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yesterday

U.S. Pledges $2 Billion to UN Aid, Shifts Control to OCHA in Conditional Overhaul

The move ties a smaller U.S. commitment to an OCHA-run pooled fund conditioned on a UN reset centralizing allocation authority.

FILE - People carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid that was unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
A general view of a U.S. State Department sign outside the U.S. State Department building in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 11, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo
FILE - A woman and her children, survivors of Sunday night's 6.0-magnitude earthquake, wait for assistance in the village of Wadir, Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Nava Jamshidi, File)
FILE - Women displaced from El-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)

Overview

  • The United States signed a memorandum of understanding on Dec. 29 committing an initial $2 billion to a pooled fund managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
  • OCHA chief Tom Fletcher will oversee centralized allocations under the UN’s Humanitarian Reset, replacing fragmented, project-by-project grants with a consolidated funding mechanism.
  • The pledge represents a steep reduction from recent years, with U.S. humanitarian contributions to the UN falling to about $3.3 billion in 2025 from $14.1 billion in 2024 and a peak of $17.2 billion in 2022.
  • Initial targeting covers 17 countries including Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Syria and Ukraine, with Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories excluded from this tranche.
  • Funding is conditioned on reforms, with the State Department warning agencies must “adapt, shrink, or die,” as the UN pursues a $23 billion appeal for 2026 following deep shortfalls and service cuts.