US cancels $2.5 million grant to Uzbekistan

The United States Department of State has canceled a $2.5 million grant previously planned for Uzbekistan. The funding was intended to support a project aimed at developing critical civic engagement in the country. This was reported by the US Department of Government Efficiency.

According to the information, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is continuing a review of foreign aid allocations, resulting in the cancellation of 139 grants deemed unnecessary or wasteful, totaling $215 million.

In addition to the Uzbekistan project, the canceled grants include:

- $5.2 million for programs such as the UK-based anti-disinformation initiative “Destroy the Trolls!” and other efforts promoting media diversity;  
- $2 million for the “Expanded Newsroom Sustainability and Engagement” project in Moldova;  
- $1 million for freelance rights advocacy in Brazil;  
- $2.4 million for “Responding to Disinformation through Creative Content” in Belarus;  
- $1.7 million for “Independent Media for Peace and Democracy” in Europe;  
- $1.5 million for “Women-Led Gender Approaches to Justice and Accountability”;  
- $1.7 million for “BeMediaWise” in Bulgaria;  
- $900,000 for “A Place for Women to Organize” in Mauritania;  
- $750,000 for “Building a Movement Led by Migrant Domestic Workers” in Lebanon;  
- $740,000 for the feminist “Free Speech Initiative” in Tunisia.

It is worth noting that last month, the US Department of Labor also announced the termination of multimillion-dollar funding previously allocated to projects aimed at increasing transparency in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry.