U.S. Restores Some Vaccine and Health Aid to Unicef, Gavi and World Food Programme
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- State Department notified Congress it would send $600 million to Gavi for childhood vaccinations, a year after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdrew American support from the immunization organization.
- The Gavi commitment is part of nearly $2 billion in US financial pledges to international organizations working on hunger and tuberculosis over the past two months.
- Most disbursements release congressionally appropriated funds stuck since the Trump administration took office in January 2025 and froze foreign aid.
- The restored funding marks a limited return to partnerships abruptly severed roughly 18 months ago, with totals still far below previous US humanitarian spending levels.
- People in talks cited at least two motivations behind the resumed partnerships, though it remains unclear whether this represents a lasting policy shift or a one-time release of frozen appropriations.
Why it matters: For Gavi and other global health organizations, the $600 million commitment reverses a year of frozen funding and resumes vaccination programs in low-income countries. But the article notes totals remain well below prior US aid levels, and State Department insiders couldn't confirm this represents a lasting policy shift rather than a one-time release of stuck appropriations.
