Morocco set the standard for locally-led aid. Now, USAID is walking away and leaving vulnerable communities in crisis

News of the Trump Administration’s 20 January executive order, 'Re-evaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,' circulated anxiously among international aid workers and partners. The order's ambiguity, which immediately instituted a 90-day pause in US foreign development assistance, rattled Moroccan civil society organisations.

Debate erupted in WhatsApp groups, with distressed USAID partners furiously trying to interpret the order’s scale and scope. Some were optimistic, interpreting the order as a temporary pause on the issuance of all new projects. Others were more cautious, warning that project activities might come to a temporary halt.

In the weeks and months that followed, however, nearly everyone was proven wrong. The future for USAID has far exceeded anyone’s previously imagined worst-case scenario — nearly every programme in Morocco has been permanently terminated.

This dramatic shift has renewed debate among USAID’s harshest critics, who have long derided the agency for allegedly keeping aid recipient countries in a cycle of dependency.

In 'Project 2025,' former USAID official Max Primorac outlined the agency’s need to transition from funding large US-based NGOS to local entities that are “more able to navigate corrupt environments and more likely to steer vulnerable populations away from the dependency on aid towards self-sufficiency.”

The USAID mission in Morocco, however, was doing just that.

According to Stephanie Willman Bordat, founding partner of the Moroccan NGO Mobilising for Rights Associates (MRA), USAID Morocco served as a model for locally-led development.

“The Mission here actually had a process to encourage as many local contractors, local groups and local expertise to win USAID awards rather than bringing in experts from the United States,” says Stephanie, adding, “localising a lot of expertise is also cost-efficient because local groups aren’t charging as much for their consulting services.”

The mission’s success in shifting funding to local groups drew praise at the highest levels. In June 2024, former USAID Administrator Samantha Power wrote an op-ed praising the success of a mission in Morocco that resulted in 40% of USAID funding going directly to local Moroccan partners in 2023, almost four times the agency-wide average of 10%.

Issam Cherrat, a former senior staffer at a USAID implementer, explained that what set USAID Morocco apart was its flexibility, noting, “While many donors fund projects with fixed agendas, USAID often encourages implementers to be adaptive and responsive to local contexts.”

Stephanie echoed this, stating, “USAID Morocco set the gold standard in terms of how to do progressive, inclusive participatory project design and implementation.”

One notable example was the Inclusive Socioeconomic Development in Marrakech-Safi project, which was initially focused on job creation and public sector reform.

When a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated the region in September 2023, USAID asked the programme to shift its focus to meet the emerging needs of the communities affected by the disaster.

With USAID’s support, the initiative redirected funding to a local civil society organisation providing culturally-sensitive psychosocial support to individuals who had lost family members.

According to Issam, “[the programme] was deeply impactful — it helped participants process their trauma, regain a sense of stability, and begin healing.”

Despite these successes, the project, along with 83% of USAID projects worldwide, has now been terminated.

The sudden and permanent terminations generated widespread chaos among USAID partners, as organisations scrambled to find alternatives to keep programmes running.

The AFCD Foundation, a Moroccan-led organisation based outside of Marrakech, was first informed about the suspension of its USAID programmes by US Embassy staff and grant officers. Then, without any prior notification from their grant representative, they received a termination letter from USAID Washington, followed by another letter from the local mission.

“This created significant confusion,” says Foundation President Kamal Akaya.

“We had insufficient time to properly react or implement contingency plans,” he adds, voicing concern that “the abrupt decision forced us to terminate employment for all staff working on USG-funded projects with virtually no notice.”

Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that many NGOS and contractors have not yet been reimbursed for legitimate expenses incurred before receiving stop-work orders, leaving implementers in debt and unable to pay subcontractors, vendors, and staff.

The economic implications are proving particularly devastating. Many economic growth projects in Morocco supported individuals from low-income communities in creating cooperatives and small businesses.

To participate in the programmes, individuals fronted startup expenses and are now left waiting for reimbursements that may never come.

According to Stephanie, “the problem is that — primarily poor and marginalised — people took out personal loans from the bank to be able to participate in these programmes and then they stopped — this is on the level of individual people being forced into debt by the US government not paying its bills.”

According to Kamal, the economic impacts of USAID’s departure will be wide-reaching. Kamal warns that “such sudden disruption not only affects our operational capacity, but also impacts the livelihoods of dedicated professionals who committed themselves to these programmes.”

He adds that the Moroccan economy is likely to suffer further as organisations reduce activities and staffing levels in response to the new funding constraints.

Moreover, there are growing concerns about long-term reputational damage. Kamal cautions that the cuts may undermine trust in US-funded initiatives moving forward, noting, “partners and local stakeholders will understandably question the reliability and sustainability of [US-funded] programmes. This experience created a significant credibility gap that may take years to overcome.”

Others, like Issam, fear even broader implications.

“A shutdown or significant disruption to USAID’s operations would undermine the liberal values the US has championed for decades,” he says, adding, “these values are not just abstract principles — they are woven into the lives of millions of people around the world who depend on USAID’s support for stability, opportunity, and dignity.”

Kirsten Mullin is a former staffer at a USAID contractor and a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco