View previous stories
	We cannot accept a future where the rich thrive while billions are left behind by OHCHR, Oxfam, World Inequality Lab, agencies   Mar. 2026   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council (Extract):   "Inequality is the quiet force deciding the fate of millions. It dictates who eats, who learns, who gets housing and healthcare – and who does not.   Around the world, one in four people face food insecurity, and one in three lack adequate housing.   Over half the world’s population work in the informal economy, without access to paid sick leave, maternity leave, or other forms of social protection. This is particularly true for women. Nearly 60 percent of employed women work in the informal economy.   The 2030 Agenda is alarmingly off track, with many goals now slipping into reverse. Severe cuts in international development aid are projected to lead to more than 22 million avoidable deaths by 2030.   Faced with these realities, people — especially young people — have taken to the streets to demand their rights to work, to health, to education, and to be free from corruption. They are calling for economic systems that are fair, transparent, and accountable.   Their frustration reflects deep structural failures in the global economy, which continue to deepen inequalities within and between countries.   In 2024, developing countries paid a record 415 billion US dollars in interest, more than double what they paid a decade earlier.   Interest payments trap states in a spiral of under-development and shrink the resources available for health, education, social security, and other economic and social rights.   Many developing countries face the worst climate impacts despite contributing least to the crisis. Yet, those labelled as middle-income economies – including most small island developing states - are denied the concessional financing needed for climate adaptation and recovery.   Low-income countries often receive inadequate levels of debt relief, grants and concession-based finance that they desperately need.   Meanwhile, many of the richest countries under-invest in economic, social and cultural rights. Their tax systems reward the wealthy while failing to protect those who struggle.   Over the past 20 years, the richest one percent have captured 41 percent of all new wealth, while the bottom 50 percent receive just 1 percent. Last year alone, billionaires amassed enough wealth to eliminate extreme poverty twenty-six times over.   The consequences of deep inequalities within countries are devastating. Poverty, unemployment, and the lack of social protection, make people vulnerable to brutal exploitation. A recent report from our office highlighted for instance grave abuses against people trafficked into scam centres across several regions.   Commitments on financing for development need to be backed by action to enable countries to access the resources needed for sustainable development. Reform of the international financial architecture, including debt restructuring is desperately needed.   Debt servicing must not compromise international human rights obligations. States and international financial institutions should integrate human rights impact assessments systematically into their decisions on debt, in order to safeguard the fiscal space needed to realize the rights to health, education, a healthy environment, and social protection, among others. Stronger representation of developing countries in international decision-making is also crucial.   It is high time to move beyond gross domestic product as the main metric for progress. The measure of development should be whether the economy is improving people’s wellbeing and whether economic benefits are shared equitably across society.   Economic indicators should capture positive contributions to society – including the unpaid care work largely done by women, and the value added by the informal economy. And they should exclude economic activities that are harmful to human rights, such as burning fossil fuels.   Broader access to social security is a matter of justice. All States need to realise universal and legally protected social protection floors.   It is critical to expand resources for States on the frontlines of environmental damage. In an advisory opinion last year, the International Court of Justice stressed that international cooperation around climate change is a legal obligation. This includes providing enough financial support for climate action.   We cannot accept a future where a few thrive while billions are left behind. Together, we need to build economies that deliver for everyone, and make equality and justice the measure of our progress".   Mar. 2026   The manufacturing of poverty, by Olivier De Schutter - UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights   In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Heads of State and Government and High Representatives stated that they were determined to “end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and dimensions” by 2030 and resolved to “combat inequalities within and among countries”. These pledges will not be fulfilled.   More than a tenth of the world’s population, or 845 million people (388 million people in East and Southern Africa alone), still lived in extreme poverty in 2025, and 8.9 per cent of people will still live in extreme poverty by 2030 unless a dramatic change of course occurs.   Those figures are optimistic to the point of being misleading, since they rely on the extremely low international poverty line of $3 per day in purchasing power parity. Using the more realistic $8.20 per day in purchasing power parity, 45 per cent of the world’s population, or 3.7 billion people, would be considered to be living in extreme poverty.   Using that same measure, 89.3 per cent of the sub-Saharan African population (670 million people) live in extreme poverty today, a rate that has remained unchanged for the past 30 years.   At the same time, 2.3 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2024. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis that followed the rise in energy prices in late 2021 and during the first quarter of 2022 increased this figure by 335 million people compared with 2019.   