UN turns to China to plug aid deficit after Trump funding cuts

Several United Nations (UN) agencies are courting China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI) for partnerships to secure critical funding for projects in Kenya, a potential lifeline that officials say could offer relief to underfunded projects that have been struggling following massive cuts of the US foreign aid. 

The substantial cuts to US aid, initiated during the second term of Trump’s administration, severely impacted key sectors in Kenya, including health and education, leaving several essential programmes stalled and their implementation uncertain.

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

China says it has already mobilised over $23 billion (Sh29.7 trillion) 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 organised 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).

Following the forum, UNAIDS, the agency spearheading the global fight against HIV, announced that it will roll out a new programme in Kenya in partnership with the GDI to sustain the country’s anti-HIV 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, pledged Beijing’s goodwill to 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,” read part of the statement.

“China will carry out more cooperation with Kenya to support its efforts toimprove 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 its decision to cut funding on key programmes that 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 total reduction of US funding, primarily channeled through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) among other channels. These cuts have led to a crippling shortage of funds that have threatened to collapse the health infrastructure and key programmes in education, especially due to its 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.

It further necessitated layoffs of thousands of workers, including nurses and doctors, resulting in severe staffing shortages. Chinese President Xi Jinping had earlier announced that Chinese financial institutions will raise a massive warchest to implement the Global Development Initiative.