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The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance is reducing the size of its annual fundraising efforts for 2026 after aid this year, mainly from Western governments, fell to its lowest level in a decade.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) announced on Monday that around 135 million people are seeking $33 billion (28 billion euros) to help them cope with the fallout from war, climate disasters, earthquakes, epidemics and food shortages.
Funding this year was $15 billion (12 billion euros), the lowest level in a decade.
The office says it wants more than $4.1 billion (€3.5 billion) to reach three million people in the Palestinian territories next year, an additional $2.9 billion (€2.4 billion) to Sudan, home to the world’s largest displacement crisis, and more than $2.8 billion (€2.4 billion) for regional programs in Syria.
“In 2025, hunger skyrocketed. Food budgets were cut even as hunger hit parts of Sudan and Gaza. Health systems collapsed,” said OCHA Director Tom Fletcher.
“Disease outbreaks soared. Millions of people were left without the food, medical care, and protection they needed. Programs to protect women and girls were cut, and hundreds of aid organizations closed.”
The UN aid coordinator has called for $47 billion (40 billion euros) this year to help 190 million people around the world.
Due to declining approval ratings, the party and humanitarian organizations are targeting 25 million fewer people this year than in 2024.
Donor fatigue comes as many wealthy European countries face security threats from an increasingly assertive Russia in the East, and economic growth has been lackluster in recent years, placing new burdens on government budgets and the consumers who pay taxes to sustain them.
“We know budgets are tight right now, and families everywhere are under strain,” Fletcher said.
“But the world spent $2.7 trillion (€2.3 trillion) on defense last year, on guns and weapons. And what I’m asking for is just over 1% of that.”
This year, the United Nations system has cut thousands of jobs, particularly in the migration and refugee agency, and Secretary-General António Guterres’ office has begun a review of how the United Nations is run, but it is unclear if any results will be achieved.
Responding to Mr Guterres, Mr Fletcher called for a “fundamental transformation” of aid by cutting bureaucracy, increasing efficiency and giving more powers to local organizations.
Fletcher cited “very practical and constructive conversations” with the Trump administration almost daily.
“Do I want to shame the world into reacting? Yes,” Fletcher said. “But I also want to channel this sense of determination and anger that we have as humanitarians into continuing to give what we’ve got.”
Additional sources of information • AP