![]() |
![]() ![]() |
We must save as many lives as we can by Tom Fletcher United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator 10 June 2025 By the end of May 2025, nearly 300 million people around the world were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection. In the first months of the year, conflicts and violence intensified in multiple countries—deepening needs and driving many people to the brink of death—while natural disasters wreaked havoc on the lives of millions of people. Multiple crises were characterized by systematic violations of international humanitarian law, including mass atrocities, with catastrophic consequences for civilians. Forced displacement—primarily driven by conflict—reached its highest ever levels. The number of people forced to flee persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order rose in 2024, reaching a record 123.2 million people, or one in 67 people globally. This included 83.4 million people who remained internally displaced within their own country as a consequence of conflicts and natural disasters, a 12 per cent increase compared to 2023. In 2025, refugees continued to flee crises—particularly Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Myanmar and Sudan—and internal displacement rose rapidly. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) , hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were repeatedly forcibly displaced and confined into ever-shrinking spaces. Haiti is seeing record levels of displacement due to violence, with nearly 1.3 million people now internally displaced, a 24 per cent increase since December 2024. In the DRC, the M23 offensive in the east of the country, beginning in January 2025, displaced over a million people. In Burkina Faso, over 60,000 people were internally displaced in April alone and in Colombia, over 50,000 people were displaced in just two weeks due to the Catatumbo crisis. With every displacement, urgent shelter needs arise. Shelter is a foundation for survival—without it, people remain exposed to violence, disease, and exploitation. Despite 40 per cent of IDPs globally still residing in displacement sites, the support provided to these locations is minimal. The global food security crisis escalated dramatically, with 295.3 million people facing high acute food insecurity. Conflict and/or insecurity was responsible for Catastrophic food insecurity (Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) 5) in Haiti, Mali, OPT, South Sudan and Sudan, as well as famine in 10 locations in Sudan and famine-risk across all of Gaza, OPT. Conflict also caused food insecurity to significantly deteriorate in Myanmar, Nigeria and Sudan, and drove malnutrition crises in Mali, OPT (Gaza), Sudan and Yemen. Sexual violence was rampant, particularly against women and girls. In the DRC, it was estimated that a child is raped every half hour; in Haiti, there was a tenfold increase in sexual violence against children between 2023 and 2024; in Sudan, the scale and brutality of sexual violence escalated, and around 12.1 million people—nearly one in four, most of them women and girls—are now at risk of gender-based violence. The horrifying toll of war on children continued to mount, with 50,000 children reportedly killed or injured in Gaza, OPT between October 2023 and May 2025, and April 2025 marking the deadliest month for children in Ukraine in nearly three years. In Colombia, more than 46,000 children and adolescents in the Catatumbo region are facing alarming risks, including fear of forced recruitment into non-State armed groups due to escalating conflict in 2025. Attacks against health care disrupted vital and life-saving care for millions of people throughout the first months of 2025, with over 500 attacks recorded—over 300 of which involved the use of heavy weapons—across 13 countries and territories. The use of explosive weapons in urban areas caused devastating harm for civilians and impacted services essential for their survival, including in Myanmar, OPT, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen. It is estimated that some 50 million people suffer the horrific consequences of urban warfare worldwide. Climate and geological crises: Two major natural disasters occurred in the first half of 2025. On 28 March 2025, two earthquakes struck central Myanmar, killing 3,800 people, injuring 51,000, destroying thousands of homes and disrupting communications, water access and electricity supply. The disaster exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the country where, prior to the earthquake, nearly 20 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance. Meanwhile, in Mozambique, Tropical Cyclone Dikeldi made landfall on 13 January 2025, just a month after Tropical Cyclone Chido on 15 December 2024. The two cyclones impacted 700,000 people and destroyed approximately 150,000 homes, as well as hundreds of schools and health facilities. The risk of major emergencies continues to rise due to the global climate crisis, with 2024 now confirmed as the warmest year on record, while 2015 to 2024 are all in the ‘Top Ten’. And the future is bleak: there is an 80 per cent chance that at least one year between 2025 and 2029 will be hotter than 2024. Underfunding: millions of people’s lives are hanging in the balance as services, programmes and