With US humanitarian assistance downsized, Pakistan will have to plan better
https://arab.news/pya5p
American President Donald Trump has recklessly upended US foreign assistance programs, in a move that may destroy the lives of millions of the most vulnerable people in conflict and crisis-affected parts of the world. From day one in office, in a spate of hundreds of executive orders, the lives of people have been upended in places like Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Pakistan and many other countries that had been receiving assistance through the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA). The news that this international arm of the United Nations working on the frontline of conflicts, natural disasters, and other crises would cut its workforce by 20%, dropped a bombshell on personnel in the field and in communities dependent on foreign humanitarian aid. The office serves advocacy and coordination functions by reporting from crisis zones and mobilizing resources in time to save lives and livelihoods. However, within its larger mission, it tailors its work according to the situation and nature of the crisis in its host country, requiring appropriate assistance.
The context of the anxiety and downsizing of OCHA lies in the decision of the White House to close down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which, in the post-war world, has been the friendliest face of the US, presenting a benign and soft-hearted image with a whopping budget last year of over $40 billion. The agency now has its offices locked, employees fired, and a very small number reporting to the State Department. In a move bafflingly being labelled as ‘rationalizing,’ the US has cut down 83% of humanitarian assistance programs, which the office has been managing in many countries, including Pakistan.
If OCHA’s capacity is affected, millions of lives in Pakistan will suffer as emergency humanitarian needs that regularly arise are ignored during monsoon floods, crop failures, internal strife and displacement.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Fears of starvation, death by curable diseases and childhood mortality are not unfounded in the face of resources supporting such people drying up. It is pertinent to mention that the US contributed 42% of all global humanitarian aid, which is a massive loss in one go. With no other power apparently substituting yet, it will leave tens of thousands in Pakistan at the mercy of their circumstances.
When discussing crises and humanitarian assistance, we refer to countries that cannot cope with their own resources or efforts. Pakistan is one of them, and OCHA already indicated that it would be among eight countries that may get very little or no assistance. Although in an effort to assure foreign aid-receiving communities, Tom Fletcher, the head of OCHA, asserted the office would have a “dynamic full response where we are present,” everybody understands the resource-crunch and serious effects on operations worldwide. It is too early to see the full impact of the new US policy on the operational capacity of OCHA, but one can gauge the disastrous consequences for the poor, conflict and climate-change-affected countries, including Pakistan. In 2024 alone, it mobilized $401 million through its humanitarian diplomacy, advocacy and resource mobilization for flood-affected, food-insecure and conflict-displaced communities. While 57.8% of the funding came from sources within the government of Pakistan, the US was the largest foreign contributor, with 16.2 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia.
We have to bear in mind the fact that if the capacity of OCHA is affected, it will gravely impact the lives of millions in Pakistan. It is a most credible international organization attached to the United Nations system, alerting the international community about emergency humanitarian needs that regularly arise in Pakistan during monsoon floods, crop failures, internal strife and displacement. It is the first on the ground to offer its support from its Emergency Response Fund (ERF) and quickly provide an assessment of needs to the UN and other world bodies with a request to launch an appeal for donations. Its strengths lie in preparing contingency plans for Pakistan, keeping in view the recurrent patterns of floods, and capacity building of government and private sectors in humanitarian responses by offering training and sharing its expertise. In 2024-25, it trained 719 persons through 14 sessions, building a solid base year after year to help Pakistanis help themselves. The situation for those millions who require essential and life-saving humanitarian assistance appears to be gloomy, as OCHA receives only a 43% commitment for the $50 billion appeal it has made for nearly 190 million people for the current year, including Pakistan.
Pakistan, already facing multiple crises, will have to plan better to mobilize domestic resources to reduce dependence on foreign funding as the world goes through a new cycle of trade wars, economic nationalism, and the sole superpower turns a blind eye to the communities needing humanitarian relief.
– Rasul Bakhsh Rais is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS, Lahore. His latest book is “Islam, Ethnicity and Power Politics: Constructing Pakistan’s National Identity” (Oxford University Press, 2017).
X: @RasulRais
