USAID exit: international community must prioritize community needs

How time flies. It’s now nearly four months since the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended its development portfolio in Uganda—following U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order dissolving the agency on January 20, 2025.

Until then, Uganda had been receiving at least $458 million annually in development assistance. USAID was one of the country’s most significant funders of health and human rights programs, including critical support for key populations and marginalized groups such as LGBTQ+ communities.

Its abrupt withdrawal has left many local initiatives struggling to sustain essential services—ranging from HIV/ AIDS prevention and mental health support to emergency response.

In the absence of this dependable funding, I’ve seen numerous grassroots initiatives—particularly those led by and for key populations and LGBTQ+ communities—forced to scale down operations or halt outreach altogether.

This has intensified the vulnerability of queer individuals, who already face systematic legal and societal persecution under Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA). The USAID exit has also triggered a ripple effect among other international donors, many of whom are now delaying or reassessing their commitments, further destabilizing Uganda’s civil society.

Crucially, this is not just an LGBTQ+ issue—efforts around democratic governance, freedom of expression, and prevention of gender- based violence are all suffering as a result. Despite the funding crisis, some LGBTQ+-focused health facilities have managed to keep their doors open, unlike many mainstream civil society organizations (CSOs).

Our advocacy has also continued— most notably through legal challenges to the AHA. This moment serves as a wake-up call for stakeholders. We urgently need sustainable, diversified, and locally grounded funding strategies.

The Ugandan government has used the funding vacuum to tighten its grip on civil society, placing even more restrictions on groups that serve marginalized populations. Ironically, public institutions have also suffered—many of their health and development programs had long depended on USAID support.

While international allies—including the European Union, United Nations, Global Fund, and private donors—have expressed solidarity, they must now step in more decisively. Even so, their efforts alone will not fully offset the scale of the crisis. What’s needed is a coordinated, strategic, and sustained response.

Critics have long warned about the risks of over-reliance on foreign aid. This moment validates those concerns. We must strengthen our movements to be more self-reliant and resilient—capable of withstanding both financial shocks and political repression.

It’s also important to recognize that most foreign funding never directly reached grassroots LGBTQ+ groups. Despite this, Uganda’s LGBTQ+ movement—including community-led groups like Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)—has shown remarkable endurance, even through long periods of minimal support and unrelenting political hostility.

To mitigate the damage caused by USAID’s departure, the international community must act with urgency: fund sustainable, community-prioritized initiatives that balance health and human rights; support adaptable funding models; and exert diplomatic pressure to protect civic space.

But support must go beyond funding. International actors must amplify Ugandan human rights voices, offer rapid solidarity in moments of crisis, and help build cross-border alliances. Meanwhile, local actors must continue to invest in sustainable community leadership, organizational resilience, and the cohesion of movements.

Ugandan human rights defenders have always operated under pressure. Community groups like SMUG have demonstrated extraordinary creativity and commitment—offering legal aid, documenting abuses, mobilizing communities, and fighting for justice, even before being unjustly shut down.

This is not a moment of collapse, but of recalibration. Uganda’s human rights movement is evolving—shifting toward more locally rooted, digitally connected, and community-led models of advocacy. Still, I worry that global funding will continue to shrink.

That makes it all the more urgent to absorb the lessons of this crisis—and to rebuild stronger, wiser, and more sustainable than before.

The author is a human rights advocate, TIME100 honoree, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee.