UN reduced its staff by 20% due to a shortage of funding
| « Ocha currently has about 2600 employees in over 60 countries. The financial deficit means that we strive to reorganize in a structure with about 2100 staff in fewer places, » Fletcher wrote in the letter to the employees. |
The OCA mission is to organize the provision of assistance, sharing information, supporting efforts to help, and defending those in need during crisis. The organization relies mainly on voluntary donations.
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« The United States has been the largest humanitarian donor in decades and the country with the biggest contribution to OCA’s programming budget, » Fletcher said. According to him, the $ 63 million annual contribution equals 20% of OCA’s extra -budget resources for 2025.
UN Secretary -General Antonio Guterres announced last month a new initiative to increase efficiency and reduce costs. The UN celebrates 80 years since its founding against a financial crisis.
Fletcher said Ocha would « direct more of the resources to the countries we work in, » but will be present in fewer places.
| « Ocha will shorten her presence and operations in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaziantep (in Turkey) and Zimbabwe, » Fletcher said. |
« As we all know, these actions are taken in response to cutting funding by Member States, not because the needs have been reduced, » he added. « Humanitarian needs are increasing and may have never been larger. They are fueled by conflicts, climate crises, diseases and abuse of compliance with international humanitarian law. »
