Over the past decade, the international humanitarian system has witnessed rapid expansion. A combination of major emergencies – Syria, Yemen, the Sahel, Afghanistan, the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and the rise of individual philanthropy has fed NGOs more money, and more. … employees and more operations. But this progress has stalled, to the point of creating an unprecedented financial gap. This year, the sector is witnessing a crisis that brings together two forces operating simultaneously and feeding each other: the continuing decline in private donors and the sudden withdrawal of the United States, which has until now been the main funder of humanitarian aid on the planet. Between them, they left the system exposed, with organizations laying off staff, freezing missions, and revising plans that until a year ago seemed unchangeable.
The first organization to announce this publicly was the International Red Cross (ICRC), which had already proposed the ERE. Its president, Mirjana Spoljaric, announced on November 21 that next year the organization will eliminate 2,900 jobs – 15% of its global workforce – and reduce its budget by 17%, to 1.8 billion francs. It was a public acknowledgment of the gravity of the context: “The financial reality is forcing us to make difficult decisions in order to continue providing vital humanitarian assistance to those who need it most.”
The International Red Cross is not the only one. Their situation is repeated, more quietly, in other large organizations. UNICEF, UNHCR, Médecins Sans Frontières, Save the Children, and World Vision have been forced to freeze projects, lay off staff, or slow operations in countries where they had until recently worked amid budget stagnation.
The disappearance of USAID, the “humanitarian arm” of the United States, has left a structural void since July. Through 2024, the United States provided between 36% and 42% of total global humanitarian funding and covered more than half the annual budget in many UN operations. For its part, private donations did not stop declining after the peak of solidarity caused by the war in Ukraine in 2022. In 2024, they totaled about $7 billion, far from the previous record and far below what countries contribute.
Reputation crisis
Organizations consulted by the ABC confirm that “there is no reputational crisis”. However, some of them have been involved in various cases of sexual harassment or abuse of power from workers to users, such as Oxfam in Congo and Haiti during 2018 or MSF in different countries, including Spain. They collectively attribute this cessation of private aid to individual donor fatigue, media fragmentation, and a series of crises.
From the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, its spokeswoman, Paola Paracina, described the situation as “devastating.” “This is the biggest financial crisis the humanitarian sector has ever seen,” he lamented. The organisation, which relies 79% on government and European Union contributions, has suffered simultaneous cuts from many of its traditional donors. In addition to the United States, there is also Germany or Japan. The global collapse had immediate effects: at the end of October, UNHCR had only 33% of the resources needed to cover its global needs for 2025.
“It is devastating on all levels. “Many processes are hanging by a thread.”
Paola Paracina
Commission spokesman
It was forced to close or merge 185 offices around the world, reduce more than 30% of its costs at headquarters and regional offices, and eliminate half of its senior management positions. This year it has already fired more than 5,000 workers, and is expected to reach 8,000 before the end of the year. The impact is also reaching Spain, where the office has to reduce its capacity by 50% within days. “It is devastating on all levels,” Paracina sums up. “Many processes are hanging by a thread.”
The spokesman confirms that the fall was not expected. “We did not expect a funding gap like this,” he explains. “We knew there would be adjustments, but not that the impact would be so big or so fast.” The effects are already becoming noticeable in core programmes, which have had to be suspended or reduced. The cuts affect initiatives against gender violence, psychosocial support for torture survivors, the operation of schools, or food aid.
Tense political climate
What the Commission is going through is repeated, with nuances, in other large organizations that were forced to reduce their activities or stop their projects. This is the case with Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF. “This year’s decline in the number of anonymous donors has not occurred in more than a decade. This forces us to delay the opening of projects and prioritize interventions. MSF points out that we cannot be in all the places that need us.
Blanca Carazo, head of international programs at UNICEF, admits that the situation is “worrying” and that they are looking for “new forms of financing.” Moreover, he explains, we find ourselves in a political climate of increasing skepticism about multilateralism and the values underpinning cooperation: “We are not just talking about less money. “We are talking about speeches that question the idea of solidarity and leaving no one behind.”