By JACQUELINE CHARLES Miami Herald
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is asking the Trump administration to provide additional exemptions to a 90-day freeze on all U.S. foreign aid.

Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, didn’t go into details Monday, but said that the U.N. chief is making the request to “ensure the continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities for the most vulnerable communities around the world, whose lives and livelihoods depend on this support.”

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Soon after his inauguration last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting all foreign aid pending a review to ensure that the funds being distributed around the world are aligned with his “America First” policy priorities.

On Friday, the State Department issued a stop-work order on all new and existing aid. The memo, obtained by the Miami Herald, offered guidance about the suspension and the review process launched by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Far-reaching, it affects everything from HIV/AIDS medication to reproductive health to security.

Not only are all new contract and grant awards for foreign assistance on pause, but disbursements or payments for existing work are also halted, absent a waiver from the secretary of state.

Among the waivers granted were military aid to Egypt and Israel, and emergency food assistance, according to the memo.

In Haiti, where the U.S. is the largest donor of aid, the decision is being viewed as “catastrophic” by the government and “reckless” by some humanitarian groups that rely on the U.S. Agency for International Development for assistance. In addition to health initiatives, U.S. money finances both the Haiti National Police and U.N. authorized Multinational Security Support mission being led by Kenya, as well as an ongoing multi-million dollar renovation of the Cap-Haïtien seaport, to name a few.

Several providers told the Miami Herald that they are still seeking clarity of how the freeze will affect services, but are deeply concerned about its impact on the already deteriorating security environment in Haiti.

On Monday, for example, while providers were meeting over the phone and video conference trying to get answers, armed gangs were once more on the attack. Early in the morning, two armed groups encircled the community of Kenscoff in the mountains above Port-au-Prince. Haitian police responded.

But while police were able to stop the gangs’ advance into other areas of Kenscoff, local residents reported that homes had been burned and people forced to flee after the rural hamlets of Godet and Bélot were overtaken by gangs.

In addition to temporarily freezing U.S. aid, Trump is also looking at the United States’ assistance to the U.N., another cause for concern inside the global organization.

“The U.S. is the largest, if not the largest contributor to the U.N. system in terms of voluntary contributions to humanitarian development aid,” Dujarric told reporters.