organizations shut down At the end of 2024, humanitarian action was already underfunded and under attack. Today, the situation is unimaginably worse: humanitarians are having to dramatically cut assistance and protection for people in crisis as funding plummets, while themselves facing increasing attacks. In the first five months of 2025, multiple major donors reduced funding, triggering a seismic contraction in global humanitarian action. The United States of America—which funded 45 per cent of the global humanitarian appeal in 2024—announced a suspension and subsequent termination of many humanitarian contracts, with sudden and widespread consequences around the globe. This came on top of reductions announced or instituted by other major donors, including Germany and the United Kingdom, and on the back of a reduction in humanitarian aid from 2023 to 2024. At least 79 million people in crisis will no longer be targeted for assistance as a result and this is likely a significant underestimate. Cuts in food rations and emergency assistance are jeopardizing the lives and wellbeing of people facing acute food insecurity. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that it may reach more than 16 million people less (21 per cent) with emergency food assistance in 2025 compared to the 80 million people assisted in 2024. Already, prior to 2025, financing for food, cash and emergency agriculture was well below what was required, from Haiti to Mali and South Sudan. In Bangladesh, one million Rohingya refugees who rely on food assistance will see their monthly food rations halved without additional funding. In Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), one in every three (60 out of 180) community kitchens had to close in just days. In Sudan, additional funding is urgently needed to procure and distribute seeds, without which, many farmers may miss this critical planting window. In Haiti, which has just entered the Atlantic Hurricane Season and where food insecurity is rampant, WFP, for the first time ever, has no prepositioned food stocks, nor the cash liquidity to mount a swift humanitarian response in the case of a hurricane. Malnourished children face heightened risk of severe malnutrition and death. Disruptions to nutrition support and services due to global funding cuts are expected to affect 14 million children, including more than 2.4 million who are already suffering severe acute malnutrition and at imminent risk of death. In Afghanistan, 298 nutrition sites closed, depriving 80,000 acutely malnourished children, pregnant women, and new mothers of treatment posing a serious risk of increased mortality. Maternal and infant mortality may rise, as sexual and reproductive healthcare services are cut in countries where risks are already the highest. Funding cuts have led to facility closures, loss of health workers and disruptions to supply chains for lifesaving supplies and medicines such as treatments for haemorrhage, pre-eclampsia and malaria—all leading causes of maternal deaths. Severe funding cuts are reducing support for midwives in crisis settings, jeopardizing the health and lives of pregnant women and newborns in some of the most fragile places on earth. Children are losing access to their future, as access to education diminishes. More than 1.8 million children will miss out on learning due to aid cuts impacting just one NGO’s education programmes in over 20 countries. Lack of shelter is leaving millions of people exposed to the elements and violence. In some of the world’s biggest crises—including Sudan and DRC—distribution of emergency shelters is at risk of being cut. In Chad, Colombia and Uganda, families face protracted displacement with no shelter assistance on the horizon. Around the world, budget cuts are forcing humanitarian partners to reduce operations, presence and services. At least 12,000 humanitarian staff contracts have been cut and at least 22 organizations have had to completely close their offices in the relevant countries. National NGOs have reported the highest proportion of terminations. Separately, almost half (47 per cent) of women-led organizations surveyed are expecting to shut down within six months, if current funding levels persist, and almost three-quarters (72 per cent) report having been forced to lay off staff. Funding cuts have also affected humanitarian programmes for persons with disabilities, with 81 per cent reporting an impact on the delivery of assistance to address basic needs and 95 per cent reporting an impact on work to address barriers faced by persons with disabilities to access humanitarian assistance. The risk of preventable disease and mortality has risen as health and water, sanitation and hygiene services (WASH) are curtailed. In Syria, hospitals serving over 200,000 people in Deir ez-Zor are at risk of closing in May 2025 and over 170 health facilities in the north-west of the country risk running out of funds. In Somalia, over a quarter of one NGO’s health and nutrition facilities will stop services in June 2025, affecting at least 55,000 children. In the DRC, 100,000 children are projected to miss out on measles vaccination in 2026 alone. In Afghanistan, approximately 420 health facilities have closed, denying three million people access to primary health care. In Sudan, through the