Global donor aid cuts: One million women, girls lose aid access

At least one million women and girls have lost access to life-saving support within the last year due to global donor aid cuts, a new United Nations report found yesterday.

Nearly nine in 10 women’s organisations can no longer meet the needs on the ground despite a large increase in demand since January last year, following the steepest drop in aid funding on record, the UN Women report found.

The Trump administration slashed billions of dollars in foreign assistance this year, while other major international donors have also reduced aid budgets due to fiscal pressures and increased defence spending. The US had previously been the world’s largest aid donor.

Some 120 million women and girls require humanitarian assistance and protection worldwide. However, 40 percent of the 855 women’s organisations surveyed in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti are at risk of shutting down temporarily or permanently within the next year due to a shortage of funds, the report found.

The majority of organisations surveyed said they can no longer meet current levels of need, with 60 percent saying they are reaching fewer women and girls than they did before January 2025, despite a surge in demand for their services.