TWN Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Oct26/13)
29 October 2026
Third World Network

UN: Funding crisis threatens women, peace and security agenda
Published in SUNS #10543 dated 28 October 2026

Penang, 27 Oct (Kanaga Raja) -- A report by the United Nations Secretary-General has highlighted a worsening financing crisis for women, peace and security efforts, warning that funding shortfalls are deepening at a time of rising conflict and growing needs.

According to the report (S/2026/758), there are big gaps to close in this regard, including the $4 trillion annual gap needed to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, which requires a re-working of global financial rules and tackling unsustainable debt burdens.

The latest available data on official development assistance (ODA) show that bilateral aid to contexts with high and extreme fragility amounted to $43.5 billion in 2024, marking the fifth consecutive annual decline since 2019, said the report.

Of this amount, $21.7 billion (50.8 per cent) supported gender equality, falling by 12 per cent. However, only $2.5 billion (5.8 per cent) was dedicated to gender equality as a principal objective, it added.

It said that preliminary 2025 data indicate a further decline in ODA, with Development Assistance Committee members and associates providing $174.3 billion, 23.1 per cent less than in 2024 - the largest annual drop in the history of ODA.

"Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projections indicate that several sectors receiving ODA with gender equality objectives are at particularly high risk of funding reductions."

The report said in 2025, aid for population matters and sexual and reproductive health was projected to decline by 35 to 53 per cent, and that funding for programmes aimed at ending violence against women and girls was expected to decrease by 17 to 20 per cent, largely as a result of a few top donors drastically cutting contributions.

Furthermore, core contributions to the United Nations and humanitarian ODA experienced sharp declines.

Expressing grave concern, the report said current projections by OECD suggest a further 6.9 per cent drop in Development Assistance Committee countries' net ODA in 2026, even before accounting for additional strain due to the crisis in the Middle East.

Regarding domestic public spending, the report said it plays a central role in advancing global goals, including gender equality and the realization of the women and peace and security agenda.

However, the report said that few countries systematically track such investments, pointing out that worldwide, only one-quarter of the 131 countries with available data between 2021 and 2025 have systems to track resource allocations for gender equality.

It said in many contexts, progress on women and peace and security priorities largely remains reliant on external assistance and project funding that tends to be short-term and smaller scale.

The UN Secretary-General's report recounted last year's edition (S/2025/556) that brought attention to the severe impact of funding cuts on women's organizations on the front-lines of conflict and crisis, with many approaching a breaking point.

The latest data indicate that the situation has not improved. ODA supporting women's rights organizations and women's movements in contexts of high and extreme fragility declined from $215.4 million in 2023 to $167.9 million in 2024, while its share of total bilateral aid remains stagnant at 0.4 per cent - still below the 1 per cent target recommended by the United Nations.

Only Canada and Ireland reported that they have exceeded the 1 per cent target, and notably, Canada's target is set at 4.8 per cent.

A 2026 UN Women report on the impact of aid cuts on women's organizations in humanitarian settings finds that the women and girls left behind first are those with the fewest alternatives: women and girls in remote, conflict- affected and hard-to-reach communities.

Nearly two-thirds, or 63 per cent, of organizations have already cut services in those areas, said the Secretary-General.

In follow-up to last year's survey, 61 per cent of organizations surveyed are in a worse financial situation than in 2025, 45 per cent have less than six months of funding and 77 per cent have lost staff.

The report said findings like these are echoed in other recent reports and have immediate impacts on people's lives.

For example, women's rights and women-led organizations in Ukraine warned that they will be forced to stop life-saving services to at least 63,000 women and girls in need in 2026.

In 2025, the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund raised $30.4 million for local women's organizations and activists on the front-lines, a significant decrease from $65.9 million in the previous year and a return to 2022 levels. Reversing these trends must be a priority, the report stressed.

The impact of dedicated funds and direct, flexible and sustained funding for women's organizations has been well documented, it underlined.

Since its establishment in 2016, the Fund has mobilized more than $276 million and supported over 1,800 local women's organizations and 1,251 women human rights defenders across 49 crisis-affected countries.

Notably, the report said the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, the largest multi-partner trust fund dedicated to supporting peace efforts and transitions, has also been affected by the cuts.

In 2025, the Fund approved $124 million for initiatives in 28 countries, allocating over 38 per cent ($47 million) to gender equality, marking the third consecutive year of decline in both the volume and share of gender-focused funding.

Significantly, the report also said in 2025, humanitarian funding saw its greatest contraction in a decade, with funding dropping below 2016 levels amid rising needs.

"The dramatic reduction in funding forced humanitarian organizations to severely reduce delivery to people in crisis - shutting down programmes, closing offices and laying off thousands of staff."

In 2026, humanitarians will aim to collectively assist 135 million people, out of 239 million people in need.

However, as of June 2026, only 26 per cent of required funding had been reached. Several sectors continue to face funding shortfalls, said the report.

For instance, it said 83 per cent of the funding required for gender-based violence prevention and response in humanitarian emergencies remained unmet.

Significant funding gaps also persisted in food security (76 per cent unmet) and health (68 per cent unmet).

In several settings, reductions in legal aid, protection monitoring and documentation services have left displaced women at greater risk of refoulement, statelessness and exploitation, the report said.

Citing an example, it said in Cox's Bazar, the world's largest refugee camp, the decline in funding has reduced the availability of safe spaces, gender-based violence case management and psychosocial support to Rohingya refugees.

Meanwhile, in Chad, one social worker supported 112 survivors at a time, far above the recommended maximum of 20.

The world stands at a crossroads; the budget and financing decisions that Member States, international financial institutions and other actors take in the lead-up to 2030 are of historic importance, the report argued.

The path taken will decide whether countries will move closer to or farther away from realizing global norms and commitments, it concluded. +