The latest Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) confirms what frontline organisations already know. This report comes as major donor cuts, including the UK, US, and Germany, have left millions at risk just as humanitarian needs are skyrocketing. It underscores the severity and far-reaching consequences of the funding cuts made earlier this year. In response, humanitarian organisations have had to undertake unprecedented reprioritisation of needs, focusing already limited resources on 114 million people facing life-threatening conditions.
Despite this reprioritisation, many will be left behind at a time when crises and atrocities are rising. Protection services are vanishing and local NGOs, often the first responders, are bearing the brunt of staffing cuts. Malnutrition rates are soaring with children facing a heightened risk of severe malnutrition and death. The global food crisis alone now affects over 700 million people, while children, women and aid workers face escalating violence.
At Action Against Hunger, we are deeply concerned. The UK’s retreat from humanitarian leadership undermines both its global standing and our collective capacity to save lives. When funded, we deliver. In places like Yemen, Gaza and Myanmar, we and our partners are proving that timely aid saves lives. But we cannot respond to crises of this scale with empty promises.
We urge donors to reverse course and match rhetoric with resources. Failure to act now will cost lives and make future interventions more expensive and less effective.