At the time of writing the present report (March 2026), Governments are bracing for what may be the worst cost-of-living crisis since the great financial crisis, as a result of the energy crisis triggered by the conflict in the Persian Gulf.   Worse, Governments are also facing what has been recognized as an “inequality emergency”: nine in ten people in the world live in countries that meet the World Bank’s threshold for high inequality (Gini coefficient above 0.4), and wealth inequality in particular has risen dramatically over the past 40 years.   In India, the top 10 per cent of earners capture about 58 per cent of national income, while the bottom 50 per cent receive only 15 per cent, and the richest 10 per cent hold around 65 per cent of total wealth (the top 1 per cent owning about 40 per cent). In the Russian Federation, the richest 10 per cent hold 75 per cent of total wealth, and the top 1 per cent alone hold 47 per cent.   In Mexico, the top 10 per cent of earners capture around 59 per cent of total income, while the bottom half receive only 8 per cent, and wealth inequalities are even larger: the richest 10 per cent hold 71 per cent of total wealth and the top 1 per cent hold about 38 per cent.   In Colombia, which has one of highest income Gini coefficients in the world (0.53), the top 10 per cent of earners capture 60 per cent of total income, while the bottom 50 per cent receive around 7 per cent, and wealth inequalities are extreme: the richest 10 per cent hold around 71 per cent of total wealth, a situation that has in fact worsened over the past decade.   The growth of income and wealth inequalities within countries is a ticking bomb. By reducing social mobility and making it more difficult for the poorest groups to overcome disadvantage, such inequalities transform societies that pride themselves on being “meritocratic” into caste-based societies; a betrayal of the ideal of equal opportunities that has far-reaching political consequences.   Indeed, it should come as no surprise that the current Governments of countries such as Brazil, Colombia and South Africa are advancing progressive policies in the global fight against inequalities. In these countries with high inequality and low social mobility, it takes nine generations or more for those born in low-income families to approach the mean income in their society unless significant changes occur. The Governments of these countries understand, better perhaps than others, the huge costs of inaction because the persistence and, even worse, the growth of inequalities breed discontent and distrust towards the State. Countries with high inequality are seven times more likely to experience democratic decline than more equal countries.   Entrenched inequality worsens poverty, which is a relational concept: it is extreme material deprivation, but also the social exclusion of people who cannot meet the norms of behaviour that are expected within the society to which they belong. Inequality moreover limits opportunities to save, acquire or inherit assets. Particularly when paired with low coverage of social protection, inequality means that people experiencing poverty are rarely able to change their life trajectory.   While wealthier households can absorb external and internal shocks through accumulated assets and social networks and access to higher education that lead to better-paid employment, poorer individuals have far fewer options to manage risks or recover from crises, reinforcing the vicious cycles that perpetuate and exacerbate inequality. Inequalities also favour speculation on certain assets, particularly land and housing, from which people living in poverty are priced out.   Poverty and inequalities are manufactured. While catastrophic for the victims experiencing exclusion, they are not natural disasters: Governments can choose to address them before they happen. In what follows, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights sets out his understanding of the challenge. He explains the role of anti-poverty strategies in this regard..   http://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/62/42 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/putting-people-balance-sheets-un-expert-calls-rights-centered-global http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/un-expert-demands-global-action-democratise-water-governance-and-protect http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/development-cannot-be-achieved-dying-planet-un-committee-issues-new-guidance http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/un-experts-urge-binding-accountability-agribusiness-safeguard-peasants http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a80213-corporate-power-and-human-rights-food-systems-report-special http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/kenyas-seed-sharing-ruling-milestone-peasants-rights-and-food-security-un http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5848-right-food-finance-and-national-action-plans-report-special http://ipes-food.org/industrial-food-system-failing-as-un-finds-733-million-still-hungry/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/02/fair-and-effective-tax-policies-needed-advance-economic-social-and-cultural http://www.cesr.org/states-adopt-un-resolution-to-further-rights-enabling-economic-policies/   Jan. 2026   The world is extremely unequal (World Inequality Lab Report 2026)   Inequality has long been a defining feature of the global economy, but by 2025, it has reached levels that demand urgent attention. The benefits of globalization and economic growth have flowed disproportionately to a small minority, while much of the world’s population still face difficulties in achieving stable livelihoods. These divides are not inevitable. They are the outcome of political and institutional choices.   This report draws on the World Inequality Database and new research to provide a comprehensive picture of inequality across income, wealth, gender, international finance, climate responsibility, taxation, and politics.   