Approximately 98% of U.S. foreign aid for primary education and 100% for tertiary education funding was cut, totaling an estimated $463.4 million.
Date: 3/25
Region: Global
Country: Global
Topic: Education
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.
The WRC researchers note that reports have confirmed that the loss of education programs has particularly affected girls’ vulnerabilities to violence and exploitation.
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.