Gabriela Emanuel

Against the backdrop of international aid cuts, countries stepped up to minimize interruptions to their vaccine programs.

It's part of a broader trend, as many lower-income countries have increased their vaccine spending in recent years.

Still, the head of Gavi is praising this milestone and calling it a new era.

The U.S.

used to be one of Gavi's top donors, but this past year, the Trump administration cut that funding.

Gabriela Emanuel, NPR News.

The U.S.

is hammering out five-year aid agreements directly with governments in low- and middle-income countries.

This is instead of working through nonprofits and big international organizations.

Jeremy Lewin is helping roll out the new strategy at the State Department.

He says this is encouraging self-reliance for the recipient countries.

When this strategy was first announced, the administration had said the agreements would be up and running this month in April.

But things are behind schedule.

Lewin says September 30th is the new goal.

Gabriela Emanuel, NPR News.

The Trump administration has been trying to shift foreign aid from largely going through nonprofits and international organizations to going through individual governments.

While more than two dozen agreements have been signed with recipient governments, others are not yet hammered out, and most implementation plans are not ready to go.

Meanwhile, interim funding for aid groups on the ground is sometimes arriving months late.

Caspian Chariah oversees HIV work in a dozen African countries for the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

In a statement to NPR, the State Department said it's taking decisive steps to ensure continuity of life-saving services.