The findings are clear: inequality remains extreme and persistent; it manifests across multiple dimensions that intersect and reinforce one another; and it reshapes democracies, fragmenting coalitions and eroding political consensus. Yet the data also demonstrate that inequality can be reduced.   Policies such as redistributive transfers, progressive taxation, investment in human capital, and stronger labor rights have made a difference in some contexts. Proposals such as minimum wealth taxes on multi-millionaires illustrate the scale of resources that could be mobilized to finance education, health, and climate adaptation. Reducing inequality is not only about fairness but also essential for the resilience of economies, the stability of democracies, and the viability of our planet.   The first and most striking fact emerging from the data is that inequality remains at very high levels. Today, the top 10% of the global population’s income-earners earn more than the remaining 90%, while the poorest half of the global population captures less than 10% of the total global income. Wealth is even more concentrated: the top 10% own three-quarters of global wealth, while the bottom half holds only 2%.   The wealthiest 0.001% alone, fewer than 60,000 multi-millionaires, control today three times more wealth than half of humanity combined. This concentration is not only persistent, but it is also accelerating. Extreme wealth inequality is rapidly increasing. Since the 1990s, the wealth of billionaires and centi-millionaires has grown at approximately 8% annually, nearly twice the rate of growth experienced by the bottom half of the population.   Inequality is not only a question of income and wealth. It is also embedded in the structures of everyday life, shaping whose work is recognized, whose contributions are rewarded, and whose opportunities are constrained. Among the most persistent and pervasive divides is the gap between men and women.   Globally, women capture just over a quarter of total labor income, a share that has barely shifted since 1990. When analyzed by regions, in the Middle East & North Africa, women’s share is only 16%; in South & Southeast Asia it is 20%; in Sub-Saharan Africa, 28%; and in East Asia, 34%. Europe, North America & Oceania, as well as Russia & Central Asia, perform better, but women still capture only about 40% of labor income. Women continue to work more and earn less than men. Women work more hours than men, on average 53 hours per week compared to 43 for men, once domestic and care work is taken into account. Yet their work is consistently valued less.   Studying inequality across countries and over time reveals that policy can indeed reduce inequality. Progressive taxation and, especially, redistributive transfers can significantly reduce inequality. Taxation often fails where it is most needed: at the very top of the distribution. The ultra-rich escape taxation.   Effective income tax rates climb steadily for most of the population but fall sharply for billionaires and centi-millionaires. These elites pay proportionally less than most of the households that earn much lower incomes.   This regressive pattern deprives states of resources for essential investments in education, healthcare, and climate action. It also undermines fairness and social cohesion by decreasing trust in the tax system.   Progressive taxation is therefore crucial: it not only mobilizes revenues to finance public goods and reduce inequality, but also strengthens the legitimacy of fiscal systems by ensuring that those with the greatest means contribute their fair share.   Reducing inequality is a political choice. But fragmented electorates, underrepresentation of workers, and the outsized influence of wealth all work against the coalitions needed for reform. This reality can change. It reflects political choices about campaign finance rules, party strategies, and institutional design that can be reshaped with sufficient will. Inequality can be reduced. There are a range of policies that, in different ways, have proven effective in narrowing gaps.   One important avenue is through public investments in education and health. These are among the most powerful equalizers, yet access to these basic services remains uneven and stratified. Public investment in free, high-quality schools, universal healthcare, childcare, and nutrition programs can reduce early-life disparities and foster lifelong learning opportunities.   Another path is through redistributive programs. Cash transfers, pensions, unemployment benefits, and support for vulnerable households can directly shift resources from the top to the bottom of the distribution. Where well designed, such measures have narrowed income gaps, strengthened social cohesion, and provided buffers against shocks.   Progress can also come from advancing gender equality. Reducing gender gaps requires dismantling the structural barriers that shape how work is valued and distributed. Policies that recognize and redistribute unpaid care work, through affordable childcare, parental leave that includes fathers, and pension credits for caregivers, are essential to leveling the playing field. Equally important are the strict enforcement of equal pay and stronger protections against workplace discrimination. Addressing these imbalances ensures that opportunities and rewards are not determined by gender but by contribution and capability.   Tax policy is another powerful lever. Fairer tax systems, where those at the very top contribute at higher rates through progressive taxes, not only mobilize resources but also strengthen fiscal legitimacy. Even modest rates of a global minimum tax on billionaires and centi-millionaires could raise between 0.45% and 1.11% of global GDP and could finance transformative investments in education, healthcare, and climate adaptation.   Inequality can also be reduced by reforming the global financial system. Current arrangements allow advanced economies to borrow cheaply and secure steady inflows, while developing economies face costly liabilities and persistent outflows.   