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At least one million women and girls have lost access to life-saving humanitarian assistance over the past year as sweeping cuts in global aid funding force women’s organisations to scale back or suspend critical services, UN Women said in a report released on Friday.
The report warns that the unprecedented reduction in international humanitarian funding has left many organisations struggling to respond to rising needs, with nearly nine in 10 women’s organisations saying they can no longer meet demand despite a sharp increase in requests for support since January 2025.
According to the report, around 120 million women and girls worldwide currently require humanitarian assistance and protection.
Yet 40 percent of the 855 women-led organisations surveyed across countries including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti are at risk of shutting down—temporarily or permanently—within the next year because of severe funding shortages.
The funding crisis follows major reductions in foreign assistance by several international donors. The United States, previously the world’s largest aid donor, significantly reduced overseas assistance this year under the Trump administration, while other donor countries have also cut aid budgets amid fiscal pressures and rising defence spending.
The report found that 60 percent of surveyed organisations are now serving fewer women and girls than before January 2025, despite growing humanitarian needs.
More than three-quarters have reduced staff positions, while 65 percent said employees are working without pay to keep essential services running.
Half of the organisations have introduced waiting lists or are turning away women and girls seeking assistance.
UN Women warned that the cuts are creating dangerous gaps in humanitarian response, particularly in conflict-affected and fragile settings where local women’s organisations are often the only providers able to reach vulnerable populations.
“Every dollar withdrawn from women’s organizations is a dollar withdrawn from survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, displaced mothers, girls forced from school, and communities struggling to survive,” said Sofia Calltorp, UN Women’s Chief of Humanitarian Action.
The report also highlighted the impact on protection services.
As conflict-related sexual violence doubled globally last year, 62 percent of organisations said safe spaces for women and girls have been reduced or closed because of funding cuts, while support services for survivors of gender-based violence have also been significantly curtailed.
UN Women warned that the funding shortfall is part of a broader global backlash against gender equality, noting that one in five organisations has been forced to suspend programmes promoting women’s leadership and equal rights.
