Carnage in NGOs, clinics

Thousands of employees in Zimbabwe's non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) face an uncertain future after being told to go home following an executive order by United States President Donald Trump to freeze foreign aid for 90 days.

The move has severely affected humanitarian aid, service organisations, and political governance initiatives, as most NGOs in Zimbabwe rely heavily on US funding.

According to the 2019 Labour Force and Child Labour Survey by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, the NGO sector accounted for 1.2% of total formal employment, representing 17,643 jobs. However, estimates suggest the sector is the second-largest employer in Zimbabwe after the government.

Affected employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed their fears over their livelihoods.

"We are in a difficult position. We don't know what will happen after the 90 days," said one employee. "Our salaries were also frozen, so I don't know where I will get money for rent."

The impact has already been felt in the health sector, where nurses employed under the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have been sent home.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association secretary-general Enock Dongo said some nurses working in local clinics were told not to report for duty.

"Those people are under emotional stress, and the patients who were waiting for them are affected," he said. "What the Trump administration has done is very disrespectful. You cannot just wake up and tell people not to come to work without notice."

He warned that even if the Zimbabwean government wanted to intervene, it needed time to prepare.

Stakeholders in the health sector also raised concerns over the country's heavy reliance on donor funding.

"It is risky and unsustainable for a country to depend substantially on external partners," said Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike. "Development assistance for health has crowded out government resources and created donor dependence."

Health expert Martha Tholanah echoed similar sentiments, saying, "Having such panic means our reliance on foreign funding is too heavy. We need more domestic resources for health from the national Treasury."

Approximately 1.2 million people in Zimbabwe are on HIV treatment, and 90% of HIV-positive pregnant women receive antiretroviral therapy (ART). The suspension of US aid threatens to disrupt critical services, putting many lives at risk.

The US embassy in Zimbabwe confirmed that the executive order is in effect and acknowledged Zimbabwe's progress in combating HIV. However, it urged the government to take greater responsibility for sustaining these gains.

"They urgently need to be focused on buying antiretroviral therapy (ART) and getting nurses in clinics. They can do this," the embassy said in a statement.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) director Blessing Vava said the situation was an opportunity for Zimbabwe to develop self-sustaining initiatives.

"I think it is an opportunity for us to go back to the basics and build organic movements, where voluntarism and sacrifice are at the centre," he said. "Trump is doing what he is doing for his country and the American people. We are Zimbabweans and can never be American, so let's focus on fixing our problems instead."

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has indicated that the government will cover the funding gap through tax revenue, but it remains unclear how quickly alternative funding can be secured.

By the end of 2023, the US had injected over US$300 million into active programmes in Zimbabwe, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) foreign aid portal. The sudden freeze leaves many vulnerable communities without crucial support and raises urgent questions about Zimbabwe's economic and social resilience.