03:10and protected women and girls worldwide.
03:12The latest figures show that the 31 richest countries in the world spent $223bn on global
03:18aid in 2023.
03:21Back then, the United States was by far the leading donor, giving over $64bn according
03:26to the OECD.
03:28Next up were Germany, EU institutions, Japan and the UK.
03:32The United Nations says the richest countries should spend at least 0.7% of their gross
03:36national income on aid.
03:38But the countries with the most money aren't necessarily the most generous.
03:42Before the cuts, the US was already far down on the list, spending just 0.24% of its gross
03:47national income on aid.
03:49Now, the US has slashed around $60bn in foreign assistance and it's unclear what programs,
03:55if any, will remain.
03:57In the UK, foreign aid met the 0.7% target under David Cameron's government up until
04:032020.
04:04But emergency measures during Covid and economic uncertainty meant that aid spending went down
04:09to just 0.5% and has never fully recovered, kind of like my trust in politicians.
04:15In 2023, the UK spent over £15bn on aid, but nearly a third of this was put towards
04:21housing for refugees in the UK.
04:24In the run-up to the 2024 election, one of Labour's promises was to bring aid spending
04:29back up.
04:30As we mentioned earlier, now that he's in power, Keir Starmer is cutting foreign aid
04:34to its lowest level this century.
04:37The aid budget will now be cut to just 0.3% of gross national income, less than half of
04:42the UN-recommended target.
04:44To understand the sheer scale of global aid cuts, we need to look at where the money goes.
04:48The UK's top aid destinations are Ukraine and Ethiopia, which is suffering from heightened
04:53humanitarian crises as a result of intense drought and flooding.
04:57These are just two out of dozens of countries which receive aid from the UK, and more if
05:02we're looking at aid from the US.
05:04In 2023, a third of US foreign aid was spent on economic development, followed by health
05:09programmes, humanitarian assistance and peace and security.
05:13Money is also spent on projects to support education, environmental protection and protect
05:18against gender-based violence.
05:20Many of these projects have now shut down.
05:23One example is in family planning and sexual health.
05:27Millions of women worldwide have lost access to contraception as a result of the US aid
05:31cuts, with around 900,000 women and girls each week relying on US-funded programmes.
05:37This is just the start of how women's health will be impacted.
05:40With limited access to contraception, birth rates will also go up, which will put a strain
05:45on women in countries like Niger, where mothers already have six to seven children on average.
05:51And pregnancy will be even more deadly without US-funded maternal health services, like midwives.
05:57On the highest level, a sudden population boom will impact economies which are already
06:01struggling in areas with the highest poverty rates in the world.
06:05And all of this will have a lasting impact on the world as a whole, which is why foreign
06:09aid is beneficial for countries like the UK and the US.
06:13In Africa, the majority of countries rely heavily on aid from the US and the UK.
06:17In these countries, like Uganda, humanitarian projects provide essential infrastructure
06:22for healthcare and the education system.
06:25Suddenly taking away billions in funding is going to leave a gap.
06:29And the problem is, there's no one who can really fill it.
06:32In Nigeria, US-funded programmes provide an essential backbone of the medical system,
06:37with $600 million for healthcare in 2023 alone.
06:41But now, they have to find the money from other sources.
06:44One option when it comes to plugging the gap left by US aid is to look to China, who are
06:48already the largest investors in Africa.
06:51China provides loans, grants and investment worth hundreds of billions of dollars across
06:55the continent.
06:56In some cases, this money is used to fund hospitals and roads.
07:01As the world's second largest economy by a long way, it's possible that China will
07:05step in and provide more money where the US and UK pull back.
07:09But research shows that most of China's development spending comes in the form of
07:13loans, and countries have already struggled to pay these back.
07:17The US is the wealthiest country in the world, and so can afford to spend more than other
07:21countries on global aid.
07:23As for the future, it might be that loans or conditions become a larger part of foreign
07:27aid.
07:28Just look at Ukraine, where Trump is trying to strike a deal to profit from local mineral
07:33mining.
07:34It'll be great for Ukraine.
07:35It's like a huge economic development project, so it'll be good for both countries.
07:40So what happens next for global aid?
07:42Nobody really knows.
07:44But what we do know is that the loss of US funding is already affecting millions of people
07:49each day.
07:50Charities, governments, and international organizations around the world are fighting
07:54to come up with solutions for the short-term and long-term consequences.
07:58But the fact is, without support from the US, global aid is going to look very different.
08:03As for how, we're going to have to wait and see.
08:05Aid, the concept of foreign assistance, is not a popular program in the United States.
08:10That is a well-known fact, and therefore there will not be farewell parades to you as you
08:17leave or parades for you when you come back.
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