UN cuts global humanitarian aid plan as funding dips

Facing the most severe funding shortfall in the history of humanitarian aid, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher announced a “hyper-prioritized” appeal for $29 billion to meet urgent global needs.

“We have been forced into a triage of human survival,” said Fletcher. “The math is cruel, and the consequences are heartbreaking. Too many people will not get the support they need, but we will save as many lives as we can with the resources we are given.”

The appeal aims to reprioritize individual country plans in pursuit of two main goals: first, to reach people and places facing the most urgent humanitarian needs, and second, to prioritize life-saving support based on existing planning for the 2025 humanitarian response.

This is intended to ensure that limited resources are directed where they can do the most good, as quickly as possible.

Rather than limiting lifesaving aid to a predetermined matrix, humanitarian partners are focused on addressing the most urgent needs in ways that respect the dignity of affected people, allowing them to choose what they need most, OCHA said.

The appeal prioritizes but does not replace the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 (GHO), launched last December, which covers 180 million vulnerable people across 70 countries. The GHO calls for $44 billion, but at the halfway point of the year, less than 13 per cent of that amount has been received.

“Brutal funding cuts leave us with brutal choices,” said Fletcher. “All we ask is one per cent of what you chose to spend last year on war. But this isn’t just an appeal for money – it’s a call for global responsibility, for human solidarity, for a commitment to end the suffering.”