UN cuts aid appeal after donors slash budgets

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)