The United States on Monday announced an initial $2 billion contribution for United Nations humanitarian operations in 2026, a sharp drop from previous years, while warning U.N. agencies that they must "adapt, shrink or die".
With its pledge, announced at the U.S. mission in Geneva alongside the United Nations' aid chief Tom Fletcher, the United States is pursuing a dramatic overhaul of how it funds U.N. humanitarian work.
Instead of handing funds to individual agencies, the United States will funnel its contributions through the U.N. aid agency OCHA, headed by Fletcher, which earlier this year launched a so-called Humanitarian Reset to improve efficiency and accountability.
The U.S. funds will then be distributed to more than a dozen selected countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Sudan.
"It is an initial anchor commitment," Jeremy Lewin, the senior U.S. official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, told reporters.
