While needs are rising rapidly across the world, the United Nations is warning that humanitarian organizations providing life-saving services to women and girls are running out of money. A new UN Women report, published on Friday, reveals that at least one million women and girls have lost access to vital support since January 2025 — a figure which is believed to be much higher in reality.
“We know that this number, at least one million women and girls, is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action at UN Women, the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.
“If you have ever been in a war or disaster zone, you will know that women’s organizations are the muscle and lifeblood of the humanitarian response. They are the first to respond and the last to leave during crises.”
The collapse of women’s organizations is happening as needs reach historic levels. Currently, some 120 million women and girls worldwide require humanitarian assistance and protection, and 84 percent of surveyed women’s organizations report that demand for their services has grown since January 2025.
“Eight in ten have seen an increase in demand for their services since January 2025. Yet, more than nine in ten women’s organizations that we spoke to told us that they cannot meet the current levels of need,” Calltorp told journalists in Geneva on Friday, adding that three quarters have been forced to cut staff.
“Just as we record the highest levels of armed conflict the world has experienced in decades, 4 in 10 women’s organizations working in humanitarian crises expect to close in the next 12 months.”
The UN Women report is based on responses from 855 predominantly local and national women-led and women’s rights organizations across 52 crisis- and conflict-affected countries.
“They work on the frontlines of the world’s most complex and dangerous crises – in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Yemen – serving the communities they are closest to,” Calltorp said.
“In some cases, their staff, who are mostly women, go where international actors cannot – facing huge risks and personal sacrifice by doing so.”
Meanwhile, conflict-related sexual violence doubled in 2025, just as the systems designed to protect survivors are collapsing. Though 86 percent of women’s organizations report an increase in gender-based violence in their communities, 62 percent report that safe spaces are unavailable or significantly reduced.
To keep life-saving services afloat, women leading or working in the surveyed organizations are paying with their own labor, income, and well-being. Many of them are affected by the crisis themselves.
“This is a cruel paradox. Nearly two thirds of the organizations we surveyed told us their staff are working without pay to keep critical support for women and girls afloat,” Calltorp stressed.
“These sacrifices are a testament to their commitment, but the expectation cannot be that women absorb these costs.”
The report also warns that the consequences extend beyond the scope of the humanitarian response. They threaten to reverse progress on women’s rights and reduce women’s participation in community leadership and decision-making.
“Nine in ten women’s organizations that we spoke to said that they have seen an increase in poverty among the women they serve, eight in ten have seen an increase in girls dropping out of school, and seven in ten have seen an increase in forced marriage,” Calltorp added.
“We are seeing how defunding of women’s rights and gender equality in humanitarian settings have fueled insecurity. But the reality is that when you invest in women’s protection and leadership, communities strengthen and peace lasts longer.”
UN Women calls for immediate action from donors and the humanitarian community to prioritize funding for women’s organizations, which need sustainable multi-year support that allows them to plan, retain staff, and strengthen their institutions.
Calltorp said that funding shortfalls deepen inequality and division “– both of which comes with an incredibly costly price tag. And the irony is that women’s organizations are highly cost-effective.”
When questioned by reporters, she highlighted two reinforcing trends: funding cuts that immediately affected critical services for women and girls and an erosion of women’s organizations’ leadership and capacity to work within their communities.
She stressed that women’s organizations were the backbone of humanitarian response and that, without those community-led responses, access was extremely difficult for international actors.
Global humanitarian funding has declined sharply
Since 2025, global humanitarian funding has plummeted, primarily due to massive aid budget cuts from the United States, as well as significant cutbacks from other leading donors, including Germany and the United Kingdom.
Although international aid has been trending downward since 2022 despite surging global needs, total funding reached its lowest point in a decade last year due to the aggressive policy shifts by the US administration. Prospects for 2026 remain grim, as there is currently no indication of a meaningful recovery in global humanitarian funding.
US funding cuts have particularly impacted gender-equality initiatives, specifically targeting programs dedicated to women’s health, protection, and the financial security of local, women-led organizations.
Even before these cuts, the international humanitarian architecture was buckling under a systemic funding crisis. For years, a widening gap has persisted between mounting emergency needs, fueled by protracted armed conflicts and climate disasters, and the international community's stagnant or shrinking financial commitments.
Consequently, these radical budget shortfalls are exacerbating crises worldwide. By withdrawing critical resources during a period of intensifying global instability, major donors have left tens of millions of people more vulnerable to death, widespread hunger, preventable disease outbreaks, and mass displacement.
Further information
Full text: Beyond the breaking point: The continuing impact of funding cuts on women’s organizations in humanitarian settings, UN Women, report, published July 10, 2026
https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2026-07/beyond-the-breaking-point-the-continuing-impact-of-funding-cuts-on-womens-organizations-in-humanitarian-settings-en.pdf