Inequality is a political choice. It is the result of our policies, institutions, and governance structures. The costs of escalating inequality are clear: widening divides, fragile democracies, and a climate crisis borne most heavily by those least responsible. But the possibilities of reform are equally clear. Where redistribution is strong, taxation is fair, and social investment is prioritized, inequality narrows.   The tools exist. The challenge is political will. The choices we make will determine whether the global economy continues down a path of extreme concentration or moves toward shared prosperity.   http://wir2026.wid.world/ http://wir2026.wid.world/insights/ http://wir2026.wid.world/insight/executive-summary http://wir2026.wid.world/insight/global-economic-inequity/   56,000 people own three times more wealth than half of humanity, highlights Ricardo Gomez-Carrera   Consider half of the world’s adult population, about 2.8 billion people, and add up everything they own: their houses, their savings, their belongings, minus their debts. Then do the same for the 56,000 wealthiest adults on the planet, a group small enough to fit inside a single football stadium. The stadium’s wealth would be greater. In fact, the wealth of the people of the stadium would be three times as large as that of half of humanity combined.   That is one of the headline findings of the World Inequality Report 2026, which I co-authored with Lucas Chancel, Rowaida Moshrif, and Thomas Piketty, and which draws on research and data compiled by more than 200 researchers affiliated with the World Inequality Database and the World Inequality Lab.   The report’s central message is simple and astonishing: the world is extremely unequal, and at the very top, extreme wealth inequality is still rapidly increasing.   Income inequality is large, but wealth inequality is extreme   The global top 10%, about 560 million adults, earn around 53% of all global income in a given year. The bottom half of humanity, 2.8 billion people, collectively receives 8%. So, 10% of the world earns more than 6 times what half of the world earns. That alone is a striking gap.   But when you look at wealth, the picture is far more extreme. The top 10% owns three-quarters of whatever there is to own while the bottom half holds only 2%. Meanwhile, the top 1% alone controls 37% of all wealth, roughly eighteen times more than the entire bottom 50%..   http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/inequalities/2026/05/12/56000-people-own-three-times-more-wealth-than-half-of-humanity/   Jan. 2026   Resisting the Rule of the Rich. (Oxfam International, agencies)   Billionaire wealth jumped by over 16 per cent in 2025, three times faster than the past five-year average, to $18.3 trillion – its highest level in history, according to a new Oxfam report as the World Economic Forum opens in Davos.   Billionaire wealth has increased by 81 per cent since 2020. This comes as one in four people don’t regularly have enough to eat and nearly half the world’s population live in poverty.   The report Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power analyses how the super-rich are securing political power to shape the rules of our economies and societies for their own gain and to the detriment of the rights and freedoms of people around the world.   The surge in billionaire wealth coincides with the US Trump administration pursuing a pro-billionaire agenda. It has slashed taxes for the super-rich, undermined global efforts to tax large corporations, reversed attempts to address monopoly power and contributed to the growth of AI-related stocks that have provided a boon to super-rich investors world-wide.   His presidency has sent a clear warning sign to the rest of the world about the power of the ultra-rich. Rather than solely a US phenomenon Oxfam’s paper demonstrates that rising oligarchy is undermining societies worldwide. Oxfam’s report finds:   The collective wealth of billionaires last year surged by $2.5 trillion, almost equivalent to the total wealth held by the bottom half of humanity – 4.1 billion people.   The number of billionaires topped 3,000 last year for the first time, while the richest, Elon Musk, became the first ever to surpass half a trillion dollars.   Billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people.   The $2.5 trillion rise in billionaires’ wealth would be enough to eradicate extreme poverty 26 times over.   “The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable.” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.   Oxfam estimates that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens. A World Values Survey of 66 countries found that almost half of all people polled say that the rich often buy elections in their country.   “Governments are making wrong choices to pander to the elite and defend wealth while repressing people’s rights and anger at how so many of their lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable,” Behar said.   Billions of people are being left facing avoidable hardships of poverty, hunger and death from preventable diseases because the system is rigged against them. Worldwide one in four people face food insecurity, having to regularly skip meals.   The rate of poverty reduction has stagnated with levels broadly where they were in 2019. Extreme poverty is rising again in Africa. Political decisions made by governments across the world last year to slash aid budgets have directly hit people living in poverty and could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030.   Civil liberties and political rights are being rolled back and suppressed; 2024 was the nineteenth successive year of decline with a quarter of all countries curtailing freedoms of expression. Last year there were more than 142 significant anti-government protests across 68 countries which authorities typically met with violence.   “Being economically poor creates hunger. Being politically poor creates anger.” said Behar.   The chances of democratic backsliding through, for example, the erosion of the rule of law or the undermining of elections is seven times more likely in highly unequal countries.   “No country can afford to be complacent. The pace that economic and political inequality can hasten the erosion of people’s rights and safety can be frighteningly fast,” he said.   