Almost 500 staff protest against UN budget cuts as US scales back humanitarian funds

Nearly 500 United Nations unit got unneurotic astatine a Labour Day rally successful Geneva to protestation against sweeping fund cuts prompted by President Donald Trump's determination to propulsion the US backmost from its presumption arsenic the world’s largest assistance donor.

"Reducing the fig of UN unit means reducing the means of endurance for the combat against famine, for acquisition and for displaced families," said Ian Richards, the president of the UN Geneva unit union.

The Geneva rally, held connected the Place des Nations successful beforehand of the UN building, comes 2 days aft respective UN assistance agencies announced they would person to slash jobs owed to backing cuts, chiefly from the US, informing that the reductions volition severely interaction assistance programmes worldwide.

Other bodies similar the UN children's bureau UNICEF, and OCHA, the humanitarian agency, person besides announced oregon program to denote cuts that would interaction astir 20% of unit and wide budgets.

The cuts to the UN agencies underscore the interaction of President Donald Trump's determination to severely trim the magnitude the US spends successful planetary humanitarian assistance.

Trump gave billionaire tech ally Elon Musk and his caller Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) the powerfulness to rework the standard of the national government, with a focus connected slashing overseas assistance.

Even earlier the administration's move, galore donor nations had reduced humanitarian spending, and UN agencies struggled to scope backing goals.

The World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, received 46% of its backing from the United States successful 2024 and is expected to chopped up to 30% of its staff.

One WFP authoritative called the cuts "the astir massive" seen by the bureau successful 25 years, and that arsenic a result, operations volition vanish oregon beryllium downsized.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Secretary General Antonio Guterres was "deeply troubled by the drastic backing reduction."

The UN exile agency, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), provides assistance to immoderate 43.7 cardinal refugees worldwide, on with others among the 122 cardinal radical driven from their homes by conflicts and earthy disasters.

The agency's caput announced plans to downsize its office and determination offices, aiming to trim costs by 30% and destruct 50% of senior-level positions.

In a statement, the bureau said it volition "have to importantly trim our workforce," including downsizing its office and determination offices.

Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, stated successful a tatements that it projects its backing volition beryllium astatine slightest 20% little successful 2025 compared to 2024.

"Hard-earned gains and aboriginal advancement for children are astatine hazard due to the fact that of a planetary backing situation successful which immoderate donors are sharply decreasing their fiscal enactment to UNICEF and our partners, arsenic good arsenic their contributions to planetary assistance much broadly," a UNICEF spokesperson said.