When the United States suddenly moved to dismantle its foreign aid system earlier this year, the UN’s landmine safety and removal project in Nigeria braced for impact.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and unexploded ordnance killed or injured 418 civilians in northeast Nigeria in 2024, more than double the year prior — but workers knew the severity of the crisis was no guarantee that the programme would survive.

US President Donald Trump’s cuts came for everything, from malaria treatment to emergency food for starving people.

But then, nothing happened.

“We were very surprised,” said Edwin Faigmane, programme chief for the UN Mine Action Service in Nigeria, noting USAID accounted for 20 percent of its funding.

The dismantling of USAID, Washington’s main foreign aid arm, has been ca

See Full Page