The United Nations’ humanitarian body on Friday announced plans to reduce its staff of more than 2,000 people by 20 percent, citing “a wave of brutal cuts.”
The latest cuts will also “reduce its presence and operations” in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
The broader aid situation has grown dire since the Trump administration scrapped 83 percent of humanitarian programs funded by the US Agency for International Development. USAID had an annual budget of $42.8 billion, representing 42 percent of total global humanitarian aid.
“The context we face is the toughest it has ever been for our mission as OCHA, and the system we coordinate,” Fletcher wrote. “The humanitarian community was already underfunded, overstretched and literally, under attack. Now, we face a wave of brutal cuts.”
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is an advocacy arm of the United Nations that delivers reports from the front-line of conflicts “to amplify the voices of crisis-affected people,” according to its website.
It has long been active in response to ongoing violence in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and other conflict zones to provide humanitarian aid.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which employed nearly 20,000 people at the end of September, also indicated in March that it expects a “significant reduction” in its workforce due to the absence of American funding.