South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan, nearly 190,000 refugees and host households in White Nile, Kordofan and parts of Darfur risk losing access to WASH services, heightening the risk of disease outbreaks, malnutrition and protection violations, particularly for women and children. Funding cuts for women-led organizations have hit gender-based violence prevention and protection efforts hardest. In the DRC, underfunding—combined with an upsurge in violence—means that 250,000 children will miss out on GBV prevention. In Yemen, funding suspensions have already forced 22 safe spaces to close, denying services and support to women and girls. Services for refugees are being jeopardized. In Rwanda, under the DRC regional refugee plan, cash assistance for food decreased by 50 per cent. In Uganda, vulnerable refugees (82 per cent of the settlement refugee population) have had their food rations reduced to approximately a quarter of the full amount. In Lebanon, tens of thousands of vulnerable families risk being left without cash assistance to meet their basic needs. In Hungary, under the Ukraine Refugee Response Plan, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will not enroll any new refugees with severe disabilities into the cash support programme. As of 10 June 2025, only 12 per cent of funding required under the 2025 Global Humanitarian Overview has been received. Without urgent additional support and financial backing, humanitarian partners will be unable to reach even people with the most life-threatening needs. And yet, this devastating underfunding of humanitarian action comes amid an exponential rise in military expenditure. In 2024, military expenditure reached over $2.7 trillion in 2024; more than 100 times the amount galvanized for humanitarian appeals globally ($24.91 billion). This was the steepest year-on-year rise in military expenditure since at least the end of the Cold War, with European military expenditure accounting for the main increase. June 2025 A hyper-prioritized Global Humanitarian Overview 2025: the cruel math of aid cuts, by Tom Fletcher - United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: "This is a moment of reckoning. Brutal funding cuts have left us with no other option than to further reduce the number of people we are hoping to save. Six months after ruthlessly prioritizing those in the direst need, we are left with the cruel math of doing less with less – even as the world around us remains on fire. Make no mistake: our appeal for less money does not mean that there are less needs. Quite the contrary. What has changed is that funding for our work has been decimated, even as more lives are shattered by wars and climate-induced disasters, and as our own staff is killed, injured, and detained just for trying to save lives. What has changed is that more people in positions of power are choosing to finance wars instead of aiding people bearing their brunt; retreating from their obligations under international law instead of upholding them; allowing the worst violations to continue instead of holding perpetrators accountable; repressing women and girls instead of empowering them. And yet I refuse to believe that humanity is dead. Everywhere I’ve been since taking on this role, I have seen its irrepressible power: In the people who have next to nothing and how they open their doors to those fleeing crises; in the women who have survived atrocities—from Gaza to El Geneina—and how they support their own communities; in the aid providers who, through sheer determination, ingenuity and care, manage to reach people in even the most dangerous and challenging crises. So, as we launch this hyper-prioritized Global Humanitarian Overview, I am calling on the global community—Governments, businesses, individuals—to meet this moment. Help us deliver for those who need our support the most. Stand up for the laws that protect civilians and protect us as we serve them. Hold those responsible for atrocities to account. Ask yourself whether you did all you could. This GHO Special Edition reflects our collective response to the most devastating funding cuts that our sector has ever seen. It is a focused, clear-eyed account of what must happen now—where the needs are most urgent, where we can still make the most difference, and where lives are, very literally, on the line. Reaching this point has not been easy; it has required extremely tough conversations and difficult decisions. And let me be crystal clear: while this document outlines what we must do, right now, to save as many lives as we can with the resources that we have, it does not – in any way – replace our meticulous and painstaking planning for this year. The entirety of our initial Global Humanitarian Overview remains fully valid and should be fully funded. This hyper-prioritized version is the tip of the iceberg, not the whole effort. What we are launching today is a call to action, not a plea for charity—it’s an appeal for responsibility, solidarity, and a future built on humanity. Inaction is not inevitable. It is a choice—and one we can refuse to make. The stakes could not be higher". http://humanitarianaction.info/document/hyper-prioritized-global-humanitarian-overview-2025-cruel-math-aid-cuts http://humanitarianaction.info/ Visit the related web page |
|
