New UN aid chief vows ‘ruthlessness’ to prioritize spending as funding for world’s crises shrinks
GENEVA — The new head of the UN’s humanitarian aid agency says it will be ‘ruthless’ in prioritizing how money is spent, a nod to the challenges of raising money for civilians in war zones such as Gaza, Sudan, Syria And Ukraine.
Tom Fletcher, a British diplomat who took up the UN post last month, said his organization is asking for less money in 2025 than this year. He said it aims to show that “we will focus on the resources we have” even as crises become more numerous, intense and prolonged.
His agency, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, issued its global appeal for 2025 on Wednesday, demanding $47 billion to help 190 million people in 32 countries — though it estimates 305 million people need help worldwide.
“The world is on fire, and this is how we put it out,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
The agency and many other aid organizations, including the international Red Cross, have seen donations shrink in recent years for old trouble spots like Syria, South Sudan, the Middle East and Congo, and newer ones like Ukraine and Sudan. Access to aid has been difficult in some places, especially in Sudan and Gaza.
The agency’s call for $50 billion this year was only 43% fulfilled last month. One consequence of that shortage was an 80% reduction in food aid to Syria sudden escalation of fighting the past few days.
Such funds go to UN agencies and more than 1,500 partner organizations.
The largest demand for 2025 is for Syria – a total of $8.7 billion for needs both within the country and for its neighbors who have taken in Syrian refugees – and for Sudan with a total of $6 billion, and the ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory for $4 billion. Ukraine at about $3.3 billion and Congo at almost $3.2 billion.
Fletcher said his office must be “relentless” in reaching those most in need.
“I choose that word carefully because it is a judgment — that ruthlessness — about prioritizing where the funding goes and where we can have the biggest impact,” he said. “It is an acknowledgment that we have struggled to raise the money in recent years. we need it.”
In response to questions about how much US President-elect Donald Trump – the UN’s largest donor – will spend on humanitarian aid, Fletcher said he expects to spend “a lot of time” in Washington in the coming months talking to the new administration.
“America is very much on our minds right now,” he said, acknowledging that some governments “will have more doubts about what the United Nations is doing and less ideological support for this humanitarian effort,” as outlined in the new report.
This year has been the deadliest on record for humanitarians and UN personnel, largely due to the conflict in the Middle East sparked by Palestinian militants’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.