Japan International Cooperation Agency will try to replace USAID in Ukraine
6 March 09:42
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will consider funding those energy and infrastructure programs in Ukraine that were previously supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This was reported by Ukrinform, citing a statement by Hideki Matsunaga, head of the JICA Ukrainian office, at the V Ukrainian-Japanese Forum, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
Hideki Matsunaga noted that the approaches of USAID and JICA are somewhat different, so it will be difficult to pick up certain programs implemented by USAID, particularly in the legal sector, as well as to directly fund civil society.
“But we would like to see what gaps there are in the energy sector and try to fill them as much as possible. Of course, we have certain budgetary constraints, but we would like to do more,” emphasized the head of the Ukrainian JICA office.
On January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a decree suspending all foreign aid programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they meet his political goals. And on January 24, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a “shutdown” of foreign aid.
The order, signed by Trump at the time, stated that the aid industry and bureaucracy are not in the American interest and in many cases contradict American values, and “serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly opposed to harmonious and stable relations within and between countries.”
As Trump emphasized, no further foreign aid will be paid in a manner that does not fully comply with the US President’s foreign policy.
The US Supreme Court did not support the president
The day before, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s request to freeze billions of dollars in foreign aid by 5 votes to 4. However, according to CNN, the court did not specify when the funds should be unblocked, which means that the White House may continue to litigate in lower courts.
The lawsuit was filed by several non-governmental organizations, which insisted that the administration’s actions to cut off funding for foreign aid programs usurped Congress’s authority to control spending and violated federal law. The plaintiffs characterize the Trump administration’s actions as having a “devastating” impact.