Governments are allowing the super-rich to dominate media and social media companies. Billionaires own more than half the world’s largest media companies and all the main social media companies.   “Our societies feel more toxic today because they demonstrably are, but not always for the reasons we’re being told. The outsized influence that the super-rich have over our politicians, economies and media has deepened inequality and led us far off track on tackling poverty. Governments should be listening to the needs of the people on things like quality healthcare, action on climate change and tax fairness,” Behar said.   Oxfam is calling on governments to prioritise:   Realistic and time-bound National Inequality Reduction Plans, with well-established benchmarks and regular monitoring of progress.   Effectively taxing the rich to reduce their power, including with broad-base taxes on income and wealth at high enough rates to reduce massive levels of inequality.   Stronger firewalls between wealth and politics including by tougher regulations against lobbying and campaign financing by the rich, ensuring more media independence, and banning hate speech.   Accountability for the political empowerment of ordinary citizens, including stronger protection for people’s freedoms of association, assembly and expression and for civil society organisations and trade unions.   * Forbes March 2026: 3,428 billionaires wealth now a record $20.1 trillion, up $4 trillion from last year. The U.S. has 989 billionaires, including 15 of the top 20. China, including Hong Kong, is next, with 610, and India (229) ranks third.   http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/billionaire-wealth-jumps-three-times-faster-2025-highest-peak-ever http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/resisting-rule-rich http://www.equals.ink/p/billionaire-wealth-reaches-historic http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/inequalities/2026/01/27/democracy-at-risk-resisting-the-rule-of-the-richest/ http://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2025/dec/10/just-0001-hold-three-times-the-wealth-of-poorest-half-of-humanity-report-finds http://www.taxobservatory.eu/publication/a-blueprint-for-a-coordinated-minimum-effective-taxation-standard-for-ultra-high-net-worth-individuals http://ipdcolumbia.org/event/landmark-g20-report-led-by-nobel-laureate-joseph-stiglitz-sounds-alarm-on-inequality-emergency-and-calls-for-international-panel-on-inequality/ http://www.unognewsroom.org/story/en/3054/unrisd-ipi-committee   http://www.equals.ink/p/agnes-callamard-on-rising-inequality http://www.equals.ink/p/the-great-global-wealth-transfer-thomas-piketty-on-inequality http://www.equals.ink/p/who-pays-when-countries-fall-into http://www.icrict.com/international-tax-reform/un-ecosoc-a-blueprint-for-financial-integrity http://publicservices.international/resources/news/our-new-research-shows-global-corporate-tax-reforms-would-boost-public-revenues-by-50-?id=16364&lang=en http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2026/02/financing-social-protection-a-matter-of-global-justice/ Visit the related web page
	Devastating funding cuts have left millions of people without aid by UNICEF, UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs   Feb. 2026   UNICEF calls for urgent investment in life-saving services for children to meet urgent needs, by Catherine Russell - UNICEF Executive Director   "The global environment for children remains extraordinarily difficult. Conflict, climate shocks, economic instability and inequality place enormous pressure on children, families and communities.   The humanitarian situation facing children today is among the most severe we have ever seen. More than 200 million children across over 130 countries need humanitarian assistance in 2026.   Last year saw the highest number of verified grave violations against children on record. These violations include horrendous acts such as killings, abductions, and sexual violence. At the same time, famine re-emerged in 2025, when two famines were declared simultaneously - an unprecedented and deeply alarming development. Beyond these formal famine declarations, millions more children suffer from malnutrition and are living one shock away from life-threatening catastrophe.   Yet even as needs grow, we see resources shrink. Abrupt, severe funding cuts are forcing impossible choices across humanitarian operations - which lives do we prioritize as we limit supplies, reduce the frequency of services, and scale back interventions that children depend on to survive.   The global humanitarian funding environment has deteriorated dramatically. Announced and anticipated funding cuts by donor governments are already limiting UNICEF’s ability to reach millions of children in dire need.   Across UNICEF’s nutrition programming alone, a 72 per cent funding gap in 2025 forced cuts in 20 priority countries – reducing planned targets from more than 42 million to over 27 million women and children. In education, a shortfall of US$745 million has left millions more children at risk of losing access to learning, protection and stability.   The current global funding crisis does not reflect a decline in humanitarian need, but rather a growing gap between the scale of suffering and the resources available. Children are paying the price of shrinking humanitarian budgets.   UNICEF is urging national governments, public sector donors and private sector partners to increase their investment in children, prioritising flexible and multi-year funding; support locally led response and national systems; uphold humanitarian principles and the centrality of protection; and remove barriers that impede humanitarian access".   http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/launch-2026-humanitarian-appeal http://www.unicef.org/emergencies http://www.unicef.org/topics/humanitarian-action-and-emergencies   Dec. 2025 (OCHA)   In 2025, humanitarian funding saw its greatest contraction in a decade, with donor cuts causing funding to drop below 2016 levels.   