— The United States will overhaul its foreign aid system to prioritise direct partnerships with recipient governments and reduce reliance on non-governmental organisations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday, describing the shift as a move away from what he called the “NGO industrial complex.”
Rubio announced the new approach while signing a $2.5 billion Health Cooperation Framework with Kenya, under which Washington will provide up to $1.6 billion over five years to support priority health programmes. Kenya has committed to increase its own health spending by $850 million as part of the agreement, aimed at strengthening long-term self-reliance.
Under the new model, U.S. assistance will increasingly flow directly to partner governments rather than through foreign or U.S.-based NGOs, which Rubio said have absorbed large portions of aid through overhead and administrative costs.
“We would go to a country and say we are going to help you with healthcare needs, and then give all the money to an NGO based somewhere else,” Rubio said. “By the time it reached the ground, only a fraction of the money actually got to patients.”
Rubio said working directly with governments would give host countries greater control over programmes and improve efficiency and accountability. “If we’re trying to help countries, help the country — not the NGO,” he added.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said foreign aid should not “pad the pockets of overpaid executives” in the NGO sector, pointing to publicly reported salaries of senior executives at major health organisations funded by U.S.
By Anthony Dann
