New policy will channel funds directly to partner governments
The United States is terminating its decades-long practice of channeling billions of dollars through international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to deliver health care aid abroad, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.
The move dismantles a core pillar of foreign assistance, aiming to curb waste and shift decision-making power directly to partner nations.
Speaking on the new direction for American diplomacy and development, Secretary Rubio outlined a system he described as broken and wasteful.
“We would go to a country, promise help, then contract an NGO from Northern Virginia, give them the money, and watch as overhead ate up funds,” Rubio stated.
“The host country had little say. Only a fraction of the money reached the people we were trying to help. This makes no sense.”
Rubio sharply criticised the practice of creating parallel health systems that sometimes operate independently of, or in conflict with a host nation’s own infrastructure.
“Why are we hiring American and international NGOs to go into other countries and run healthcare systems that are parallel?” he asked.
“If we are trying to help countries, help the country. Don’t help the NGO to go in and find a new line of business”, he said.
The Secretary made clear that the old approach is being dismantled. “We are not doing this anymore. We are not going to spend billions funding the NGO industrial complex while important partners like Kenya have little influence over how healthcare money is spent”, Rubio affirmed.
The policy shift signals a move toward direct partnerships with foreign governments, granting them greater sovereignty and control over aid programmes designed for their citizens. “Bottom line is: if you want to help a country, work with that country,” Rubio concluded, framing the change as both a matter of respect and effectiveness.
The announcement is expected to reshape how billions in U.S. health aid is administered and could redefine Washington’s development partnerships worldwide.
Discussion about this post