Cape Town — The reduction of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding for child-focused programmes in parts of Africa has prompted renewed reflection on the sustainability of services supporting children and vulnerable adults.  

For decades, USAID has been a central development partner in sectors such as maternal and child health, immunisation, nutrition, education and child protection, particularly in contexts affected by conflict, displacement and humanitarian crises. 

Its contributions strengthened safeguarding systems and improved child wellbeing across environments where domestic capacity often remained constrained. 

According to the Commission’s Regional Expert for Africa, Marist Brother Fortune Chakasara, this transition should not be viewed merely as a funding shortfall but as an inflection point for reassessing how childcare sustainability has been understood and implemented.  

“The key question is not whether donors may withdraw, but whether systems supporting vulnerable children were sufficiently prepared for transition,” he observes. In the long term the question is one of institutional resilience. 

 While sustainability policies exist in many countries, they have not always been translated into action such as phased exit strategies, financial transition plans and structured handovers.  

Where withdrawal occurs abruptly, basic services are interrupted, placing at risk gains achieved in health, education and protection for millions of children. 

“The challenge is not merely to preserve past gains but to build systems resilient enough to sustain progress for future generations.” – Brother Fortune Chakasara 

Chakasara however argues that responsibility for sustainability is shared. African governments are not passive recipients of development assistance; rather, outcomes depend on partnerships grounded in mutual accountability.  

Donors must embed sustainability in programme design through early capacity-building and predictable transition pathways, while national institutions must strengthen domestic financing, policy coherence and institutional capacity. 

Ultimately this requires coordinated action among governments, Church institutions, development partners and communities. 

 “It also demands stronger and more disciplined domestic public financial management,” notes the Marist Brother, “as well as integrated child-focused policy planning, and diversified partnerships that include regional institutions and community-based actors.” 

As Chakasara emphasises, the Church is called to strengthen community-based child protection networks by equipping parish leaders, catechists and volunteers to identify and respond to abuse, neglect and exploitation. Expanding safeguarding education within parishes can enhance prevention, while stronger diocesan safeguarding structures can ensure institutional accountability. 

Additional priorities include investing in mental health and psychosocial support through training pastoral caregivers in trauma-informed care and strengthening sensitive case management systems supported by simple data tools.  

“Church workers need [to know how] to use simple digital or paper systems to track needs and follow-ups. Closely linked with this is that the Catholic Church in Africa must adopt the use of data to drive action,” he says. 

Lastly, the Safeguarding Expert with decades of experience in working on the ground says the Catholic Church needs to strengthen the building of local resource mobilization capacity, by encouraging locally based fundraising and stewardship campaigns.  

Church communities could “set up guardianship funds for vulnerable children and adults and explore sustainable social enterprises like agricultural development and crafts which will support care programs.” 

The withdrawal of USAID from certain child-related programmes should therefore be understood neither as crisis nor condemnation. Rather it invites a more rigorous conversation about how child-centred systems are financed, governed, and transitioned in environments shaped by economic constraint and external shocks.  

Sustainable outcomes for children in Africa will depend on shared responsibility, adaptive partnerships, and sustained commitment to the rights and wellbeing of the continent’s youngest citizens – ensuring that progress achieved over decades is not only preserved but strengthened for the future.