“If the United States [maintains its position] and withdraws their approximately 50 billions dollars, it means that our share will turn to 60% of [global] assistance. We will not be able to replace it”, declared the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela, on Tuesday 8 April, during an exchange with members of the European Parliament’s Development Committee (DEVE).
“But we will not step back our own commitments”, he added, stressing the continuing responsibility of Europeans.
The European Union and its Member States already provide the largest share of development aid worldwide. Some €95.9 billion was mobilised in 2023, according to figures published by the EU Council in June 2024, representing 42% of global Official Development Assistance (ODA).
The European Commissioner said that EU delegations were working hard to assess the impact of USAID’s withdrawal on the ground, and to identify the most urgent needs.
The financing mechanisms of the World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Pandemic Fund are being monitored to assess how a withdrawal by the United States would affect their operation, explained Mr Síkela.
“The results already show that health is a particularly affected area with primary, but also secondary effect”, he said. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)