Aid groups crippled by foreign aid cuts plead for funds as Middle East humanitarian crisis grows

Source: AP

Updated 8:00 AM EDT, March 25, 2026


Humanitarian organizations under intense strain because of the United States’ steep cuts to foreign aid say they are scrambling to find the funds needed to respond to the war in the Middle East, where millions of people have already been displaced by the widening conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last year to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development — once the world’s leading donor of humanitarian assistance — forced aid groups around the world to fire tens of thousands of staffers and shutter lifesaving programs. Now, some of those same groups are struggling to mount a response in the Middle East. Already, the United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates 3.2 million people inside Iran and 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28.

The UNHCR — which axed 30% of its staff last year due to the funding cuts — has issued an urgent appeal for donations, noting that in Lebanon alone, the agency needs an additional $61 million to support 600,000 people over just the next three months. Across the region, the agency said its operations are “dramatically underfunded,” particularly in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Afghanistan.

“The drop in global humanitarian funding is having a major impact on humanitarian actors at the very moment as needs are rising sharply,” the UNHCR said in an email to The Associated Press. “These reductions mean we are operating with far fewer people and resources at a time when displacement is growing.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-usaid-humanitarian-funding-e798b818617a1297e107495ef407fe3f