U.N. humanitarian agency to cut staff by 20% due to ’brutal cuts’ in funding

U.N. humanitarian chief addresses funding crisis, announces staff cuts and reorganisation to address $60 million shortfall.

The U.N. humanitarian agency said it is cutting its 2,600 staff who operate in more than 60 countries by 20% because of “brutal cuts” in funding that have left it with a nearly $60 million shortfall.

U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a letter obtained on Friday (April 12, 2025) by The Associated Press that “the humanitarian community was already underfunded, overstretched and literally, under attack” before the recent funding cuts.

In the letter to staff at the agency, he didn’t say which country was responsible for the cuts that led to the funding crisis at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), but he indicated it was the United States.

Mr. Fletcher said OCHA had an overall budget of around $430 million for 2025, noting that several countries have announced or implemented cuts to the agency's extra-budgetary resources. He singled out the United States.

“The U.S. alone has been the largest humanitarian donor for decades,” he said, and the biggest contributor to OCHA's extra-budgetary resources, paying about 20% — which amounts to $63 million for 2025. He did not say whether the U.S. had cut that amount.

Asked to clarify the status of the $63 million, the State Department said funding for OCHA, along with other international organisations, remains under review. The White House did not respond.

President Donald Trump has dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, which was responsible for humanitarian aid, and has drastically curtailed funding that has kept millions of people alive around the world.