Thousands of Afghans working for international and national aid agencies have either lost or are at risk of losing their jobs following cuts to foreign assistance by President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The report highlights that many of those affected have spent years—sometimes decades—working in the aid sector, supporting extended families with their salaries. “One agency is cutting between 70 and 80 percent of its staff,” the report states. “Others expect to shed about a quarter of their workforce. Aid experts predicted some small national NGOs would shut down entirely.”
The aid cuts come at a time when Afghanistan’s job market is already under immense pressure, with few alternative opportunities—particularly for women, who remain largely barred from employment under Taliban restrictions. According to the report, some highly educated Afghan staff have offered to take steep pay cuts in hopes of keeping their jobs. Others have pleaded with organizations to preserve the positions of drivers and guards, citing their heightened vulnerability.
“This sense of solidarity among Afghans is quite remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it,” one humanitarian aid worker told the foundation.
In addition to job losses, the report warns that critical humanitarian services are being disrupted. Programs to improve water safety and sanitation have been curtailed, raising the risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera. Services for children and survivors of domestic violence have also been suspended in some areas.
The report adds that logistical operations—including prepositioning and stockpiling of aid supplies—are being scaled back, which could delay response times in the event of natural disasters.
Aid organizations have long relied on U.S. funding to sustain operations in Afghanistan, and the latest cuts threaten to further unravel an already fragile humanitarian response in a country grappling with deepening poverty and displacement.
