US State Department grants additional waiver for life-saving aid

The US Department of State issued a press release on Tuesday, notifying all implementing US government agencies, partners, and NGOs of an additional waiver regarding the Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid.

This decision is aimed at ensuring the continuation of life-saving humanitarian assistance during the review period.

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The statement approved by the Department of State provides that life-saving humanitarian aid, including core medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, can proceed.

This includes supplies and reasonable administrative costs essential to deliver the aid.

The waiver allows implementing partners to continue or resume work on existing life-saving humanitarian programs if they had been paused, although this resumption is temporary.

The Department of State emphasized that no new contracts should be entered into under this waiver unless otherwise specified or authorized by a separate waiver.

The waiver, however, comes with several important exclusions. It does not apply to activities involving abortions, family planning, non-life-saving programs such as gender or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, transgender surgeries, or other non-humanitarian activities.

Additionally, Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) funding will only be used to support life-saving aid, including the repatriation of third-country nationals to their home country or a safe third country.

For humanitarian activities outside the scope of this waiver, organizations are encouraged to request additional waivers or exceptions through the Director of Foreign Assistance at the Department of State. Implementing partners and NGOs are advised to work through their US government agency counterparts to process these requests.

This waiver decision reflects the continued commitment of the US government to provide critical humanitarian support during a period of review and realignment of foreign aid policies.