This is a season of war. This is a time of crisis by Filippo Grandi UN High Commissioner for Refugees Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi to the United Nations Security Council; 28 April 2025: "This is a season of war. This is a time of crisis. From Sudan to Ukraine, from the Sahel to Myanmar, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti, violence has become the defining currency of our age. While UNHCR is not part of the United Nations response in Gaza, the situation of civilians there, which we thought could not get worse, is reaching new levels of desperation by the day. I realize I am not telling the members of this Council anything you do not already know – which is an indictment in itself – but unfortunately that is the reality of our world. One where, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 120 conflicts rage unabated. Each one of them fuelled by the same perverse yet powerful delusion: that peace is for the weak; that the only way to end war is not through negotiation but by inflicting so much pain on your enemies that they are left with two choices: to surrender or to be annihilated. And so, blinded by the idea that only total military victory will do, it should come as no surprise that the norms of international humanitarian law, once held in respect, or at least proclaimed to be – protecting civilians, upholding the neutrality of humanitarian actors, allowing the most basic aid to reach people under siege – are cast aside, dismissed as easily as the thousands of lives destroyed in the pursuit of supremacy. As Pope Francis said, “every war represents not only a defeat of politics but also a shameful surrender.’ He is gone, sadly, but his words remain more urgent than ever. Preventing and stopping war – upholding peace and security – this is the Security Council’s mandate. This is your primary responsibility. And one that – you will forgive me for again saying it – this body has chronically failed to live up to. But please do not resign yourselves to the defeat of diplomacy. I speak to you today once more on behalf of the 123 million people forcibly displaced – who are among the first victims of wars, and in many ways the most visible symptom of conflict and persecution. Caught in devastating situations, they have sought safety – or at least attempted to. But they will continue to hope for a safe return. And they – I know – will not be resigned and will not want us to be. Like the people of Sudan, one third of whom have been displaced since the start of the conflict two years ago. One out of every three people! Forced to flee their homes because of a situation that frankly defies description – indiscriminate violence, disease, starvation, rampant sexual atrocities, flooding, droughts. A country and a society torn apart in a context where all pretense of adherence to humanitarian norms has been abandoned. I was in Chad earlier this month, at the border with Sudan. I met women and children who had just arrived from embattled El-Fasher and Zamzam. They reported horrors, but above all fear. Civilians in Darfur are regularly blocked from fleeing dangerous areas. Worse, they are actively targeted – you will have seen recent reports of attacks against civilians in and around displacement camps, where delivering aid is not only a security and logistical challenge, as it is in the rest of the country, but also a bureaucratic nightmare intertwined with toxic politics. That is why it was so significant that those same families, telling me their stories, pointed at the border and said that crossing it, in spite of all hardships they knew they would endure, meant leaving at least that fear behind – no better testament to the life-saving power of asylum. As the number of displaced Sudanese continues to grow, humanitarians have sounded the alarm about the terrible human cost exacted from the Sudanese people and from their future. Warning also – as I did again at the London Conference only a few days ago – that the consequences of this conflict have now spread well beyond Sudan’s borders, and especially to those countries which collectively host more than three million Sudanese refugees, from Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda to the Central African Republic. The most impacted are Chad and South Sudan, which face enormous challenges of their own besides the refugee influx, but that have kept their borders open despite vastly insufficient humanitarian financing – the latest regional refugee appeal is only 11 per cent funded. Yet, the needs are enormous. Refugees arrive with nothing and are given a fraction of what is required because of declining aid funding, plus whatever Chadian communities near the border can afford. The Chadian authorities are sparing no effort. Chadian refugee laws and policies are among the most progressive in the world. What they lack are resources, so they can continue receiving refugees. We cannot leave them alone. Because there is nothing inevitable, Mr. President, about the decision to host, protect and assist refugees – much less welcoming responses to displacement in much wealthier countries clearly show that. All countries make choices, and you have heard me disagree with many. In this instance, refugee-receiving countries are making the right decision. They are doing their part. We, the humanitarians, are on the ground, doing our part. You