The United Nations has drastically reduced its humanitarian funding request for 2026 to $23 billion, roughly half of its 2025 appeal, as it grapples with severe donor cuts and record-breaking global needs. The stark reduction forces the organization to prioritize only the most urgent, life-saving cases.
The $23 billion forms the immediate priority of the UN’s $33 billion Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) for 2026, aimed at assisting millions affected by conflicts, climate disasters, and epidemics. This pared-back appeal comes despite the GHO identifying 135 million people across 50 countries in need of assistance.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the funding environment as forcing “tough, brutal choices,” with aid agencies now overstretched, underfunded, and operating under increased danger. “We drive the ambulance towards the fire, on your behalf,” Fletcher stated. “But we are also now being asked to put the fire out. And there is not enough water in the tank. And we’re being shot at.”
The 2026 plan will focus aid on 87 million people deemed at the highest risk. The largest single-country appeal is $4.1 billion for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, primarily Gaza, where nearly the entire population of 2.3 million relies on aid after two years of conflict. Sudan follows with a $2.9 billion request for 20 million internally displaced people and a separate $2 billion appeal for seven million refugees. Syria’s regional plan is the largest, seeking $2.8 billion for 8.6 million people.
The funding crisis follows a stark shortfall in 2025, when the UN received only $12 billion against an initial $47 billion appeal—the lowest funding level in a decade. This led to slashed programs, the closure of hundreds of aid organizations, and a record year for aid worker fatalities, with over 380 killed.
A significant shift in donor contributions has exacerbated the shortfall. While the United States remains the largest single donor, its share of UN humanitarian funding plummeted to 15.6% in 2025 from over one-third in previous years, reflecting cuts by the administration of President Donald Trump and reduced support from other major Western donors like Germany.
The funding crunch is forcing other agencies to scale back. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reduced its 2026 request to $4.7 billion to support 41 million displaced people, down from an $8.2 billion plan last year. The IOM has already laid off thousands of staff in 2025 due to major cuts.
Humanitarian agencies warn that even the reduced 2026 plan will leave millions without critical aid, with past shortfalls having already contributed to rising hunger, overstretched health systems, and famine conditions in regions like Sudan and Gaza. The UN is urgently calling on nations to increase both financial support and protection for humanitarian workers to prevent a further deterioration of crises worldwide.
