In the wake of USAID’s shuttering by billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, those familiar with USAID’s work have been fighting for the restoration of key programs, like those that relieve the starvation of children, while bracing for the impact of the cuts around the world.

One of the most high-profile programs since Musk’s gutting of USAID was a program that supplied acutely malnourished children with a peanut-based food product called Plumpy Nut meant to help save children who are unable to ingest normal food safely. This program was first cut by Trump and his billionaire partner before being reinstated after significant public pressure.

Andrew Natsios, the former administrator for USAID under the President George W. Bush’s administration, told Salon that there are countless programs like this one and that the destruction of the agency will lead to famine, mass migration and suffering unless some of these programs are restored.

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“We're going to see mass starvation in many countries,” Natsios said. “I hope that doesn't happen, but the evidence is that the international system is breaking down now, the other donors are not cutting their budgets back. Once USAID was shut down, many other donors said, ‘You know, we're going to shut ours down too.’ They do follow the leader.”

Some of the countries following the United States in cutting foreign aid include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Belgium. Jean Van Wette, the head of the Belgian development agency Enabel, described the trend as a “snowball effect” to Euronews Health.

“Something we've never seen, I think in the history of international cooperation, is such a massive cut, not from one donor, but from multiple,” Van Wetter said.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that, after a six-week purge, 83% of USAID's programs had been permanent cut — despite congressional authorization — and that the remaining programs would be administered by the State Department. In fiscal year 2023, USAID distributed roughly $44 billion in aid.

In a statement, Rubio thanked Musk, saying that "our hardworking........

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