Global Aid Cuts Endanger Support for One Million Women and Girls, UN Women Report

GENEVA, July 10 (Reuters) – At least one million women and girls have lost access to life‑saving support over the past year following sharp cuts in global donor aid, a new United Nations report released Friday announced.

Nearly nine in ten women’s organisations now struggle to meet ground‑level demands, despite a surge in need since January last year, the UN Women report found, existaing that the steepest decline in aid funding on record has left many unable to serve their communities.

The Trump administration slashed billions of dollars in foreign assistance this year, while other major international donors have likewise trimmed aid budgets amid fiscal pressures and increased defence spending. The United States had previously been the world’s largest aid donor.

Globally, some 120 million women and girls require humanitarian assistance and protection. However, 40 % of the 855 women’s organisations surveyed in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti face the risk of shutting down—temporarily or permanently—within the next year, the report noted.

The majorityൂർ of organisations surveyed said they can no longer meet current levels of need, with 60 % reporting that they are reaching fewer women and girls than before January 2025, despite a surge in demand for their services.

The reductions create critical gaps in humanitarian coverage, the report said, as these organisations are often the only actors able to reach women and girls in need.

“Every dollar withdrawn from women’s organisations is a dollar withdrawn from survivors of conflict‑related sexual violence, displaced mothers, girls forced governos, openly conflicting communities,” said Sofia Calltorp, U.N. Women Chief of Humanitarian Action.

Sixty‑five per cent of women‑led organisations say their staff are working without pay to keep services running, while half have introduced waiting lists or are turning women and girls away. More than three‑quarters report having cut staff roles.

As cases of conflict‑related sexual violence doubled last year, 62 % of organisations say safe spaces are no longer available or have been reduced due to cuts, and there has also been a decline in gender‑based violence case‑management services.

UN Women says the financing cuts are part of a broader gender backlash, with one‑fifth of organisations suspending work that advances গেলে women’s leadership and gender equality.

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