A refugee camp./PHOTO ; Pexel
Eighty-nine humanitarian organisations, including local, national, international, women-led, and refugee-led NGOs, have issued a joint statement warning that the world is entering 2026 amid “unimaginable hardship” for millions affected by conflict, hunger, and climate-driven disasters.
Released ahead of the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO), the coalition’s statement paints a grim picture of worsening global crises, weakened humanitarian response capacity, and eroding respect for international law.
It accuses world leaders of failing to address the root causes of conflict and inequality and of turning away as suffering deepens.
“Violations of international humanitarian law meted out with savage cruelty – are met with barely more than a shrug,” the statement declares.
“War crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation and gender-based violence as weapons, draw condemnation but little or no concrete action to protect civilians.”
A world on fire
According to the NGOs, the number and intensity of conflicts have more than doubled since 2010, reaching their highest point since 1946.
Military expenditure surged to a record USD 679 billion in 2024, eighteen times the amount spent on humanitarian aid that same year.
Between 2023 and 2024, the number of women and children killed in conflicts quadrupled, while more than one in five children globally now lives in a war zone.
The statement highlights a wave of food insecurity, with famines declared in Gaza and Sudan and new risks emerging in South Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, and Mali. Millions in Afghanistan and Myanmar remain at emergency hunger levels.
Meanwhile, climate-related disasters are fuelling mass displacement, which has doubled over the past decade.
Instead of offering protection, many governments are cutting aid and tightening borders, moves that the organisations say worsen suffering and drive increases in human trafficking and exploitation.
Women-led and local organisations under threat
The coalition warns that shrinking humanitarian budgets are devastating frontline response networks.
Nearly half of women-led organisations feared closure in 2025, and a recent UN Women survey found almost all women’s rights groups had been affected by aid cuts, with three-quarters reporting a severe impact.
The Feminist Humanitarian Network reports that groups led by women with disabilities, young women, and Indigenous women have been disproportionately affected.
At the same time, loss of funding has weakened protection and health services for women and children, including access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.
In 2023 alone, 58% of maternal deaths and 51% of stillbirths occurred in 29 countries facing humanitarian crises.
“The cruel math of doing less with less comes down to an impossible choice of who lives, who does not, and between saving lives today and giving people any chance at a future tomorrow,” the statement notes, warning that global aid cuts are eroding trust and legitimacy in the humanitarian system.
Call for reform and accountability
The 89 organisations, which include humanitarian alliances and networks operating across crisis-affected regions, urge donors to fully fund the 2026 GHO and deliver on long-standing reform commitments.
They call for a system that is “more people-centred, efficient, and inclusive of crisis-affected communities,” led by local and national actors rather than dominated by expensive international intermediaries.
They emphasise that localisation, equitable partnerships, gender-responsive cash programming, and risk sharing must be prioritised to ensure that assistance reaches those most in need.
Donors are urged to fund directly through NGO-led pooled funds and ensure that 70–100% of UN Country-Based Pooled Funds go to local and national organisations, with ambitious targets for women-led groups.
“Donors must put efficiency, proximity, and accountability to affected people at the centre of their funding decisions,” the coalition states. “They must demand – and demonstrate – greater transparency from intermediaries on funding flows, tracking and reporting down to the last partner.”
Renewing the humanitarian imperative
As the Grand Bargain on humanitarian reform marks its tenth anniversary in 2026, the NGOs say progress has stalled or reversed on key commitments, including localisation and funding quality.
They warn that the current path marked by political neglect and inadequate financing is unsustainable.
The statement concludes with a call for renewed global leadership to defend humanitarian principles, ensure accountability for violations of international law, and restore credibility to the international aid system.
“Humanitarian suffering anywhere is a concern for us all,” the coalition affirms, urging governments, multilateral institutions, and the private sector to step up.
“This is a moment to re-evaluate our roles, embrace complementarity over competition, and reconsider who is best placed to respond to humanitarian needs.”
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