On January 22, Trump’s administrarion announced it was suspending the funding for foreign organizations that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. SPW summarized the main changes, which expand the restrictions set by the Mexico City Policy and will have many ramifications. Check it out below:
General
- The new rules represent a significant expansion and tightening of restrictions compared to previous versions, which were restricted to assistance to health policies. Now it applies to all forms of US foreign assistance except military aid. This means that it may have a potentially drastic impact on at least 30 billion dollars of foreign assistance (a figure that may reach 47 billion depending on what is accounted for).
- It has also widely expanded the type of recipient entities affected. It even mentions eventual application of the prohibition to foreign states and parastatal bodies, without clarifying in what circumstances these may happen.
- It defines both profit and non-profit as non-governmental entities. This implies that the rules will also apply to private companies ( as is has already been tested with the impediment of companies that implement DEI programs to provide services to US embassies and consulates).
- For entities receiving US foreign assistance funds, the rules also apply to programs funded by other donor sources. But in some cases, the rules allow for these activities to be implemented whenever the US funds are strictly isolated from the other funds supporting these prohibited activities.
- The rules have created new accusatory definitions and disfigured the acronym DEI, which is now translated as Discriminatory Equity Ideology.
- The rules are not yet in force – they will only come into effect at the end of February and apply to new contracts or future deposits under existing agreements.
- The new policy is fully aligned with the Trump regime’s ideology of “America First”, and its political and moral agenda and is bluntly aimed at imposing these frames on other nations within the larger frame of US neo-imperialism.
- It is organized around three axes, as follows:
1. Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (the “Global Gag Rule”):
– Expands the previous “Global Gag Rule” to more entities and issue areas beyond just abortion
– Prohibits promotion or provision of abortion as a method of family planning, with exceptions for activities done in relation to abortion in the case of rape, incest, or women´s life risks in countries where the procedures in these cases are legal.
– It applies to U.S. bases and foreign NGOs, international organizations, and, as said it may be applied to foreign governments and parastatals.
2. Combating Gender Ideology in Foreign Assistance:
– Prohibits the use of US funds to promote “gender ideology”, defined as “the replacement of biological sex by ´gender identity´)
– The policy creates a new accusatory definition: “sex-rejecting procedures” to name medical procedures and practices aimed at “social transitions” (social names, neutral language, etc)
– It applies to gender identity policies and programs aimed at supporting persons of all ages, not just adolescents and infants.
– Promoting “gender ideology in education” is a main target of the new rule, but the ordinance extends the prohibition of using US funds to other areas, such as public education campaigns, media projects, performing arts and films, including documentaries on gender identity-related matters.
3. Combating Discriminatory Equity Ideology in Foreign Assistance:
– As said, the text of the policy has disfigured the acronym DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) to mean “discriminatory equity ideology”.
– It prohibits the use of US funds to support any activity related to affirmative action in all its forms, not exclusively programs aimed at correcting gender identity-based discrimination (in other words ,affirmative action related to race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, etc)
- The definition of activities that cannot be funded is very broad and vague.
– It also restricts access to funds for US NGOs, foreign NGOs and international organizations. As in the other cases may also be applied to governments/parastatals from engaging in or promoting such activities
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US: New, Sweeping Foreign Aid Rules Undermine Global Rights – Human Rights Watch