As global humanitarian funding plummets due to extreme funding cuts by the United States, the United Nations on Thursday released US$110 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to scale up life-saving assistance in ten of the world's most underfunded and neglected crises in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In total, more than 307 million people around the world are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
Thursday's announcement comes at a time when humanitarian needs around the world are skyrocketing and the global funding outlook remains dire. Funding has been declining every year, with this year's level expected to fall to a record low following the brutal cuts imposed by the new US administration.
In 2025, humanitarian organizations are seeking nearly $45 billion to reach 185 million of the world's most vulnerable people caught up in crises. To date, only 5 percent of this funding has been received, leaving a gap of more than $42 billion.
Even before the recent events in Washington, the global humanitarian system was facing a massive funding crisis after years of growing needs and donors unable or unwilling to respond to those in need. For years, the United States has led the world in humanitarian giving.
“For countries battered by conflict, climate change and economic turmoil, brutal funding cuts don’t mean that humanitarian needs disappear,” Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said Thursday.
"Today’s emergency fund allocation channels resources swiftly to where they’re needed most."
The Central Emergency Response Fund is a global humanitarian fund and one of the fastest ways to deliver humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people in crises across the world.
One-third of the new CERF funding will support Sudan, the world's largest humanitarian crisis plagued by extreme violence, record displacement and catastrophic hunger, and neighboring Chad, where more than one million people, including refugees and returnees, have fled.
CERF funds will also support humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Honduras, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Venezuela and Zambia. In addition, funds will support life-saving initiatives to protect people at risk from climate shocks, made possible by CERF's Climate Action Account.
In recognition of climate change as a key driver of humanitarian needs, a portion of the March allocation will support climate-smart humanitarian action through CERF's new Climate Action Account. Beginning in 2023, CERF has become the leading international humanitarian funding vehicle for responding to climate-related humanitarian emergencies.
CERF launched its Climate Action Account at COP28, providing a channel for climate-related humanitarian financing. It aims to support the world's most vulnerable communities facing the impacts of the climate crisis, including through early action and life-saving projects that also build people's adaptation and resilience.
CERF
Twice a year, CERF allocates resources to underfunded emergencies as a global alert to highlight the need for additional funding from UN Member States, the private sector and others. CERF is managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and administered by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on behalf of the UN Secretary-General.
CERF funds for underfunded emergencies are used to scale up and sustain protracted relief operations to avoid critical gaps where no other resources are available, while its rapid response funds help UN agencies and their partners respond quickly to newly emerging humanitarian needs.
Thursday's allocation is CERF's first for unfunded emergencies this year, following the release of $100 million for ten countries in August 2024 to help more than 3 million people affected by underfunded emergencies in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar and Yemen.
CERF has an annual funding target of $1 billion, which unfortunately has never been reached. So far this year, the fund has received only $330 million. The United States, for years the world's largest humanitarian donor, has not paid or pledged a single dollar in 2025.
The Central Emergency Response Fund is primarily financed by UN member states. CERF also accepts donations from corporations, foundations and individuals. The Fund enables timely, effective and life-saving humanitarian action by UN agencies and others to launch or scale up emergency operations wherever they are needed.
Since its creation by the UN General Assembly in 2005, CERF has provided $9.6 billion to help hundreds of millions of people in more than 110 countries and territories. This includes $3.3 billion for underfunded crises, including this latest allocation.
CERF is designed to complement, not replace, existing humanitarian financing mechanisms. Funding decisions for underfunded crises are based on detailed analysis of more than 90 humanitarian indicators and broad consultation with stakeholders.
Extreme US funding cuts to humanitarian aid
Meanwhile, extreme funding cuts to humanitarian aid by the United States are beginning to have a devastating impact around the world, putting hundreds of thousands of lives at risk and leaving tens of millions or more without access to the assistance they desperately need.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned last week that UN agencies, as well as many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing humanitarian assistance, have received information about severe funding cuts by the United States. The consequences, he said, will be particularly devastating for vulnerable people around the world.
"These cuts affect a wide range of critical programs. From life-saving humanitarian assistance to support for vulnerable communities recovering from war or natural disasters," Guterres said.
The announced radical slashing of funding comes at a time when global crises are intensifying, with millions of people at risk of hunger, disease and displacement. The suspension of humanitarian aid marks a sharp break with decades of US American foreign policy.
For years, the United States has been the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance, followed by the European Union as a whole and Germany in particular. Last year, the US accounted for more than 40 percent of global humanitarian funding tracked by OCHA.
By contrast, Germany, the second-largest single donor, provided $2.7 billion, or about 8 percent of global funding. The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, also contributed about $2.7 billion, or around 8 percent.
Since February, the US government has been trying to dismantle the world's largest government development and humanitarian aid agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The move came weeks after the new US administration imposed a near-total halt to US foreign assistance amid a "review," affecting USAID operations and foreign assistance funded by or through the US State Department, with some vague exceptions for certain humanitarian funding.
Further information
Full text: UN releases US$110 million to shore up life-saving assistance in neglected humanitarian crises, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, press release, published March 6, 2025
https://www.unocha.org/news/un-releases-us110-million-shore-life-saving-assistance-neglected-humanitarian-crises
Website: United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)
https://cerf.un.org/
Donate to CERF now
https://cerf.un.org/donate
https://crisisrelief.un.org/t/cerf