The United States of America—traditionally, the largest humanitarian donor—funded $2.5 billion against the 2025 Global Humanitarian Overview (21 per cent1 of total GHO funding), compared to $11 billion in 2024 (which was 45 per cent of the total).   This came on top of reductions from other donors, including France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and on the back of a reduction in humanitarian aid from 2023 to 2024.   Confronted with this reality, in mid-2025, humanitarians took excruciatingly difficult decisions to hyper-prioritize response for people facing the most life-threatening needs.   This hyper-prioritization led humanitarians to collectively focus their efforts on reaching 114.4 million people out of the 178.7 million total people targeted for 2025, and to urgently appeal for $29.1 billion out of the full $44 billion required.   The dramatic reduction in funding forced humanitarian organizations to severely reduce delivery to people in crisis—shutting down programmes, closing offices and laying off thousands of staff—with devastating consequences.   In Colombia, 13 per cent of partners were forced to suspend or scale down humanitarian operations. In Mali, at least 45 per cent of life-saving programmes implemented by local NGOs were disrupted.   Globally, these funding shortfalls have meant that:   Millions of crisis-affected people around the world did not receive the help they needed. While some form of humanitarian assistance reached nearly 98 million people in 2025, this represented just 65 per cent of people targeted through country-specific plans. This is a stark reduction from 2024, when 123 million people—25 million more than in 2025—received at least one form of assistance.   The contraction of humanitarian action was particularly evident in 21 countries which received less funding and reached fewer people.   In countries like Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen, millions of people in each country did not receive planned assistance.   When people did receive humanitarian assistance and protection, it was often significantly reduced. In the Central African Republic, more than 50 per cent of people who received assistance only received one-third of the expected aid. In Somalia, food security partners reduced transfer values, the duration of assistance and had to cut people assisted by 70 per cent.   Meanwhile, Sudanese refugees arriving in Uganda only received 60 per cent of the standard food ration (worth $8). In Egypt, a monthly cash assistance programme for refugees was reduced both in terms of the number of people reached as well as the transfer value, which decreased by 11 per cent. In Venezuela, people reached with aid saw their food rations cut in half and often given at a lower frequency.   Cuts in food assistance and emergency agriculture are jeopardizing lives.   While acute hunger rose in 2025, humanitarian funding for food assistance, nutrition, and emergency agriculture plummeted, with a 51 per cent projected drop between 2022 and 2025. This would return funding to levels last seen in 2016–2017, despite the prevalence of acute hunger doubling since then. The impact is severe.   Humanitarian actors are forced to hyper-prioritize responses, reducing coverage and sharply cutting rations. Programmes to treat acute malnutrition are being scaled back, leaving millions of children at risk of death.   At the same time, funding shortfalls are eroding the ability to collect and analyse reliable food security and nutrition data, weakening the evidence base for effective response.   At the start of 2025, Food Security Cluster partners identified 190 million people in need out of 295 million facing IPC/CH Phase 3 (Crisis) or above.   Initially, 104 million were targeted. By mid-year, funding shortfalls forced a reduction to 79.8 million, leaving nearly one in four people originally targeted without aid.   Funding cuts may drive 13.7 million people in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) towards Emergency levels of hunger.   Across Sudan—one of the worst food crises with confirmed famine in El Fasher and Kadugli—only 3.5 million out of 10 million severely and extremely food insecure people are receiving regular monthly food assistance.   In Uganda, only 45 per cent of Sudanese refugees received rations in 2025. In Myanmar, 825,000 people did not receive life-saving emergency food assistance, while in Afghanistan, only around 1 million of the most vulnerable people will receive food assistance during the lean season in 2025, compared to 5.6 million during the same period in 2024.   By mid-2025, only 16 per cent of people targeted with emergency agriculture were reached, compared to 26 per cent by the same time in 2024.   This shortfall means that, looking ahead to 2026, more people will likely require food assistance—at a higher cost than if they had been supported to produce their own food—and many may face worsening acute food insecurity.   Health services for 52.6 million people were shuttered or reduced due to underfunding, significantly increasing the risk of preventable death. The funding cuts affected more than 6,600 health facilities across 22 countries (as of 20 September 2025), a third of which were forced to suspend operations.   In Sudan alone, more than 180 health facilities are no longer supported, affecting almost 2.7 million people’s ability to access health care services.   In Somalia, more than 150 health facilities have closed due to funding cuts, including at least eight hospitals and 40 primary care centres.   In Myanmar, 600,000 people will not receive essential healthcare services, supplies or emergency referral services. In Yemen, no health service for communicable diseases was available in 39 per cent of health facilities monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO), while in Libya, this proportion was as high as 41 per cent.   Communicable disease outbreaks became harder to prevent and contain, including due to cuts to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).   In South Sudan, partners struggled to control the spread of cholera due to access and underfunding, while in Chad underfunding stalled investments in water systems and sanitation, undermining efforts to contain the disease.   