President Donald Trump called for a review of the United States’s investment in foreign aid to ensure it supports our interests. A periodic review of this kind is valuable and necessary. But crises such as Sudan‘s show that the U.S.’s role in providing humanitarian assistance is not just charity; it’s a smart strategy. In places where chaos fuels extremism, destabilizes entire regions, and threatens trade, U.S. investment in humanitarian responses pays dividends for security and stability.
In war-ravaged Sudan, independent reports estimated the death toll to be as many as 150,000 since the conflict began more than two years ago. The number of people forcibly displaced is now the largest in the world, surpassing Gaza and Ukraine. According to the United Nations’s high commissioner for refugees, Sudan’s conflict between Sudanese government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has forced more than 12 million people to flee their homes. Every displaced woman, child, and family is not only a human tragedy but also exacerbates regional instability.
