US Allocates $2 Billion in Humanitarian Aid to UN Following Significant Funding Cuts in 2025

On Monday, December 29th, the United States Department of State announced a targeted contribution of $2 billion earmarked for humanitarian assistance channeled through the United Nations. This significant tranche of funding arrives after the Trump administration implemented substantial reductions to American foreign aid throughout 2025. These cuts were widely assessed to have severely hampered the operational capacities of various UN structures.

The official declaration, made in Geneva, served as a direct response to the critical operational environment that had developed following the funding reductions. These constraints had previously forced UN agencies to publicly state they needed to either “adapt, shrink, or perish.” The austerity measures included the termination of 83% of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) projects by March 2025. This restructuring culminated in the transfer of USAID functions to the US Department of State by July 1, 2025. The newly committed $2 billion package is structured as an overarching fund intended for subsequent distribution across multiple UN institutions.

Historical data reveals a stark contrast when comparing this recent commitment to previous years. The total US humanitarian contributions to the UN for the entirety of 2025 amounted to approximately $3.38 billion, representing roughly 14.8% of the global total. This figure falls considerably short of the peak contribution of $17.2 billion recorded in 2022, and also below the $14.1 billion allocated in 2024. Critics of the administration’s policies argued that such a drastic scaling back of foreign assistance dealt a blow to the United States’ “soft power” influence globally.

Amidst these financial shifts, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released its Global Humanitarian Plan for 2026. The plan requests $23 billion to reach 87 million people in need, marking a substantial decrease from the $47 billion requested for 2025. Tom Fletcher, the head of OCHA and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, who assumed his role in October 2024, welcomed the new US contribution. He acknowledged that it reaffirms Washington’s standing as a humanitarian superpower. Nevertheless, Fletcher cautioned that the UN’s humanitarian response remains “overstretched, underfunded, and under attack,” necessitating the making of “brutal choices.”

The reorganization of USAID, initiated under the Trump administration, was officially justified by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who claimed the agency had “long strayed from its original mission.” Rubio asserted that new programs must align directly with core US interests under the “America First” doctrine. The transfer of strategic aid programs to the Department of State, alongside the cessation of other functions, has created a significant void in international assistance efforts. Consequently, the $2 billion pledge represents a crucial stabilization effort amidst this fundamental structural pivot in American foreign aid policy.