Geneva – Saba:
The United Nations announced on Monday that it will significantly reduce its global humanitarian aid program this year due to the "worst financial cuts" in this area.
According to Agence France-Presse, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) explained in a statement that the new 2025 plan, which costs $29 billion instead of the $44 billion initially announced in December, gives "absolute priority" to assisting 114 million people.
The initial plan called for assistance to "180 million vulnerable people."
According to OCHA, the United Nations has only been able to raise $5.6 billion of the $44 billion initially requested, equivalent to 13% of the total amount, six months into the year.
The entire global humanitarian sector has been thrown into turmoil following US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend or reduce US foreign aid programs.
The United States was the largest donor of all forms of development assistance, and the significant reduction in funding has had dire consequences for emergency aid, vaccination, and the distribution of drugs to combat AIDS.
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