After US President Donald Trump issued an executive order instituting a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance, emergency humanitarian assistance providing lifesaving food, nutrition, and healthcare was initially exempted, but terminated in April due to concerns that the Islamic Emirate benefits from such aid, a US government watchdog said.

In a quarterly report, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said that following the order and subsequent review, all USAID programs to Afghanistan were terminated, except for two awards supporting higher education.

USAID/Afghanistan funds two active programs as of April 15. Promote Scholarship Endowment, formerly Women’s Scholarship Endowment, provides university scholarships for Afghan women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Supporting Student Success in Afghanistan funds online learning through the American University of Afghanistan, with the goal of increasing access to higher education in Afghanistan.

SIGAR reported that on April 8, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed that previously exempt emergency food assistance to Afghanistan was terminated “to mitigate Taliban interference.” State also terminated other awards that provided cash-based assistance “given concerns about misuse and a lack of appropriate accountability.”

The Islamic Emirate has previously denied interference in the international assistance in Afghanistan.

According to SIGAR, the United States has been the single largest donor to programs supporting the Afghan people, having disbursed more than $3.83 billion in humanitarian and development assistance since the Islamic Emirate takeover in 2021.