The global humanitarian aid system is experiencing one of its most severe contractions since its post-second world war formation, with 64 million fewer people receiving aid in 2025 compared to previous years, according to a new report published Thursday.
The State of the Humanitarian System 2026 report, produced by the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (Alnap), highlights that aid contributions fell by 30% between 2022 and 2025, while thousands of aid workers lost their jobs. In 2025, only those whose lives were in immediate danger became the focus, while support for longer-term issues and recovery from crises was drastically scaled back.
Funding cuts hit the most vulnerable
Jennifer Doherty, co-author of the report, said the impacts were not felt equally. "The combination of reduced funding and restrictive politics meant women, children, elderly people and displaced people were especially hardest hit," she said. Doherty added that up to 23% of humanitarian staffing was estimated to have been lost in 2025, leading to the closure of specialised services and making targeted support harder to sustain.
According to the report, funding fell to an estimated $33.3bn (£24.6bn) in 2025, down from a peak of $47.5bn in 2022. USAID sustained the most dramatic cuts, with a 55% reduction in 2025, but 13 of the top 20 leading donors also reduced their aid donations last year.
Governments under fire for endangering civilians
The report also highlighted growing pressure from governments on how aid could be spent, such as the US spending freeze on programmes considered driven by diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. The aid cuts meant that for the few people who did receive support, the targeted amount for each person dropped from $178 in 2021 to $90 in 2025, despite the actual needs of each person having risen to $255.
An aggravating factor was that governments not only failed in their duties to protect civilians but were also often actually endangering people. States were responsible for 64% of attacks on healthcare workers and largely responsible for violence that affected aid workers through the use of airstrikes.
Yemen crisis worsens as aid dwindles
Yemen was one of the countries badly affected by aid cuts, with nutrition worsening and diphtheria cases rising because vaccination campaigns were suspended. Mohammed Bahashwan, Action for Humanity's country director in Yemen, said diminishing levels of aid were exacerbating the crises faced by families.
"Problems are not occurring separately. A family may have lost its income, be unable to afford food, have a malnourished child and still need to travel considerable distances or pay costs they cannot afford to access healthcare," he said.
Local organisations step in but coordination lags
The report said there were examples of the humanitarian system mobilising to support those most in need, often led by local aid organisations, and of diaspora networks stepping in. But it also said the international system did not coordinate well with these networks and that it was often local aid organisations and staff who were worst affected by cuts.
Meg Sattler, chief executive of the Vienna-based organisation Ground Truth Solutions, which carries out regular surveys of people who need aid, said there should be more focus on localisation because the international humanitarian system had not adapted fast enough or pushed back against the cuts and stipulations imposed by the US. "We have definitely spoken to people feeling the pinch of this contraction. It is especially causing distress where aid is now considered 'life-saving only' and isn't letting people do things such as send their kids to school or save to start a business – things that would help them be less reliant on aid in the future," she said.
