UN seeks $47 billion in aid as donor appetite shrinks while crises multiply

The UN hopes to reach people in 32 countries next year, including those in war-torn Sudan, Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine.

By REUTERS DECEMBER 4, 2024 07:28

Displaced people who fled from Aleppo countryside, sit together near tents in Tabqa, Syria December 3, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Orhan Qereman)

The United Nations on Wednesday sought $47 billion in aid for 2025 to help around 190 million people fleeing conflict and battling starvation at a time when this year's appeal is not even half-funded, and officials fear cuts from Western states, including the top donor, the US.

Facing what the new UN aid chief Tom Fletcher describes as "an unprecedented level of suffering," the UN hopes to reach people in 32 countries next year, including those in war-torn Sudan, Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine.

"The world is on fire, and this is how we put it out," Fletcher told reporters in Geneva.

"We need to reset our relationship with those in greatest need on the planet," said Fletcher, a former British diplomat who started as head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last month.

The appeal is the fourth largest in OCHA's history, but Fletcher said it leaves out some 115 million people whose needs the agency cannot realistically hope to fund.

Displaced people who fled from Aleppo countryside, gather near tents in Tabqa, Syria December 3, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Orhan Qereman)

"We've got to be absolutely focused on reaching those in the most dire need, and really ruthless."

The UN cut its 2024 appeal to $46 billion from $56 billion the previous year as donor appetite faded, but it is still only 43% funded, one of the worst rates in history. Washington has given over $10 billion, about half the funds received.

Aid workers have had to make tough choices, cutting food assistance by 80% in Syria and water services in cholera-prone Yemen, OCHA said.

Aid is just one part of total spending by the UN, which has for years failed to meet its core budget due to countries' unpaid dues.

While incoming president Donald Trump halted some UN spending during his first term, he left UN aid budgets intact. This time, aid officials and diplomats see cuts as a possibility.

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Global mood turns against overseas humanitarian aid

"The US is a tremendous question mark," said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who held Fletcher's post from 2003-2006. "I fear that we may be bitterly disappointed because the global mood and the national political developments are not in our favor."

Project 2025, a set of conservative proposals whose authors include some Trump advisers, takes aim at "wasteful budget increases" by the main US relief agency, USAID. The incoming Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment.

Fletcher cited "the disintegration of our systems for international solidarity" and called for a broadening of the donor base.

Asked about Trump's impact, he said, "I don't believe that there isn't compassion in these governments which are getting elected."

One challenge is that crises are now lasting longer—an average of 10 years, according to OCHA.

Mike Ryan, World Health Organization emergencies chief, said some states were entering a "permanent state of crisis."

The European Commission—the European Union executive body—and Germany are the second and third largest donors to UN aid budgets this year, respectively.

Charlotte Slente, Secretary General of the Danish Refugee Council, said Europe's contributions were also in doubt as funds are shifted to defense.

"It's a more fragile, unpredictable world [than in Trump's first term], with more crises and, should the US administration cut its humanitarian funding, it could be more complex to fill the gap of growing needs."