Headlines
UN cuts aid appeal after donors slash budgets
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
The UN cuts its aid appeal to $29 billion due to donor budget reductions, impacting support for 114 million people globally.
GENEVA (Reuters) -The United Nations on Monday slashed its aid appeal to donors by over a third, saying it was now seeking $29 billion to support 114 million people amid what it described as the deepest funding cuts ever.
U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said that the scale of donor retrenchment had been so large that it has been "forced into a triage of human survival."
"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," he said.
In a statement, the U.N. said its request prioritises, but does not replace, an earlier appeal for over $47 billion launched in December 2024 - before U.S. President Donald Trump announced major cuts to foreign aid that he has himself described as "devastating".
Other Western governments, which have previously accounted for the lion's share of humanitarian budgets, are also retrenching as they instead prioritise defence spending.
The previous U.N. humanitarian appeal was less than 13% funded nearly halfway through the year, the U.N. said.
"All we ask is one percent of what you chose to spend last year on war," said Fletcher. "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," he said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
The United Nations is now seeking $29 billion to support 114 million people.
The UN cut its aid appeal due to significant budget cuts from donors, forcing it into a triage of human survival.
The previous UN humanitarian appeal was less than 13% funded nearly halfway through the year.
Tom Fletcher described the situation as having cruel math and heartbreaking consequences, emphasizing the need for global responsibility.
The UN's appeal is also a call for global responsibility and human solidarity, asking for just one percent of what was spent on war last year.
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