USAID shutdown linked to sharp increase in violence across Africa: Research

New research suggests the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) led to sharp increases in violence throughout Africa. 

African countries that received the most support from USAID experienced armed clashes, protests, and riots in the months following the agency’s dismantling, per a research paper published in the Science journal. 

“Areas that relied heavily on US aid saw an increase in the number of conflict events (of all types) of approximately 12.3 percent, an increase in the number of battles of around 7.3 percent, and an increase in protests and riots of around 6.8 percent,” the paper co-authored by Associate Prof. Austin Wright from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy states.

Researchers compared data regarding conflict trends in 870 subnational regions in the 11 months before USAID cuts and after the agency shutdown.

“In regions at the 75th percentile of exposure to........

© The Hill