The United States is restructuring how it funds United Nations humanitarian operations, pledging $2 billion under a new centralized aid model while continuing sharp reductions in overall foreign assistance, according to the Associated Press.
The pledge, announced Monday at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva, comes as the Trump administration presses U.N. agencies to consolidate operations and reduce costs, warning they must “adapt, shrink, or die” under what officials describe as new fiscal realities.
While the administration characterizes the pledge as generous, it represents a steep decline from past U.S. contributions. U.N. data show American humanitarian funding for U.N.-backed programs has reached up to $17 billion annually in recent years, though U.S. officials say only $8 billion to $10 billion of that total was voluntary aid. The United States also pays billions more in mandatory U.N. membership dues.
According to the Associated Press, the funding will be distributed through a single umbrella mechanism managed by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), led by Tom Fletcher. The shift marks a departure from the longstanding practice of channeling U.S. aid directly to individual U.N. agencies.
A senior State Department official said the plan would give OCHA centralized authority over how funds are allocated, allowing it to determine which agencies and crises receive support. “They are going to control the spigot,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“This humanitarian reset at the United Nations should deliver more aid with fewer tax dollars — providing more focused, results-driven assistance aligned with U.S foreign policy,” said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz.
The announcement follows a year of financial strain for humanitarian organizations. The Associated Press reported that agencies such as the World Food Program, the U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration have already cut programs, reduced aid deliveries and eliminated thousands of jobs after losing billions in U.S. funding. Other major donors, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan, have also scaled back contributions.
According to the Associated Press, famine has been recorded this year in parts of Sudan and Gaza, while conflicts, extreme weather and natural disasters have displaced millions worldwide.
Under the new funding framework, aid pools will initially focus on 17 countries, including Bangladesh, Congo, Haiti, Syria and Ukraine. Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories are excluded, though U.S. officials say Palestinians will be covered through funding linked to a future Gaza initiative.
“The agreement requires the U.N. to consolidate humanitarian functions to reduce bureaucratic overhead, unnecessary duplication, and ideological creep,” the State Department said in a statement.
Fletcher welcomed the deal, saying, “At a moment of immense global strain, the United States is demonstrating that it is a humanitarian superpower, offering hope to people who have lost everything.”
