Approximately 88% of U.S. foreign aid for maternal and child health has been cut since January 2025, totaling at least $740.3 million. 16.8 million pregnant women annually were to be reached with the terminated programming.
Date: 4/25
Region: Global
Country: Global
Topic: Gender Equality & Inclusion, Health
Policy Lens: Moral Leadership
Entry Type: Operational Impact
Additional Context: This information comes from the WRC report, "A Year of Harms: The Impact of US Foreign Aid Cuts on Women and Girls in Humanitarian Crises." WRC researchers analyzed publicly available evidence on how the 2025 US foreign aid cuts have affected women and girls. Drawing on 105 gender-disaggregated sources from humanitarian crises in 32 countries, the report shows that funding reductions triggered cascading failures in health, protection, education, livelihoods, and civil society systems—impacts that have compounded over the past year.
Closure of hundreds of health centers offering maternal healthcare means that women must travel further to access emergency care, often in insecure environments. According to WRC, there are several documented maternal deaths and changes in health seeking behaviors. According to certain estimates, around 510,000 additional maternal deaths by 2040 may be in part tied to these cuts.
WRC utilized publicly available information on active and terminated USAID programming, including official development assistance data from the OECD, and information from the OCHA-FTS. The 16.8 million calculation was calculated by adding the expected reach of terminated awards.