UN agencies turn to China to plug Kenya aid shortfalls after Trump funding cuts

Several United Nations (UN) agencies are courting China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI) for partnerships to secure life-saving funding in Kenya, a potential lifeline that officials say could offer relief to underfunded projects following massive cuts to US foreign aid during the Trump administration.

The recent massive cuts to US foreign aid, initiated during the second term of the Trump administration, have crippled key programmes in Kenya such as in health and education sectors and left their implementation in limbo.

The GDI, launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2021, is championed as a mechanism for “South-South Cooperation” the sharing of resources among developing nations like China and Kenya to address shared challenges.

China says it has already mobilized over $23 billion under the GDI framework, and its offficials say this is expected to provide critical resources to help countries like Kenya meet its Sustainable Development Goals or the global plan to end poverty, boost health, and improve education for all by 2030.

The implementation of the ambitious goals has been dented by foreign aid cuts.

A high-level seminar organized by the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi saw representatives from several UN agencies exploring cooperation to implement their life saving projects in Kenya under the framework.

They included representatives from the UN Office at Nairobi (UNON), the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

UNAIDS, the agency spearheading the global fight against HIV, announced following the forum it will roll out a new programme in Kenya in partnership with the GDI to sustain the country's anti-HIV/AIDS efforts.

Other UN entities are also angling to leverage this Chinese framework; The Standard has learned.

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Guo Haiyan, in a statement issued after the forum, organised by the Chinese embassy in Nairobi, pledged Beijing will partner with the global development aid agencies based in Nairobi under the GDI framework to plug any global aid shortfalls affecting Kenya.

“Certain developed countries are blocking the flow of technology, attaching political conditions, and even cutting off funding to global development institutions, which has seriously undermined North-South cooperation.”

"China will carry out more cooperation with Kenya to support improving its capacity for independent development."

In his remarks at the symposium China’s Charge d’Affaires in Nairobi Zhang Zhizhong stated that the new China backed initiative and collaboration with new players will seek to promote development and poverty alleviation efforts at the grassroots across the country.

Kenya has been pleading with the Trump administration to reconsider funding cuts to key programmes which targeted life-saving health initiatives, fearing a catastrophic public health crisis that could reverse decades of progress against diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria.

Kenya was among the countries most severely affected by the reduction in US funding, primarily channeled through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) among other channels.

The closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year has for instance hit key programmes in Kenya.

These cuts have led to a crippling shortage of funds that threatened to collapse the health infrastructure and key programmes in education.

The earlier freeze in US aid, implemented abruptly, created a crisis across Kenya’s health sector, which is deeply reliant on foreign support.

The cuts forced the temporary suspension or scaling back of essential antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics and crucial community-based monitoring services.

Funding shortfalls necessitated the layoffs of thousands of health workers, including nurses and doctors, resulting in severe staffing shortages and drastically increased wait times for vulnerable patients.

Vital initiatives, such as the DREAMS program, which targeted HIV prevention among adolescent girls, were paused, raising fears of increased disease transmission rates among key populations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier announced that Chinese financial institutions will raise a massive warchest to implement the Global Development Initiative.