UN Women says 1 million women and girls lost aid access after funding cuts

Aid cuts deepen a women’s crisis

UN Women said Friday that at least 1 million women and girls have lost access to humanitarian or other essential support over the past 18 months as donor funding cuts forced frontline organizations to scale back services.

The finding comes from responses by 855 women-led and women’s-rights organizations in 52 crisis-affected countries. Nearly 90% of the groups said they can no longer meet current levels of need, and about one in five said they may have to close temporarily or permanently within the next year.

UN Women chief of humanitarian action Sofia Calltorp said the losses are hitting far beyond budgets. The agency said the cuts are reducing support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, displaced mothers and girls forced out of school.

The report says 84% of surveyed organizations have seen increased need since January 2025, when the broader aid squeeze intensified. It also says 92% reported worsening poverty among the women they serve, while 82% said more girls are dropping out of school.

What the survey found

UN Women said conflict-related sexual violence doubled in the last year, adding pressure to shelters, health services and protection programs already running at capacity in fragile settings.

The survey also found that 65% of organizations have staff working without pay to keep services running. Many groups are relying on waiting lists, reduced programs and stretched teams to stay open at all.

The report’s warning on closures is especially stark. About 41% of organizations think suspension or shutdown is likely within the next year, a signal that the cuts may continue to shrink the frontline network that delivers aid.

Where the strain is showing

UN Women highlighted Sudan, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti as places where women’s organizations are often the first responders in a crisis.

Those groups are especially important in remote or hard-to-reach areas, where they may be the only organizations able to provide emergency aid, protection or referrals for survivors.

The report frames the loss of funding as a direct access problem, not just a budgeting issue. When women-led groups scale back, the people most likely to lose support are women and girls already facing violence, displacement and poverty.

Aid collapse and donor pressure

The report comes as foreign aid has fallen sharply. UN Women cited OECD data showing development assistance dropped by nearly a quarter in 2025 to $174 billion, the steepest annual decline on record.

That broader contraction has left women’s organizations with fewer resources at the moment when need is rising. UN Women said the result is a growing mismatch between demand and the ability of local and national groups to respond.

The story also adds pressure on donors and UN agencies already debating how to respond to the aid collapse and possible restructuring inside the UN system. UN Women warned that the funding shock is weakening the network that humanitarian response depends on.

Reporting timeline and what comes next

AP reported the story from Geneva on July 10, 2026, citing UN Women and Sofia Calltorp. The Guardian and El País later published independent reports on the same findings the same day.

UN Women has not yet publicly released the full report PDF and methodology in the material reviewed for this story. Further reporting will need to show whether donor governments respond with new money, whether UN agencies move to fill the gaps, and whether women’s organizations can avoid more closures in the months ahead.