must be more committed, and more united, to do yours. Every day that passes without the parties to the Sudan conflict coming to the negotiating table makes the war worse; makes the war more complicated too: refugees talk of not just two parties, but of a proliferation of local militias, loosely affiliated to the main actors, perpetrating violent abuse. This deadly confusion is a feature of modern wars. We should have learned lessons from wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Afghanistan, whose spillover consequences many members of this Council still contend with to this day. Because if the current dynamics – resigned powerlessness and dwindling aid – do not change, then let us harbour no illusions: the Sudan war’s destabilizing effects will grow, including the onward movement of people: there are already more than 200,000 Sudanese in Libya today, many of whom may travel towards Europe. I also watch with great concern – like you, I’m sure – the latest developments in Ukraine – a country I have visited six times since 2022. As recently as January, I was in Kyiv and Sumy – cities that have again suffered devastating attacks just in the last few days. I saw the terrible toll this war continues to take on the Ukrainian people, and especially on the most vulnerable – the elderly, children, families – whose resilience nevertheless remains admirable, even as it has grown weary. UNHCR works closely with the government and local civil society partners to help alleviate the suffering and bring some normalcy and hope to people’s lives. But clearly, as said by many, what people need is a just peace. My role is not to describe what it looks like, but to remind all those engaged in peace efforts not to forget the plight of more than 10 million displaced Ukrainians – seven million of whom are refugees. It is crucial to continue to plan for their eventual return to their communities. But they will not return unless they can be safe and secure, in the short and in the long term. Unless the sirens truly stop announcing incoming attacks, unless they have access to decent housing, services and work, and unless they are confident that the terms of peace are durable, for them and for their country. That is the essential calculus for ending humanitarian and refugee crises, Mr. President. Security and self-reliance. And both must convey a sense of being durable. Solutions are hard work. They require commitment and compromise. You cannot make peace passively or hope for it to happen through mere attrition. That is why it is all the more important that when even unexpected opportunities emerge, we must be ready to seize them. And be ready to take calculated risks. For the last eight years, for example, stagnation has defined the response in Myanmar. The fighting between the Tatmadaw and different armed groups has caused immense suffering and large-scale displacement throughout the country and the region – a situation exacerbated by the terrible earthquake that struck a month ago. The plight of the Rohingya minority, in particular, has become even worse. Fighting in Rakhine State with the Arakan Army has been particularly vicious – 1.2 million Rohingya are refugees today, mostly in Bangladesh, in the camps around Cox’s Bazaar. We must thank Bangladesh and its people for having provided them refuge over the years. But Rohingya refugees languish in the camps, without work, deprived of agency, entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, which grows ever more precarious. Half the refugee population is under the age of 18. They are, to paraphrase Chief Advisor Dr Yunus, disconnected from opportunity but connected to the world through the internet. Is it any wonder that many feel compelled to embark on dangerous sea journeys in pursuit of opportunity? Or that those looking to recruit fighters find fertile soil? But there is now an opportunity to break this dangerous inertia. The interim government of Bangladesh has chosen to engage with the parties to the conflict in Rakhine State in pursuit of a solution there – where it rightly lies. Many will immediately say that such a solution today is impossible for all the reasons we know: too much blood has been shed, discrimination continues, and there are too many competing interests to balance. Many will say that the root causes will never be effectively addressed, and that may well be the case. But we have been down the path of stagnation for eight years in respect of the Rohingya situation – it is a dead end. From the perspective of pursuing solutions to the Rohingya plight, and in order to start recreating conditions for the return of refugees, dialogue with all parties is a critical first step so that humanitarian agencies – including UNHCR – can reestablish their presence and resume providing desperately needed humanitarian relief – safely and freely. That, in turn, would provide a basis on which to restart discussions on the eventual return of displaced Rohingya – I stress: voluntarily, in safety and dignity – once the security situation in Rakhine allows, and from where other legal rights could also be pursued. It is a long shot, for sure, but I urge you to think out of the box and take some risks. I hope the Council will continue to focus robustly on the situation in Myanmar – including the plight of the Rohingya, and I look forward