The United Nations (UN) has called out at world’s “apathy” over ubiquitous violence and suffering during its 2026 appeal for humanitarian aid characterized by the limited scope due to major cuts in funding.
The UN has recently launched an aid plan to raise at least $23 billion to help 87 million people in the world’s most dangerous and war-ravaged places, including Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and Myanmar.
According to UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, “This is a time of brutality, impunity and indifference, and the ferocity and the intensity of the killing, the complete disregard for international law, horrific levels of sexual violence he had seen on the ground in 2025.”
“This is a time when the rules are in retreat, when the scaffolding of coexistence is under sustained attack, when our survival antennae have been numbed by distraction and corroded by apathy,” he added.
Fletcher also slammed the politicians who bragged of cutting humanitarian assistance for malnourished people from war-stricken countries.
Given the apathy of the world towards the predicaments of people, the UN would plan to raise $33 billion to help 135 million people in 2026. Unfortunately, the goal would be difficult to achieve as the US President slashed foreign aid for other countries.
As per Fletcher, “the highly prioritised appeal was based on excruciating life-and-death choices.” Therefore, Washington should oversee reforms undertaken to improve aid efficiency and “to renew that pledge to help humanity.”
According to the UN, around 240 million people living in conflict zones and reeling from natural calamities are in need of emergency humanitarian aid.
In 2025, the UN launched an aid appeal worth $47 billion for 2025. However, by November, the world body only received $12 billion, marking the lowest one in a decade.
Such aid only allowed the UN to help 98 million people, 25 million fewer than the year before.
As per UN data, the aid amount plunged dramatically in 2025 to $2.7 billion down from $11 billion in 2024.
For 2026 humanitarian assistance appeal, the places, such as Gaza, the West Bank, and Sudan are of great priorities.
“We’re asking for only just over one percent of what the world is spending on arms and defense right now,” Fletcher said.
