US Development Aid Freeze Raises Questions for Kazakhstan

As promised after the inauguration, Trump signed orders, including one suspending US development aid to other countries.Orda.kz explores the implications for Kazakhstan.

The financial aid freeze lasts 90 days, during which time programs are reviewed to ensure they align with the new administration's political goals.

All department and agency heads with responsibility for United States foreign development assistance programs shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds to foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and contractors pending reviews of such programs for programmatic efficiency and consistency with United States foreign policy, to be conducted within 90 days of this order states Trump's January 20 directive.

After spending review, programs may continue in current or modified form. Which funding streams will return to Kazakhstan remains uncertain.

Political analyst Gaziz Abishev suggests most funding will likely resume:

This primarily affects USAID and State Department grants. DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusivity) and some other programs will be canceled. Grant recipients will go without funding temporarily. But most programs will likely resume after the pause. Which ones exactly remains unknown.

USAID partners with Kazakhstan's Legal Media Center. Director Diana Okremova told Orda.kz about potential impacts:

We can't specify changes for us and Kazakhstan's NGOs yet, as many programs were already approved by US Congress. It's unclear if this affects only programs under review or active ones too. We haven't received any notices about funding suspension or freezes.

The organization won't be severely impacted by USAID funding gaps. The media center has commercial activities and other funding sources.

USAID isn't a critical funding source for us. In February, we'll be 20 years old - we've learned to diversify funding so if one donor leaves, we continue working. We don't have permanent US funding. The situation changes yearly since grant programs have specific timeframes - a year, five years, or six months. We've never had lifetime American funding, Okremova explains.

She believes the media center's activities don't conflict with US foreign policy:

There's a common belief that foreign funders dictate what you must do. But in 20 years, no donor has ever told us what we must do. It works differently. Donors propose topics, and if we have the capacity and reasons to pursue them, we start work in that direction. But we decide what and how to do it.

The director is confident that media legislation reforms, creating free space for journalists, and opposing censorship won't cause funding denial.

Orda.kz has contacted the Foreign Ministry and US Embassy in Kazakhstan about which projects will be most affected by Trump's order.

Original Author: Alexandra Mokhireva