Anatomy of an aid cut [image: USAID signage is covered at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C.] <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POm30Zn2t0Ur9HeM9w1dZK35fFNNFW8ny5YKwv2XvICeeZpWZJabQzCNxEdp66gfFgnSZ9fATLJXZFrgv4PR_vpXWaF8CvHIpOKk70NTLVUl_EVq5-62RkVLOSowWtbMT5IwiiiIZitCC5rfiIpzISlXU-K5E_yaPwFZkN8SymMglDnnwsJPOl_1zdc0JRY7zSk3Du6BNmfKr5ZONKNf6aYboEvDi8ckZ0boOFOk5kSsNUpp2Hs8O9OTAxl1XdWkeBQ==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu6DM09BvPJ_ePB9PyAFbVd7FVlb2pjSUv8J9p-QxoSOjv1nOaMtbsO3hF06vk0iXJAY=> Imagine you suddenly lose your right arm. You still have one left — but you’re not exactly in tiptop shape anymore. That’s how Andy Harrington, the executive director of Canadian Foodgrains Bank <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu_gdfLeZUlI5xN4l4iC-ecQkZFXxfn2eC02a3slu_IT9DHTbER26BxXNzKHqpXblluo=>, a non-USAID-funded organization, likens the mass termination of the agency’s programs — only he’s even more graphic: “If you rip off an arm and a leg, or in this case, chop the body in half, that has massive impacts for the infrastructure we need to do our projects,” he says. There are lots of organizations like Harrington’s that don’t take money from bilateral donors. Oxfam America <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu0up4F0qEHiJPZAcHZo4EBWvCfFx8bqjmkjf_OsH4TIm2yDtdmEhy69VzqhRGxegbg4=>, for example, decided to forego government funding decades ago to ensure it could advocate freely. But in a delicate, interconnected ecosystem, the ripple effects <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POm30Zn2t0Ur9HeM9w1dZK35fFNNFW8ny5YKwv2XvICeeZpWZJabQzCNxEdp66gfFgnSZ9fATLJXZFrgv4PR_vpXWaF8CvHIpOKk70NTLVUl_EVq5-62RkVLOSowWtbMT5IwiiiIZitCC5rfiIpzISlXU-K5E_yaPwFZkN8SymMglDnnwsJPOl_1zdc0JRY7zSk3Du6BNmfKr5ZONKNf6aYboEvDi8ckZ0boOFOk5kSsN9ty7kqwFxY-4mGgR_1sWHg==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu6DM09BvPJ_ePB9PyAFbVd7FVlb2pjSUv8J9p-QxoSOjv1nOaMtbsO3hF06vk0iXJAY=> of the world’s largest donor going under leave no one undisturbed. For one thing, the organizations that were not reliant on USAID dollars *are now being looked to for help by those that were reliant on them*. Some, such as Refugees International <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu4rid4-EFpUkZpa9lyD8rATDMSk5ACdEOwn7AZBuz36ESCfsQ0H0jpIYDsDc2Ve5uKo=>, are stepping up by serving as an advocacy voice for groups fearful of ruining their chances to recoup funds they’re owed <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POgHnU0AEd8M6o_YcsV5JNktnxJ5zaA-nhM1Wp1ruJf7L9MSOiOcc5zauOyS8LN9kdn7yiFUuYxrlLTErLEFAEYUAjAfw-kTEReYH7w5XcC24B6O4Y2VA5WvM9pVJHBZrRLDBCkyHpO3kdwenIrgWq9NDTEeOgJcDXfQqQka1yppxra51vtZp3MUeAfy23yVC-ydvrMbg-RUIZPN2Cnt_2MvMRUeWvdE0Hk7IyuhQ3BbtuedOupONswICuuQfMIow6g==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu6DM09BvPJ_ePB9PyAFbVd7FVlb2pjSUv8J9p-QxoSOjv1nOaMtbsO3hF06vk0iXJAY=>, or — as Lauren Evans writes for Devex — that are silent because the cuts have left them so drained they lack the bandwidth to even put out a statement. The mood seems to be that everyone wants to help in these unprecedented times. Jeffrey Samuel of Direct Relief <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypuxV7EeatVSY7mBsXHlGaK6qYf3DwTTm3kRMMOA-yiVqMIHwLB05fmfsZkOJAC_d_Pjc=>, which provides emergency medical assistance around the world, says his organization has been working overtime to communicate unmet needs to pharmaceutical companies. But financially, *filling a $65 billion annual hole left by USAID’s demise* is an untenable ask. As Samuel puts it: “No single entity in the world can plug the gap that’s been left by this.” *Read:* The fall of USAID changed everything — even for those it didn’t fund <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POm30Zn2t0Ur9HeM9w1dZK35fFNNFW8ny5YKwv2XvICeeZpWZJabQzCNxEdp66gfFgnSZ9fATLJXZFrgv4PR_vpXWaF8CvHIpOKk70NTLVUl_EVq5-62RkVLOSowWtbMT5IwiiiIZitCC5rfiIpzISlXU-K5E_yaPwFZkN8SymMglDnnwsJPOl_1zdc0JRY7zSk3Du6BNmfKr5ZONKNf6aYboEvDi8ckZ0boOFOk5kSsNdfbA0ihoCsDTaNFV8uXXWw==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu6DM09BvPJ_ePB9PyAFbVd7FVlb2pjSUv8J9p-QxoSOjv1nOaMtbsO3hF06vk0iXJAY=> [image: Pro] <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZsypu69eXorsk0IU5h0BFh9py49wW_JBPolicg1w1tcQDC6KrBVDB4hvieHHus1UmAo8faE=>