UN Cuts Back After Withdrawn
Photo: Moses Sawasawa/AP/TT

UN Cuts Back After Withdrawn US Support

The UN's coordination body for humanitarian aid, Ocha, is to lay off 20 per cent of its staff. This as a consequence of withdrawn American aid.

"The humanitarian sector was already underfunded, overstretched and literally under attack. Now we are facing a wave of brutal cuts", writes Ocha chief Tom Fletcher in a letter to employees.

The UN agency has today over 2,000 employees.

A strongly contributing reason to the redundancy demands is President Donald Trump's drastic cuts to the American aid agency USAID – the world's largest aid donor, accounting for 42 percent of all global financing of humanitarian aid.

The savings imply that the organization reduces its presence in a number of countries.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has previously announced that it expects a "significant reduction" of staff for the same reason.

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AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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