L’impact de la déclaration du milliardaire a été rapide et brutal, avec des aliments et des médicaments cruciaux abandonnés dans les entrepôts, des programmes vitaux fermés et des travailleurs mis à pied

Critical supplies of life-saving medicines have been blocked and children left without food and battling malnutrition as multiple effects were reported across the globe after Elon Musk resolved to shut down the US government’s pre-eminent international aid agency.

Chaotic scenes were seen in scores of countries as aid organisations warned of the risk of escalating disease and famine along with disastrous repercussions in areas such as family planning and girls’ education, after President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze funding to USAid. In 2023, the agency managed more than $40bn (£32bn).

Countless aid organisations have already been forced to close down or lay off staff.

Analysis confirms that several thousand women and girls are likely to die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth as a direct result of Trump’s order to freeze aid to the agency for 90 days.