In the complex and ever-changing world of humanitarian crises, resource allocation is becoming crucial. Tom Fletcher, the new head of the UN humanitarian agency, is pledging a “ruthless” approach to prioritizing spending, a sign of the challenges of raising funds for affected civilians in war zones such as Gaza, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.
Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released its global appeal for 2025, calling for $47 billion to help 190 million people in 32 countries. However, an estimated 305 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The decline in donations in recent years for crisis areas such as Syria, South Sudan, the Middle East, Congo, Ukraine and Gaza has challenged the UN office and many other humanitarian organizations, including the International Red Cross. Humanitarian access is proving particularly difficult in some places, particularly in Sudan and Gaza.
The amount requested for this year has been covered at only 43% so far, which has had direct consequences, such as an 80% reduction in food aid in Syria, recently subjected to a sudden escalation of fighting.
The main financial appeals for 2025 concern Syria with a total of 8.7 billion dollars, Sudan with 6 billion dollars, the “Occupied Palestinian Territory” with 4 billion dollars, Ukraine with about 3.3 billion dollars and Congo with almost 3.2 billion dollars.
In the interest of efficiency and maximum impact, Tom Fletcher emphasizes the need to be “ruthless” in the choice of recipients of funds. He underlines the difficulty of mobilizing the necessary resources and foresees in-depth discussions with the future American president Donald Trump, the largest donor to the UN.
The year 2025 has been marked by tragedy for humanitarians and UN staff, largely due to the conflict in the Middle East sparked by the deadly attack by Palestinian militants in Israel.
This complex reality raises fundamental questions about how the international community can best respond to humanitarian crises and provide effective assistance to the most vulnerable populations. Ultimately, it is essential that humanitarian efforts are adequately supported to offer hope and relief to the millions of people affected by conflict and disasters around the world.