Securing our HIV response: The PEPFAR crisis in South Africa
Global HIV fight shaken—PEPFAR projects slashed as Trump’s aid freeze hits 90% of USAID partnerships.
On 26 February 2025, 90% of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded co-operative agreements held by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) implementing partners across the globe were cursorily terminated. These terminations followed a month-long period of anxious confusion and desperate hope following an executive order (EO) issued by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term in office, 20 January 2025. The EO instated a 90-day pause on US foreign assistance under the guise of a review for alignment with US interests. Four days later, the US State Department issued a ‘stop work order’ directive, expanding the pause to include a freeze on all foreign aid programmes, including PEPFAR[1].
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