GENEVA: Washington on Monday pledged an initial $2 billion for United Nations humanitarian aid in 2026 — far less than it has provided in recent years — warning individual UN agencies to “adapt, shrink or die.” With its pledge, announced at the US mission in Geneva alongside the United Nations’ aid chief Tom Fletcher, the United States is pursuing a dramatic overhaul of how it funds UN humanitarian work.

The $2bn pool will target specific countries or crises, down from US contributions of up to $17bn in recent years.

The pledge was welcomed by the UN, but comes after previous major cuts to US funding for humanitarian operations.