In Syria, WASH partners suspended or decreased their response in more than 350 camps in northeast and northwest Syria, leaving more than 250,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) with limited access to WASH services. Meanwhile, in Yemen, water and sanitation conditions will deteriorate for over 15 million people who are already water insecure. And in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, limited health services combined with reduced water availability, uncollected waste and poor sanitation have increased the risk of disease outbreaks for the Rohingya.   Children faced a heightened risk of severe malnutrition and death as nutrition programmes are cut back.   In Yemen, one of the worst nutrition crises globally, a staggering 70 per cent of the needs for moderate acute malnutrition are unmet, leaving an estimated 450,000 vulnerable children and mothers without critical care each month.   Haiti’s nutrition crisis is at a tipping point: one in three children with acute malnutrition will remain untreated without additional resources, placing over 187,000 children at heightened risk of preventable death.   In Somalia, nutrition services declined by 39 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, with over 60,500 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) missing treatment, alongside 140,000 moderately malnourished children and 17,000 pregnant or lactating women.   In Chad, 240,000 children did not receive planned nutrition assistance, and in Burkina Faso, more than one-third of all nutrition programmes—and thousands of children’s lives—are at risk.   In Nigeria, the scale down of nutrition programmes in July 2025 affected more than 300,000 children. In areas where clinics closed, malnutrition levels deteriorated from “serious” to “critical” in the third quarter of 2025.   Gains in reducing maternal mortality risk immediate reversal, as sexual and reproductive healthcare services are cut. Sixty-two per cent of surveyed partners working on maternal, newborn and child health reported having to downsize their programs, while 37 per cent temporarily suspended activities, and 19 per cent permanently closed initiatives.   Support for midwives in crisis settings has been dramatically scaled back, jeopardizing the health and lives of pregnant women and newborns. In Syria, funding cuts are impacting reproductive and maternal health, with 24 safe spaces and service delivery points, 15 hospitals, 54 health facilities and 26 mobile teams at risk of closure.   Protection programmes, more broadly, were forced to scale down or stop altogether in multiple countries, increasing the risk of exposure to violence and exploitation.   In Nigeria, despite renewed violence, 1.4 million people did not receive protection support. In Afghanistan, protection services for over 3.3 million people, including more than 1.6 million children, could no longer be provided.   In Syria, about 2.5 million children, including those with disabilities, remain exposed to the worst forms of violence and exploitation and will not have access to timely child protection preventive and response services.   In Uganda, loss of experienced child protection staff has weakened survivor-centered care: by September 2025, child protection cases had surged by 37 per cent to 26,245, compared to the same period in 2024.   In Somalia, protection services were halved, affecting 1.7 million people, including 600,000 children. In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, resource constraints meant lower-risk protection cases were de-prioritized, and limited outreach, legal aid, and psychosocial support placed Rohingya survivors and persons with disabilities at greater risk.   Funding cuts have also affected mine action: 65 per cent of the Syrian population (15.4 million people) will continue to be exposed to the risk of explosive ordnance contamination. In Afghanistan, which has one of the world’s highest explosive ordnance casualty rates, the number of mine action teams has decreased by a third, from 300 teams a month to only 176.   In Yemen, where funding cuts have halted mine clearance programmes, five children were killed in July while playing football, highlighting the risk that unexploded ordnance poses to all people.   Gender-based violence (GBV) response and prevention efforts were reduced or shut down, removing access to vital services for survivors and increasing the risk of harm at a time when GBV is increasing.   One-third of women-rights organizations and civil society organizations working to end violence against women reported programme suspension or closure.   As of 20 November 2025, only 19 per cent of GBV requirements were funded— forcing decisions about which safe spaces stay open and where the last post-rape kits go. The consequences are already visible: over 460,000 people in West and Central Africa have lost access to GBV services. In the Central African Republic, GBV service coverage dropped from 44 per cent to 22 per cent while in Burkina Faso, only 45,000 people received dignity kits (9 per cent of the target). Seventy-two per cent of localities in northern and central Mali lack any GBV service due to funding shortages.   Hundreds of thousands of children’s futures are in jeopardy, as cuts hit education services. In emergencies, schools are more than places of learning: they are safe spaces that provide hope, stability, protection and access to essential services.   In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, underfunding left over 190,000 Rohingya children without education due to closures of 43 per cent of learning facilities and disrupted teaching material distribution including textbooks. In Afghanistan, around 145,000 children (60 per cent girls) will not be able to access education through community-based interventions, and an additional 130,000 children (67,600 girls) will not be reached with a second round of teaching and learning materials. This comes at a time when more than 2.2 million Afghan girls are banned from attending school beyond primary school.   