USAID and Those That Will Die

On - Commentary, The Fallout
Emma walker
Michael and Sarah Walker
USAID and Those That Will Die
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When Reform Is Needed, But Retraction Becomes a Death Sentence

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No one is denying it: serious misconduct has occurred inside USAID. There have been failures of oversight, mismanagement, and moments of corruption that rightly demand accountability. Some officials abused public trust, others looked the other way, and safeguards that should have protected taxpayer dollars often failed to do so.

But there is a profound difference between cleaning house and burning the house down. And by choosing to freeze, dismantle, or politically sideline USAID rather than reform it, we are not punishing the guilty — we are abandoning the innocent.

Corruption is Real — But So Is the Need

Yes, the system must be fixed. But when the U.S. government pulls back aid in response to internal wrongdoing, the ones who suffer aren’t the bureaucrats in D.C. — they are families in Sudan, Gaza, Haiti, and dozens of fragile states.

These are people who depended on shipments of food, vaccines, water purification, and basic medical supplies. To them, USAID was not a political entity. It was hope.

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Reform Is Possible — and Necessary

Every institution with global reach eventually confronts its own failures. The answer is not to dismantle it, but to build back better — with transparency, accountability, and structural integrity.

Reform could mean:

  • Independent auditing and reporting,

  • Whistleblower protections,

  • Contracting transparency,

  • Career experts, not political appointees, in charge of field decisions.

These are not radical ideas. They are the very practices that prevent corruption from becoming systemic.

The Cost of Retraction

If the decision to punish a few leads to the withdrawal of aid from millions, then the punishment is not justice — it is negligence.

When vaccines spoil in warehouses, when famine goes unaddressed, when clean water systems shut down because funds are frozen, the cost is counted not in dollars, but in deaths. Quiet deaths. Children who never make the news. Entire regions that fall further into desperation.

What We Stand For

The United States doesn’t have to be the world’s savior. But it should not become a silent bystander to suffering it once helped prevent. A tarnished agency can be repaired. A global reputation — and the lives lost along the way — may not be so easily recovered.

In Closing

Yes, there was wrongdoing. Yes, there must be consequences. But if we confuse justice with abandonment, we risk turning a scandal into a catastrophe. USAID must change — but it must survive.

Because in much of the world, our ability to help is not a symbol of power.
It’s a lifeline.

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