State Department instructs Nordic NGOs to suspend US-funded aid operations

January 26, 2025 / By: Bjørn H Amland

The US State Department has instructed Nordic NGOs to suspend all on-going and planned aid activities funded by the United States in response to President Donald J. Trump’s executive order. Five Nordic NGOs have received US funding amounting to about USD 250 million annually. A USAID spokesperson says to Development Today: “all programs and grants without a waiver approved” by the Secretary of State Marco Rubio are paused. (Updated)

NPA demining in Vietnam.jpg — Norwegian People’s Aid has demining operations in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, removing mines and unexploded ordnance left over from the Vietnam War. Here, NPA staff Pham Thanh Trung in Vietnam. (Photo: Hien Ngo / NPA)