Where You Can Donate to Help Fill the Gaps Left by Foreign Aid Cuts

President Donald Trump has put millions of lives at risk by shutting down most of America’s humanitarian and development work abroad. After freezing almost all spending on foreign aid, the administration this week finished its purge at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), announcing that 83 percent of its programs are being axed. But you can help keep some of these lifesaving programs going and counter foreign aid cuts.

Experts who see the immense value of these programs — which prevent and treat diseases, supply food and clean water to people living in extreme poverty, and help refugees fleeing war — have spun up new emergency funds to enable the programs to continue their operations. And they’re seeking donations.

So if you’re unhappy with these significant foreign aid cuts, you are not powerless here. Donating to one of these funds can be a way to resist the administration’s “America First” ethos. And because the funds are supporting programs that are extremely cost-effective — meaning they save more lives than others would with the same amount of money — they offer an unusually powerful opportunity to help the world’s most disenfranchised groups.

Some may question whether it should fall to private donors to fill in the funding gaps this way; isn’t this the government’s job? It is. But in moments when the government isn’t doing nearly enough, individual generosity can really shine by stepping in with emergency aid. This is one of those moments.

If you’re concerned that private donors stepping in now will reduce pressure to restore USAID later on, consider this: There’s no way donors will manage to fill the massive gap that the government has left behind. Philanthropy may yield millions of dollars, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the billions that the government was providing.