Aid cuts leave one million women and girls without crisis support, UN Women says

At least one million women and girls have lost access to critical support in humanitarian crises because of aid cuts, according to a new UN Women report.

The report, Beyond the Breaking Point, says women-led and women’s rights organisations working in conflict and crisis-affected countries are running out of money as demand for their services rises.

The findings are based on responses from 855 organisations across 52 countries affected by conflict and humanitarian emergencies.

UN Women said 84 per cent of surveyed organisations reported increased demand for their services since January 2025, while nearly nine in 10 said they could no longer meet current needs.

Two in five organisations said they expected to shut down, either temporarily or permanently, within the next year.

The cuts come as an estimated 120 million women and girls worldwide need humanitarian assistance and protection, the agency said.

Sofia Calltorp, UN Women’s chief of humanitarian action, said women’s organisations were working on the frontlines of some of the world’s worst crises, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti.

“Every dollar withdrawn from women’s organisations is a dollar withdrawn from survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, displaced mothers, girls forced from school, and communities struggling to survive,” she said.

The report said many organisations were being kept afloat by unpaid labour. Sixty-five per cent of women-led organisations said staff were working without pay to keep services running. Nearly half reported rising burnout among staff, while 88 per cent said the mental health of the women and girls they supported was deteriorating.

The consequences are already visible, UN Women said. Half of the organisations surveyed have introduced waiting lists or are turning away women and girls in need.

Eighty-six per cent reported an increase in gender-based violence in the communities they serve, while 62 per cent said safe spaces were no longer available or had been significantly reduced.

Nearly two-thirds of organisations have already cut services in remote, conflict-affected and hard-to-reach areas, where women and girls often have the fewest alternatives. UN Women warned that the collapse of these organisations could also weaken women’s leadership and participation in local decision-making.

The agency called for sustained investment in women’s organisations, describing them as essential first responders in humanitarian crises.