Almost third of UN humanitarian response in Ukraine could be at risk due to US funding decision - coordinator
The U.S. funding for the UN humanitarian response in Ukraine last year amounted to 30%, and the reduction in these funds will have a major impact, in particular, on the allocation of financial assistance to Ukrainians, said Assistant Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“If the donors from Washington reduce or even stop their help to Ukraine, there will certainly be huge challenges. Like everyone else, we are still trying to understand exactly how big the impact would be. It's clear to me that there will be an impact. I know from several of our humanitarian partners who get direct funding from the U.S. for their humanitarian work that they've had to stop activities,” he noted.
Shmale recalled the 90-day deadline for USAID administrators to evaluate and justify pre-approved assistance.
“At the same time, the U.S. government has said they will continue life-saving humanitarian work. So, I remain relatively optimistic that some of the work we do here will be continued,” he said.
According to the humanitarian coordinator, two questions remain unclear.
“One is the U.S. government under President Trump is also saying very clearly, that humanitarian and international aid needs to be linked to their interest as a country. So it’s a question if supporting Ukraine is in their interest. We hope that the U.S., which is such an important partner for humanitarian work around the world, will continue its life-saving work, including here in Ukraine,” the UN noted.
He also recalled that the United States believes that the so-called work on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) should be stopped, but the UN does not yet know what this means for Ukraine.
Another example that may be at risk of extinction is the GBV (gender-based violence) support centres, which help mainly women, but also men, girls and boys who have been subjected to gender-based violence in war.
“And those kinds of centers are at risk of not continuing. It links to the point I made earlier - there is a hidden crisis, a mental health crisis, a crisis linked to the violence people have experienced. The important work to address this crisis is at risk, and I don't know if the US will resume their funding for this. If they don't, I am not sure if we can find alternative sources. We all understand that the government doesn't have enough resources to run these kinds of services now,” Schmale stressed.
The impact of U.S. funding decisions could be dramatic, the UN believes.
“Last year, the U.S. funding [for humanitarian response] was 30%. That's huge. It's very clear if 30% is gone you will feel it. The majority of the 30% is life-saving interventions, for example, food, and non-food items, I hope that they will decide to continue funding,” Schmale noted.
The smaller part of it is what I described in terms of activities to support diversity, equality, and inclusion. A lot of our support is multi-cash, and it's not clear whether the US government sees cash as “life-saving or not.”
“They haven't made up their mind. Cash has been a very big part of the response here over the last three years, so it would be a very serious problem for us if cash is excluded from life-saving assistance. So, almost a third of our work is at risk if we don’t find alternatives and if the exemption in terms of life-saving including cash does not come,” he stressed.
When asked about the risk of cutting off financial aid to Ukrainians, Shmale said that the difficulty is that the American donor plays a significant role in this.
“Many people say that the Ukraine humanitarian operation has been better than in many other places because of the cash component. Because if you give people cash, it's more dignified because they can choose what's important and where to buy it. Some 24% of our overall operation is in the form of cash. I hope that the cash support will not be excluded because that will make it more difficult for vulnerable people,” the UN coordinator stressed.