In Turkiye, underfunding of the Syria refugee response meant that approximately 250,000 refugee children remained out of school, with 32 per cent of families citing financial difficulties as the primary barrier to enrolling and retaining their children in school.   In Uganda, funding cuts forced the layoff of 2,000 teachers, causing the pupil-to-teacher ratio to balloon from 1:77 (2024) to 1:117 (2025)—more than double the national standard of 1:53, with nearly 120 students per classroom.   Overall, if funding cuts materialize as envisaged in 2026, 6 million more children—30 per cent of them in humanitarian settings—risk being out of school by the end of 2026 (increasing from 272 million to 276 million).   Lack of shelter is leaving millions of people exposed to the elements and violence, while fewer management services risk the quality and functioning of displacement sites and camps.   In Myanmar, 1.3 million conflict-affected internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable people did not receive shelter due to funding cuts. In Nigeria, this was the case for 631,000 families. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 85 per cent of people targeted for shelter response did not receive assistance. In Chad, 56,000 vulnerable households remained without emergency shelter following the floods.   In Haiti, only 91 IDP sites out of 238 sites (38 per cent) had a site manager, leaving more than 110,000 displaced people without structured management or coordination of essential services. In Somalia, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) partners ceased operations in 15 districts, suspending services for 900,000 IDPs.   Cash and voucher assistance (CVA)—including multi-purpose cash—has been drastically reduced in multiple countries. CVA is projected to drop precipitously in 2025, after already decreasing in 2024 as a proportion of humanitarian assistance.   In Somalia, only 273,000 people (29 per cent of the target) received cash assistance. In Sudan, over 250,000 people did not receive cash-based individual protection assistance. In Lebanon, more than 300,000 vulnerable households will remain without critical cash support through 2026 if funding is not received, forcing families to resort to harmful coping mechanisms such as reducing meals, accumulating debt, or engaging in child labour and child marriage.   In the Central African Republic (CAR), the number of people receiving cash and voucher assistance decreased by 76 per cent (or three quarters), from 407, 000 people in mid-2024 to 96,000 people mid-2025.   Services for refugees and migrants have been hit hard. In Lebanon around 1.4 million people risk losing access to primary health care, with essential refugee health services expected to phase out by the end of 2025. In Somalia, only about 5 per cent of the more than 30,000 transit movements recorded since the start of 2025 received assistance.   By the end of September 2025, only 21 per cent of the 493,400 people targeted under the Venezuela Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) had been reached, while protection monitoring confirmed that unmet humanitarian needs are increasingly translating into harmful coping mechanisms, irregular movements, and social tensions in host communities.   Funding cuts also compromised critical enablers that are the backbone of coordinated humanitarian responses.   The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) was forced to suspend or reduce flights in countries such as Afghanistan and Nigeria, while other air operations were on the precipice of collapse due to inadequate or delayed funding.   In CAR, warehouses closed and the Logistics Cluster was only able to transport half of the planned emergency airfreight cargo to hard-to-reach communities.   And yet, the funding requested for humanitarian action is extremely modest in comparison to other expenditures and/or profits globally. It amounts to less than one per cent of global military expenditure (which has reached over $2.7 trillion in 2024) or less than half a per cent of the global banking industry’s profits.   With a minor adjustment of these priorities and/or donation of these profits, global humanitarian action could be immediately and fully funded.   http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2026/article/under-fire-and-under-pressure-what-happens-when-humanitarian-action-hindered http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2026/article/trends-crises-and-needs-world-breaking-point http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2026/article/humanitarians-action-delivering-2025-amid-extreme-challenges http://humanitarianaction.info/document/global-humanitarian-overview-2026 http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-calls-urgent-investment-life-saving-services-children-global-humanitarian http://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-prioritize-feeding-110-million-hungriest-2026-global-hunger-deepens-amidst-uncertain http://www.nrc.no/news/2025/december/2026-millions-in-need-will-not-get-aid-unless-global-solidarity-revived http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2025/12/11/abrupt-transitions-global-humanitarian-overview-pushes-dangerous-trend http://reliefweb.int/report/world/year-no-other-ngo-statement-launch-new-un-2026-appeal   http://www.msf.org/us-policies-are-reshaping-global-health-and-humanitarian-aid http://www.msf.org/attacks-medical-care-armed-conflict-reach-record-levels http://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/a-generational-collapse-tracking-the-toll-of-trumps-humanitarian-aid-cuts/ http://www.cgdev.org/blog/global-collapse-funding-food-insecure http://www.cgdev.org/blog/coming-humanitarian-data-drought http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/child-under-five-could-die-every-forty-seconds-2030-due-us-aid-cuts-oxfam-analysis http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/feb/07/starmer-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-sharp-cuts-to-world-food-programme http://una.org.uk/un-agencies-brief-the-un-appg-on-the-challenges-of-the-global-humanitarian-landscape/ Visit the related web page
	View more stories