UN resorts to emergency aid reserves after 'brutal' cuts from donors
'For countries battered by conflict, climate change and economic turmoil, brutal funding cuts don't mean that humanitarian needs disappear', said Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
UN resorts to emergency aid reserves after 'brutal' cuts from donors
A Rohingya girl feeds a child from a jar with the USAID logo on it, at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, February 11, 2025.
4 hours ago

The United Nations has released $110 million from an emergency fund to help neglected crises around the world, including Sudan, after donors like the United States ordered major cuts.

The UN forecasts that funding levels, which were dwindling long before US President Donald Trump ordered foreign aid frozen in January, are projected to drop to a record low this year.

Somalia faces one of world’s most serious humanitarian crises - UN - TRT Afrika

An estimated 4 million people face food insecurity and 1.7 million children face acute malnutrition in Somalia.

🔗

The Trump administration announced last month it was cancelling nearly 10,000 foreign aid grants and contracts worth almost $60 billion, ending about 90 percent of the US Agency for International Development global work.

Other donors like Britain have also announced cuts as countries face growing pressure to boost defence spending.

"For countries battered by conflict, climate change and economic turmoil, brutal funding cuts don't mean that humanitarian needs disappear," said Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The UN is seeking $45 billion in 2025 to help around 185 million people fleeing conflict and battling starvation in what Fletcher described as "an unprecedented level of suffering".

So far it has received just 5 percent of this.

The money released from the Central Emergency Response Fund will go towards underfunded and neglected crises across Africa, Asia and Latin America, the UN statement said. Around a third of the money will go support Sudan, where nearly two years of civil war has triggered a huge displacement of people and a hunger crisis, and neighbouring Chad which has taken in more than a million Sudanese refugees.

Other recipients include Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Niger and Somalia.

TRT Global - US cuts over 90% of foreign development programme budgets

TRT Global - The State Department says US multi-year contracts are pared down 92%, or $54 billion.

🔗

SOURCE:Reuters
Sneak a peek at TRT Global. Share your feedback!
Contact us