© UN Women/M. Ahmed Today, approximately 120 million women and girls around the world need humanitarian assistance and protection. Millions of women and girls are missing out as international funding cuts Women
At least a million women and girls living in conflict and humanitarian crises have lost access to life-saving assistance since the start of 2025 due to sharp cuts in international funding. This is stated in a new report from UN Women.
The study is based on a survey of 855 women-led and women’s rights organizations from 52 countries affected by conflict and crisis. The report’s authors warn: record highs on record cuts in foreign aid threaten the services that are often the first to reach women and girls and continue to work where other humanitarian agencies can no longer operate.
“The women’s organizations facing closure today are on the front lines of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. In Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and other countries, they work where international agencies often cannot reach, and remain in place even when the attention of the world community shifts to other crises,” said Sophia, head of humanitarian affairs at UN Women Callthorpe.
Every dollar that stops flowing to these organizations means less support for survivors of sexual violence, mothers forced to flee their homes, girls denied educational opportunities, and entire communities struggling to protect themselves, she said. survival.
Needs grow, resources decline
Today, approximately 120 million women and girls around the world need humanitarian assistance and protection. At the same time, 84 percent of respondents reported that the number of requests for help has increased since January 2025.
However, almost 90 percent of organizations are no longer able to meet existing demand. Forty percent fear that within the next year they will be forced to completely or temporarily stop work.
To maintain vital services, employees often continue to work without pay. Nearly half of respondents report an increase in burnout, and 88 percent report a deterioration in the psychological well-being of the women and girls they help.
Shelters are closing, violence is on the rise
The consequences of funding cuts are already becoming more visible. Half of the organizations have been forced to introduce waiting lists or turn away people who need help altogether.
The report found that 92 percent of organizations have seen an increase in poverty among the women they work with, and 82 percent report an increase in the number of girls dropping out of school.
Gender-based violence is particularly alarming. In 2025, the number of cases of conflict-related sexual violence has doubled, while support systems for survivors are rapidly shrinking. Eighty-six percent of organizations reported an increase in gender-based violence, and nearly two-thirds said that safe spaces for women had either closed or significantly decreased in number.
Behind the statistics are real human destinies, the authors of the report note. A woman trying to escape domestic violence may find that the shelter is no longer open. Pregnant women have to travel many kilometers on foot to the nearest medical facility. Mothers may be denied food for their children.
Women and girls living in remote and hard-to-reach areas affected by conflict are the first to be left without support. Nearly two-thirds of organizations have already been forced to cut work in these places.
Women’s rights under threat
The report’s authors warn that the consequences go far beyond humanitarian aid. In many countries, pressure is mounting on the rights of women and girls.
One in five organizations has already abandoned projects to develop women’s leadership and promote gender equality, and more than half of respondents note a decline in women’s participation in local communities and decision-making.
UN Women calls on international donors to preserve funding for women’s organizations, calling them indispensable humanitarian responders, defenders of rights and a critical foundation for restoring peace and sustainable development.
“If urgent action is not taken, the organizations that have helped women and girls survive the worst crises themselves could become yet another casualty of war,” warned Sophia Callthorpe.