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PBS News Hour - Segments

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

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

News, Daily News

4.11K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2025

⏱️ 4 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The ripple effects of the Trump administration’s elimination of USAID are being felt in dozens of countries where the agency supported initiatives ranging from public health programs to infrastructure and climate resilience projects. Angeles Ponpa from Northwestern University’s school of journalism traveled to Indonesia to see the effect on one of the world’s fastest-sinking cities. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Transcript

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0:00.0

The ripple effects of the Trump administration's elimination of USAID are being felt in dozens of countries around the world,

0:08.4

where the agency supported initiatives ranging from public health programs to infrastructure and climate resilience projects.

0:16.0

Angelus 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.

0:26.9

Outside the capital of Jakarta in the Tanamara neighborhood, residents struggled for years to get access to clean water.

0:34.9

In 2016, USAID offered a program, Ayewash, that helped disadvantaged families

0:41.2

obtain clean water.

0:42.3

For me personally, it was really helpful.

0:48.3

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

0:56.0

Once I started to use USAID water, I stopped using the pump to extract groundwater.

1:02.0

I was very happy and grateful.

1:06.0

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

1:13.6

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

1:21.6

Sukari Ali is a neighborhood chief of Tanimira.

1:25.6

That's why the only option was the initiative from USAID, and we were very grateful to USAID

1:32.5

from America.

1:34.6

The program installed a master meter to connect families to city water.

1:39.0

With a steady flow at their taps and affordable rates, they no longer needed to drill wells or rely on costly jugs of water

1:46.4

from local sellers. Even so, the city water supply available to USAID was limited. The Master

1:53.3

Meter program reached only about 18% of families in the village.

1:58.6

When there are countries or populations that aren't receiving such support from their governments

2:03.6

and USAID are stepping into help, I think it would be a mistake for world leaders to stop

2:09.9

those efforts globally.

...

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