How the loss of USAID funding affects Indonesia’s ability to fight climate change

John Yang:

The ripple effects of the Trump administration's elimination of USAID are being felt in dozens of countries around the world where the agency supported initiatives ranging from public health programs to infrastructure and climate resilience projects.

Angeles Ponpa, from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, traveled to Indonesia to see the effect on one of the world's fastest sinking cities.

Angeles Ponpa:

Outside the capital Jakarta and the Tanah Merah neighborhood, residents struggled for years to get access to clean water.

In 2016, USAID offered a program, IUWASH, that helped disadvantaged families obtain clean water.

Abdul Sukur Kadir, Resident, Tanah Merah (through translator):

That was everybody. For me personally, it was really helpful.

Angeles Ponpa:

Prior to USAID's efforts, Abdul Sukur Kadir pulled unsafe groundwater from a nearby well that was dug by hand.

Abdul Sukur Kadir:

Once I started to use USAID water, I stopped using the pump to extract groundwater. I was very happy and grateful.

Angeles Ponpa:

Decades of groundwater extraction have caused Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia to sink.

Meanwhile, with climate change, the seas are rising, making flooding worse and sending salty water into groundwater.

Sukri Ali is the neighborhood chief of Tanah Merah.

Sukri Al, Neighborhood Chief, Tanah Merah (through translator):

That's why the only option was the initiative from USAID. And we were very grateful to USAID from America.

Angeles Ponpa:

The program installed a master meter to connect families to city water. With a steady flow at their taps and affordable rates, they no longer needed to drill wells or rely on costly jugs of water from local sellers.

Even so, the city water supply available to USAID was limited. The master meter program reached only about 18 percent of families in the village.

Sukri Al (through translator):

When there are countries or populations that aren't receiving such support from their governments, and USAID are stepping into help, I think it would be a mistake for world leaders to stop those efforts globally.

Angeles Ponpa:

Jeff Cohen was USAID's most recent mission director in Indonesia. He says the decision by the Trump administration to cut USAID funding will have dire consequences.

Jeff Cohen:

Without USAID's funding there, all the communities where we're working are either going to have to do it on their own or find somebody else to be that catalyst. And honestly, some of them never will get access to clean drinking water, will never get access to safe sanitation until somebody replaces us. And I don't think that's going to happen.

And so I think you're going to see the communities where we worked, increased waterborne diseases. You're going to see sick kids who shouldn't have been sick if they had access to cleaner water.

Angeles Ponpa:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the administration's decision to defund USAID in January.

Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State: Yes, we canceled a bunch of contracts in USAID. Some were stupid and outrageous. Others didn't serve the national interest and others we kept.

It is not charity. Foreign aid is not charity.

Angeles Ponpa:

After decades representing the United States abroad, Jeff Cohen has seen foreign assistance strengthening U.S. influence.

He believes canceling USAID will hurt U.S. relations with countries like Indonesia.

Jeff Cohen:

How now when the government of the United States says to the government or the people of Indonesia, we're here to support you. How can they believe that?

Angeles Ponpa:

As Indonesia confronts the pressures of rapid climate change and urban growth, the question is whether its government can keep the taps running without help from USAID.

For "PBS News Weekend," I'm Angeles Ponpa for the Medill School of Journalism in Jakarta, Indonesia.