to the conference planned for September here in New York. Other possible turning points are visible, literally, even from here. On Friday, the new flag of Syria was raised at the United Nations – what a powerful symbol for all Syrians! And there we have another long-standing humanitarian and displacement crisis for which an unexpected solution may now be achievable. But to pursue that, you must all prioritize the Syrian people over long-standing politics, some of which are frankly outdated. That also entails taking calculated risks. Of course, we cannot be naive, many challenges remain – you heard Minister Shaibani describe them here on Friday. It is impossible to overcome the devastation caused by 14 years of war in a few months. But, for the first time in decades, there is a spark of hope, including for the millions of Syrians who remain displaced today, 4.5 million of them refugees in neighbouring countries. Since 8 December, those numbers have been decreasing – slowly but steadily – as the return movement of internally displaced Syrians grows. We observe an increase of returns also from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkiye. We estimate that over one million people – one million people! – have already returned, and, based on what recent surveys show, many more may follow. Whether they will stay in Syria or, tragically, move again – including to Europe and beyond – depends, of course, on the authorities, but also – very much – on your willingness to take risks. To ease sanctions, seriously support early recovery, spur investment by the private sector and others: in a word, create conditions so that the basic elements of dignified life – security, water, electricity, education, economic opportunities – are available to the Syrian people as they start to rebuild their communities. To minimize the risks that returning Syrians are taking, I am asking you to take some risks yourselves – political and economic ones. And yes, that must also mean sustained and more significant humanitarian aid, which at the moment – like everywhere else – is decreasing sharply. I would in fact be remiss, before concluding, if I did not draw the Council’s attention on the critical situation of aid funding. In the precise moment when there is hope to finally move towards solutions to several displacement crises – not only in Syria, but also in Burundi or the Central African Republic – we see a retrenchment away from aid, away from multilateralism, even away from life-saving assistance. We hear of prioritizing national interests, of boosting defense spending – all valid concerns of course, and legitimate state pursuits. But these are not incompatible with aid, quite the contrary. And so, I find myself making the same argument time after time, trying to convince donor countries of a reality we can all clearly see: that aid is stability. Freezing or cutting aid budgets is already having fatal consequences on millions of lives. It means, among many other things, abandoning displaced people to their fate; taking support away from sometimes very fragile host countries; and ultimately undermining your own stability. And multilateralism, in fact – including multilateral aid – adds to that same stability and remains indispensable to find solutions to crises, including forced displacement. I may sound anachronistic, but after more than 40 years as a humanitarian, and almost 10 years in my current job, I continue to believe that it is by sitting at the same table that all voices can be heard – the strong and the less strong. And to those who feel that multilateralism is stifling, slow and misaligned with your priorities, I hope you realize that leaving the debate does not mean that the discussion would end. It will not, but it will be less effective and less compelling. We need all of you. Refugees offer one of the best examples of this shared task. Because if you look around this room, you will see, like I do, that forced displacement has concerned every member of the Security Council at one point, one way or another. The struggle for freedom; the fight against oppression; the imperative to leave one’s home behind because of war, violence, and persecution; the refuge given to those compelled to flee – these are also familiar strands in each of your countries’ histories; deeply woven in complex and unique ways into your traditions and values. You have been the refugee. You have welcomed those who sought refuge. Now you sit at this table, with the responsibility to end war, to bring peace. And you must succeed. You owe it not only to all those who are displaced and who count on you. You also owe it to yourselves." http://www.unhcr.org/news/speeches-and-statements/statement-un-high-commissioner-refugees-filippo-grandi-security http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/number-people-uprooted-war-shocking-decade-high-levels-unhcr http://www.unhcr.org/global-trends http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-funding-crunch-increases-risks-violence-danger-and-death-refugees http://www.wfp.org/news/refugees-kenya-risk-worsening-hunger-wfp-faces-critical-funding-shortfall http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/05/alarmed-reports-rohingya-cast-sea-indian-navy-vessels-un-expert-launches Visit the related web page |
|
View more stories | |
![]() ![]() ![]() |