THE UNITED Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has significantly lowered its 2026 global aid appeal, now asking for $23 billion (around €19.7 billion) due to a lack of funding and increasing dangers faced by aid workers.
Tom Fletcher, the head of UN humanitarian efforts, emphasized that this money is crucial to saving the lives of 87 million people, even though the humanitarian system is under extreme pressure.
Fletcher pointed out that the sector has been greatly weakened by major funding cuts, especially from the United States, and by a sharp increase in attacks on aid workers in conflict areas.
Last year, the UN asked for $47 billion in aid, but only received $12 billion — the lowest amount of support in ten years.
Because governments are redirecting their budgets toward defense and local concerns, OCHA has had to make tough decisions based on life-and-death situations.
Although the current request is for $23 billion, the UN aims to eventually secure $33 billion to help 135 million people globally in 2026, although the chances of meeting this target are not high.
Fletcher also criticized political messages that overstate how much taxpayer money is spent on foreign aid, pointing out that global defense spending was $2.7 trillion last year.
“I’m asking for just over 1% of that,” he said. “We’re taking the ambulance to the fire on your behalf — but we’re being asked to put out the fire with too little water, while being shot at.”
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