The abrupt freeze of USAID funding by the current US administration has left Moroccan NGOs and project managers in disarray, threatening decades of developmental work. The fallout since January has been stark, with mass layoffs affecting thousands and Moroccan organizations scrambling to secure alternative funding. Yasmina Sarhrouny has had a long career in foreign assistance and policy. From working at the United Nations for gender equality and local governance to overseeing projects funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Morocco, Niger and Burkina Faso, she has built her life's work in this sector. Decades of work were threatened when the United States froze foreign assistance funding in January 2025. "There are no words other than absolute shock and disbelief because that was not something that we expected as a USAID community," Sarhrouny said. Following the sudden termination of USAID and other foreign aid programs under the current US administration, project managers, employees, and Moroccan non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were left without answers or direction. The Sudden Fall of USAID On Jan. 20, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reevaluate all US foreign aid programs, merely hours after he officially started his presidency. The order paused all programs to undergo a 90-day review, and the stop-work order followed on Jan. 24. However, it would not take the entire pause before the government to terminate 83% of USAID programs. Stephanie Willman Bordat is a founding partner of Mobilizing for Rights Associates (MRA), a Rabat-based NGO that aims to promote women's rights through legal action and community service. She says there was no prior warning that funds would be cut off and no support after. "The process was terrible," she told Yabiladi. "We got no notice of anything. I realized because I paid attention to the news and what was going on. According to a survey conducted by MRA in early February, only 7 out of 37 Moroccan associations heard about the stop-work order after it was announced on Jan. 24. The rest were informed through the media or unofficial word of mouth. While Sarhrouny had been anticipating obstacles for projects related to climate and sustainability or gender equality and healthcare, she did not expect the US government to cut off funds for virtually all projects. "USAID is a pillar of US foreign policy," she said. "We talk about the three 'D's when it comes to foreign policy: defense, diplomacy, and development. We did not believe in a million years that the US administration would sabotage itself in this way, given its global impact. Following the Money Once a shining example of what USAID could do for locally led projects, Moroccan organizations are left scrambling to find different funding sources or fighting for the ones that are left. Most international developmental projects with USAID were on a reimbursement basis, Bordat says. This means organizations had advanced funds and would submit requests for reimbursements. But after the funding freeze, organizations were left waiting for the money they were supposed to get back. For the MRA, it took until May to simply get reimbursed for the money that was laid out from October 2024 to January 2025. "We were lucky because we had diverse funding sources," Bordat said. "I'm not saying it was great, because instead of doing our projects from December until now, this whole year, I just had to be fundraising". Compounding USAID's exit were cuts to funding from European donors, who many hoped would help fill the $60 billion gap. The total amount of money allocated for official development assistance (ODA), government aid for economic development and welfare in developing countries, in 2026 is projected to go down by 12% or decline by $18.41 billion, according to Donor Tracker. However, the cuts are part of a larger trend that started before US foreign assistance cuts. This year, ODA from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the US, which together make up two-thirds of the total ODA funding, was projected to drop anywhere from 9 to 17%, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2024, the ODA had already dropped by 9%. Cleaning Up the Aftermath For Moroccan projects entirely relying on USAID money, the fallout also meant the loss of job security. Ahmed Jazouli was the chief of party for the Inclusive Socio-Economic Development in Marrakech-Safi program that started in 2022. The USAID-funded program was given $18 million to fund programs for research, civil society organizations, and more in the region. The project first got the letter to stop work in January and had closed by May, according to him. "We started the process of the closeout and, of course, all of the team found itself without a job," Jazouli said. The team had 25 full-time employees. Fortunately for Jazouli, who is far along in his career, there were other roles to fall back on. But for those who don't have the same level of experience or other projects to work on, unemployment is the stark reality. As of September, over 238,000 jobs have been lost globally by the stop-work order and the cascading effects of USAID's termination. Sarhrouny, who is a Moroccan citizen, plans to stay in the country to pursue work. But others aren't so lucky. "Many had to sell their homes," Sarhrouny said. "Others were living overseas, and all of a sudden they needed to go back to the US, without necessarily having plans, without having houses and most importantly, without having healthcare". With thousands of people without jobs, she says the community has "flooded the market" with their specialized skills, most often being overly qualified. "It breaks my heart to see my former colleagues struggling and finding jobs that are so beneath what they can bring to the world," Sarhrouny said. The Future of Foreign Assistance The disorganization and overall chaos that ensued has deeply affected the connections foreign assistance forged. Bordat says the breach of faith was a hit to her team's morality. "You're like 'Why would we trust anyone ever again, even if we have a signed contract?'," she said. Despite the "traumatizing experience", Sarhrouny thinks the US will feel the long-term consequences. "At the end of the day, if Americans don't want to be involved on the global stage, it's their call," she said. "People are going to move on and they're going to move on without the USA"
