What does USAID do and why is it important in the Middle East?

US President Donald Trump has pulled back the US agency’s work, halting projects that impact the lives of millions across the region

The Trump Administration has moved to shut down the US Agency for International Development, an independent government organisation that provides humanitarian relief and works to alleviate global poverty. Getty ImagesShow less

The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development will be felt strongly across the Middle East, where programmes cover food aid, education, health and more.

Personnel will be put on administrative leave around the world on Saturday after US President Donald Trump ordered the agency to shut down.

Operating in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, to name a few of its 11 regional locations, USAID is vital for the millions who rely on it for assistance.

Here is what you need to know about USAID in the Middle East:

The USAID website now shows a message explaining the shutdown.

Egypt

USAID has been working in the most populous country in the Middle East for 45 years, spending tens of billions on reducing infant and mortality rates, and improving primary-school-level reading among boys and girls.

Last year, the US allocated $214.5 million towards six sectors in Egypt, with the majority of funding ($86 million) going towards education and social services, followed by economic development, humanitarian assistance and others like health and human rights, according to the US Foreign Assistance website.

Established in November 2022, the USAID Egyptian Pioneers programme, which allocated nearly $90 million to the American University in Cairo (AUC), has provided scholarships and training to Egyptian students, particularly to empower low-income citizens.

Egyptian consultant cardiologist at the country's largest public cardiology hospital, Dr Hany Ragy, publicly thanked USAID for the major impact they had on him and his work.

“Without USAID we wouldn’t have had our first 2 modern Cath labs in my hospital in Cairo, many years ago, or the fellowships who benefited many of us – myself included- to train in US hospitals then go back, have been forever grateful for this," he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.

Since its beginning in 1978, USAID has invested more than $30 billion in the country.

Yemen

With more than 80 per cent of Yemen's population in need of humanitarian aid, USAID's role has been to focus on food, medicine, emergency care for pregnant women, and shelter kits for displaced people, spending $704 million on humanitarian assistance last year.

USAID has also been able to operate in the vital port of Hodeidah – keeping the port which millions of people rely on for the delivery of life-saving assistance – open during times of conflict.

The most recent impact of its work was seen last month when Israel struck the port in retaliation for Houthi attacks on Israel.

US-based risk analysis consultancy agency Basha Report said USAID-donated mobile cranes had kept the port operational despite the Israeli bombing and damage to the port.

“These cranes significantly enhance the efficiency of unloading cargo at the port. Typically, unloading a large cargo ship can take up to a week, but with the cranes, this time is reduced by three to four days," the agency's founder Mohammad Al Basha wrote following the attacks.

Iraq

USAID's partially-functioning website says that in Iraq it implemented “activities designed to strengthen infrastructure, stabilise communities, foster economic and agricultural growth, and help the various levels of government better represent and respond to the needs of the Iraqi people".

Last year, $135 million was designated for USAID to spend in the country with the majority, $35.23 million, going into “peace and security", $33.48m for “economic development", $24.7m towards “democracy, human rights, and governance" and the rest towards programme support and humanitarian assistance.

Iraqi men unload humanitarian aid supplies provided by the US development agency USAID to displaced Iraqis who have fled clashes between ISIS and Peshmerga fighters, on October 2, 2014, in the town of Daquq, around 180 kilometres north of Baghdad. AFP

Recently, the agency came under scrutiny for reportedly investing $20 million into the Arabic version of Sesame Street Ahlan Simsim, “to promote understanding, equity, and tolerance across divides", Sesame Street's website says.

USAID was instrumental in “stabilising" the areas liberated from ISIS control. This was done by creating jobs to diversify the economy by promoting food production, improving water supply and sustainable energy usage.

This helped bring people out of poverty and supported women's participation in the workforce where since 2020 more than 5,000 women entrepreneurs were provided with support services.

Gaza and the West Bank

As the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza is confounded with Israel's 15-month bombardment of the Strip and renewed attacks on the West Bank, there is an array of needs to be met.

Nearly $1 billion allocated for the West Bank and Gaza in 2024 for USAID. During its work in the West Bank, USAID helped improve the quality of women's education in some schools there, and by expanding the project, helped reduce class sizes and forgo the need for students to learn in shifts.

Elsewhere, it helped create projects in the agriculture field, where, for example, it empowered one of the few strawberry farmers left in the West Bank, who received assistance from USAID, helping him grow his business and send his daughter to university.

While these are only some of the projects that USAID has worked on across the region, as former White House global engagement director Brett Bruen said: “No USAID (equals) No influence. Our aid gives America critical leverage in many countries," making room for other countries like China to cover the gap.