UN Launches 2026 Aid Appeal, Citing ‘Brutal Choices’ for Global Relief Efforts

Updated by Eric Kikomeko at 1400 EAT On Monday 8 December 2025

The United Nations has launched its 2026 humanitarian appeal seeking only half of the funding it says is required, even as global needs reach unprecedented levels.

Announcing the appeal on Monday, the UN requested $23bn but acknowledged that a steep drop in donor contributions means the reduced target will leave tens of millions of people in urgent need without assistance.

The UN initially sought $47bn for its 2025 humanitarian operations, but was forced to scale back the target as sweeping aid cuts by the new U.S. administration—and subsequently by other major Western donors, including Germany—became clear.

By November, the organisation had received only $12bn, its lowest funding total in a decade and enough to cover just over a quarter of its stated needs. The shortfall compelled the UN to focus resources solely on the most severe emergencies.

The UN warned that the global outlook remains dire, citing rising instability and conflict in multiple regions.

Aid agencies are also contending with escalating security threats in conflict zones, compounding the impact of deep funding cuts, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned.

“We are overstretched, underfunded and under attack,” he said. “We drive the ambulance toward the fire on your behalf. But we are now also being asked to put the fire out — and there isn’t enough water in the tank. And we’re being shot at.”

Fletcher criticised what he described as growing international “apathy” despite the widespread suffering he witnessed throughout 2025, saying the UN now faces a series of “brutal choices.”

Al Jazeera reports that the UN estimates roughly a quarter of a billion people worldwide now require urgent assistance. Despite the scale of need, the organisation says it will aim to support 135 million people at a projected cost of $33bn — contingent on available funding.

The largest single appeal, totalling $4bn, is directed to the occupied Palestinian territory. According to Al Jazeera, most of that funding is earmarked for Gaza, which it reports has been devastated by what it describes as Israel’s “genocidal war,” leaving nearly all 2.3 million residents displaced and dependent on aid.

Sudan is the UN’s second-largest priority, followed by Syria.

“This appeal is laser-focused on saving lives where shocks hit hardest — wars, climate disasters, earthquakes, epidemics, crop failures,” said UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.

The UN estimates that 240 million people affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, natural disasters or climate-driven crises are in need of emergency support.

If the organisation again falls short of its funding goals, Fletcher said it will expand efforts to seek contributions from civil society, the private sector and the general public.

UN humanitarian operations rely almost entirely on voluntary contributions from Western donors, with the United States historically the largest funder. UN data cited by Al Jazeera shows that the U.S. remained the top donor in 2025 despite aid cuts introduced by President Donald Trump, though its share dropped from more than one-third of total funding to 15.6 percent.

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