UN says aid cuts have denied support to at least 1 million women
UN Women says funding cuts have forced women’s groups in 52 countries to turn away women and girls as needs rise.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
At least 1 million women have lost access to humanitarian and other critical assistance because of budget cuts over the past 18 months, UN Women said Friday. The U.N. agency said the reductions are hitting groups that serve survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, displaced mothers, girls pushed out of school and communities facing crisis.
UN Women linked the pressure to foreign-aid cuts that began after President Donald Trump took office in January 2025. The United States is the largest donor to the United Nations, according to UN Women, and the agency said reductions by Washington and other major donors have strained aid operations worldwide.
Sofia Calltorp, UN Women’s chief of humanitarian action, said the agency had consulted 855 women’s organizations operating in 52 countries. Those groups told UN Women that women and girls had been turned away as funding losses weakened or dismantled local organizations, Calltorp told reporters in Geneva.
“We know that this number, at least 1 million women and girls, is just the tip of the iceberg,” Calltorp said.
Groups report rising demand and shrinking capacity
UN Women said 84% of the women’s organizations it surveyed reported greater needs since January 2025. Nearly 90% said they could no longer meet the current level of demand, according to the agency.
One in five surveyed groups said they expected to close, either temporarily or permanently, within the next year, UN Women said. Calltorp said each dollar withdrawn from women’s organizations reduces support for people affected by violence, displacement and other emergencies.
UN Women also said conflict-related sexual violence doubled last year. The agency cited that rise while warning that organizations focused on women and girls could become another casualty of conflict if funding is not restored or replaced.
The funding squeeze is part of a broader contraction in global aid, according to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD, a group of 38 mostly developed countries, found that development assistance fell by nearly a quarter last year to $174 billion, which it described as the largest annual drop on record.
Many U.N. agencies have cut thousands of jobs and scaled back programs around the world during the past 18 months after funding reductions by the United States and other leading donors, the Associated Press reported.
The United Nations is also weighing internal changes through a reform effort known as UN80, the Associated Press reported. As part of that process, the U.N. has considered merging UN Women with UNFPA, the agency focused on sexual and reproductive health.
Calltorp warned that groups that have helped keep women and girls alive in severe crises could disappear without immediate action. UN Women said the loss of those organizations would further reduce services in places already facing conflict, displacement and rising humanitarian need.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.