The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has announced a major cut in global aid plans as it faces the most serious budget cut ever. Accordingly, the organization only needs to call for $29 billion for 2025, down sharply from the $44 billion it set out in December last year.
OCHA said that nearly half a year has passed, and the United Nations has only received 5.6 billion USD out of a total of 44 billion USD in calls, equivalent to only 13%. The plan was originally expected to support nearly 190 million people in more than 70 countries, but it was admitted that 115 million others would not be able to access the aid. With limited resources, aid will be prioritized for places with the most urgent needs, especially areas in disaster situations.
OCHA CEO Tom Fletcher called it a cruel choice and stressed: All we require is 1% of the budgets that countries spent on the conflict last year. He warned, when visiting a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan: cutting aid means millions of people are dead.
The impact of funding cuts especially from the US, once the worlds largest donor has seriously affected emergency relief campaigns, vaccinations and the distribution of HIV/AIDS treatment drugs. Since President Donald Trump returned to power, the US has significantly cut off foreign aid, creating widespread consequences in the global humanitarian sector.
The United Nations Relief Agency (UNHCR) has also been forced to cut its personnel costs by 30%, equivalent to about 3,500 jobs. UNESCO predicts that funding by the end of 2025 will be only the same as a decade ago, although the number of people forced to flee their homes has nearly doubled, surpassing 122 million people.
In this context, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) have issued a joint report warning early of the risk of increased hunger at 13 hot spots. Sudan, the territories of Palestine, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali are facing communities facing hunger or food insecurity at disastrous levels. Other countries such as Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Nigeria are also assessed to have a very high level of urgency.
General Director of WFP, Cindy McCain, said: "Without sponsorship and approach, we cannot save anyone. The time to prevent the disaster of hunger is closing very quickly."
