WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. State Department has waived life-saving humanitarian assistance from a funding freeze that the President imposed on all foreign aid.
The waiver approves the continuation or resumption of 'life-saving humanitarian assistance,' which applies to core life-saving medicine and medical services, including HIV treatment, as well as supplies necessary to deliver such aid.
'Implementers of existing life-saving humanitarian assistance programs should continue or resume work if they have stopped, subject to the directions outlined in this waiver,' Secretary Of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. He clarified that this resumption is temporary in nature, and with limited exceptions as needed to continue life-saving humanitarian assistance programs. 'No new contracts shall be entered into'.
UNAIDS has welcomed Wednesday's emergency waiver from the United States that will allow the continuation of life-saving HIV treatment funded by the US across 55 countries worldwide.
The move from the UN agency dedicated to ending the disease came in response to an immediate 90-day funding pause for all foreign assistance laid out in an executive order by President Donald Trump, including the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The U.S. government is spending roughly $40 billion in foreign aid annually, according to the State Department.
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