Numerous organizations around the world, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), have overnight found themselves in an uncertain and unfavorable situation. Projects of United States (U.S.) international aid have been halted, which means that many who depended on these projects face either layoffs or, in the worst case, shutting down, as they can hardly finance themselves on their own.
When it comes to BiH, the most frequent and significant partner is certainly the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID). This organization did not respond to an inquiry regarding cooperation with BiH organizations. They forwarded it to the office in Washington.
The executive director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) in BiH, Denis Dzidic, says: “Fortunately, we have diversified sources of funding and a large number of donors because we cover many topics – human rights, transitional justice, corruption, the rule of law – and in this context, we have multiple donors. So, luckily, these decisions and funding pauses have not affected us in a way that would require layoffs or any radical decisions, but they have certainly impacted three projects we are implementing, which are funded from these sources, where we had to pause activities and redirect funds to cover salaries, which has all been managed somehow.”
Although BIRN is not directly threatened, Dzidic emphasizes that U.S. international aid is crucial for BiH.
“In BiH, we do not have a state that covers all the segments that a social state should, such as ensuring a healthcare system, mental health support, or a security system. Many of these activities are taken on by the non-governmental sector through donor funding – securing safe houses, independent media, protecting journalists…All of these activities come into question when such a major donor pauses its operations, raising an even bigger question of whether this is just a temporary pause or a permanent redirection of funds that will not return. In this context, the damage can truly be immeasurable, and significant consequences can arise if some of the services that certain non-governmental and activist groups have established to fill gaps in the system in BiH – services that represent an incredible contribution from the U.S. government and long-term projects that ensure the protection of the most vulnerable groups – fail to survive. What is disheartening is that even weeks after these decisions, we do not see any actions from the authorities to explore how they might support the non-governmental sector or the media. On the contrary, in certain parts of this country, in Republika Srpska (RS), we see efforts to introduce laws on NGOs to further shame and shut down such media and organizations,” Dzidic analyzes.
Professor of international relations and European studies at Burch University, Adis Maksic, is not surprised by such decisions from Trump’s close associates. He also does not doubt that the final scenario could be the complete shutdown of U.S. international aid.
“This is something we could have expected; it is something he announced during his campaign. This political direction is one that disregards long-term principles, that is uninterested in the soft power that has made the U.S. so influential worldwide over the past decades. It is a policy that relies on economic instruments but ultimately on hard, raw power. What USAID has done worldwide amounts to tens of billions of dollars in aid to various countries, which in turn secured a certain level of influence for the U.S. in those states – that is the nature of soft power. What is happening now is extremely shortsighted. Under the pretense of saving U.S.taxpayers’ money, he is reducing government size and planning to shut down various agencies, including USAID, which he accuses of being infiltrated by the deep state. We know that in documents outlining his policies for the next four years, the fight against the deep state is at the very top of his agenda. I believe this is long-term harmful for the U.S., regardless of the short-term savings and the populism that might appeal to U.S. voters, especially Trump’s base. However, what will happen now, especially in parts of the world like Africa, where this aid was existential for many people? Those people will now turn to other potential sponsors, other powers. I primarily think that China is the one that stands to benefit from this because many African nations will now open their doors to them,” says Professor Maksic.
Veteran journalist Rubina Cengic emphasizes that, for example, USAID is crucial for all developing countries, especially those that are conflict-prone or where human rights protections have not reached the necessary level.
“USAID in BiH has been involved in processes of support, funding, and co-financing in all possible spheres of life, which is why it is so important. Some organizations have funded their entire activities through USAID grants, while others have financed parts of their activities. There have been procedures for adopting certain laws that USAID supported by paying experts from around the world to work with our authorities. Numerous bridges, roads, centers for assisting families with members with disabilities, media, and human rights organizations – USAID has been a safeguard wherever the government lacked funds, understanding, or willingness to help citizens. And it is not without reason that USAID’s slogan is ‘From the American people to the people of BiH’ or another country. This has happened worldwide. Information coming from the U.S. indicates that some sort of review is underway that will last 90 days, but from what I can see in some media, considering that both the U.S. and BiH USAID websites have been taken down, there is a real fear that, after three months, unfortunately, nothing good will happen – there is simply fear. No one knows yet what will happen afterward, and I think we need to be very cautious with media information that has not been verified. One of the social media is controlled by Elon Musk, who has a direct interest in shutting down USAID. Another fact is that Facebook’s owners have suspended fact-checking of information for the U.S. These are all elements warning us that we must be very careful when following media reports. This is not a good period – not just for BiH, but for many countries around the world,” Cengic emphasizes.
Many BiH organizations, however, say they may not survive the review process and could be forced to shut down within a few months.
The U.S. Embassy in BiH recently stated that the country has invested approximately two billion dollars in various projects here since the end of the war in 1995.
According to available data, U.S. international aid for BiH in the past year amounted to nearly 40 million dollars, while globally, such aid through various U.S. organizations is estimated at around 50 billion dollars annually, N1 writes.
