USAID closedown or reorganization could give serious start to cure  for Armenian society - MP

ArmInfo. The consequences of the possible termination of the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its possible  reorganization, which is the most likely outcome, will be significant  for many countries, including Armenia. This was written in her  article by member of the Alternative Projects Group, deputy of the  National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Elinar Vardanyan.

"With the Agency's funding, numerous programs have been implemented  in Armenia, the purpose of which was to help Armenia achieve  sustainable development through increased competitiveness, improved  democratic governance, safe and secure energy resources, and access  to quality health and social services.  In 2022, USAID and Armenia  signed a grant agreement in the amount of $120 million, and in  September 2024, a decision was made to provide an additional $130  million, bringing the total amount of grants provided to Armenia to  $250 million. It is impossible to underestimate the enormous work  that USAID has been doing for decades in many countries, including  Armenia. Educational, media and human rights programs have been  implemented within the framework of numerous grants, striking  examples of which are Hetq and Civilnet," the MP noted.

At the same time, Vardanyan continued, a large group of civil society  organizations and individuals funded by the Agency has formed in  parallel with this, whose activities will one day be the subject of  close attention from the point of view of state and national  interests. The termination of USAID activities in Armenia will  significantly change the atmosphere and palette of civil society. "In  the end, the situation will become clear, since Armenia, the Armenian  people, have been under the enormous influence of disinformation,  legends and false stories for at least the last five or six years.  They see but do not believe, they hear but do not understand. And a  number of civil society organizations and individuals have made a  "serious contribution" to this matter. The latter have been in  disarray for several days now, as they understand that after the  reorganization of USAID, many of them will be left without funding.  In this regard, serious changes will occur in society. In the absence  of funding, many ideas and narratives of this network -  anti-Armenian, anti-Artsakh, questioning the genocide, etc. - will  not have the resources to be implemented," Vardanyan noted.

She added that there is a high probability that the government will  take up the "sacred cause" of funding, since ultimately the existence  of these organizations is a guarantee of the dissemination and  protection of government ideas, justification of the anti-people  actions of the authorities, but the volumes of funding cannot be the  same. "As a result, there will be a reorganization of the civil  society platform. It is very important that this gap is filled not  with extreme ideas, populist or adventurous theses, but with  competent ideas. This can be a serious start for healing society,"  wrote Elinar Vardanyan.

USAID was created by John Kennedy at the height of the Cold War as an  instrument of American influence, an alternative to military force.  Over the sixty years of its existence, the agency has become the  world's largest donor of humanitarian aid, spending about 1% of the  US federal budget on development programs in more than 120 countries.  However, with the rise to power of Donald Trump, the agency has come  under fire. The new administration, which appointed billionaire Elon  Musk to head the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE),  accused USAID of "woukism" and embezzlement of American taxpayer  funds. Musk, in particular, said that the agency funded the  development of biological weapons and that "it is time for it to  die."