UN Report: Aid Cuts Leave One Million Women and Girls Without Critical Support

GENEVA — The United Nations warned on Friday that at least one million women and girls have lost access to vital support due to dramatic cuts to foreign aid spending since January 2025. The UN Women agency decried a collapse of women's organisations at a time when needs are soaring, a development with significant implications for regional stability and governance across Southeast Asia and beyond.

US President Donald Trump slashed foreign aid after taking office last year, while other key donor countries have also tightened their belts. As a result, “at least one million women and girls affected by conflict and crisis have lost access to critical services and support,” Sofia Calltorp, UN Women's head of humanitarian action, told reporters in Geneva.

“We know that this number ... is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said, describing the findings in a new report as “deeply disturbing”. Speaking from Stockholm, she highlighted that the women's organisations at risk of being shut down “work on the frontlines of the world's most complex and dangerous crises”, in places like Afghanistan, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Yemen.

“Every dollar withdrawn from women's organisations is a dollar withdrawn from survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, displaced mothers, girls forced from school, and communities struggling to survive,” she said.

120 Million Women and Girls Require Assistance

With armed conflicts at their highest levels since World War II, around 120 million women and girls require humanitarian assistance and protection, UN Women said. Its report, based on responses from 855 women-led and women's rights organisations across 52 crisis-affected countries, found that 84 per cent of the groups had seen demand for their services increase since January 2025.

“Nearly nine in 10 say they can no longer meet current levels of need,” the agency said, while “two in five organisations surveyed expect to shut down, temporarily or permanently, within the next year”. To keep the organisations afloat, leaders and employees were paying with their own labour and well-being. Sixty-five per cent of women-led organisations reported staff working without pay to keep services running, while nearly half reported rising staff burnout.

Calltorp warned that “cases of conflict-related sexual violence doubled in 2025”, just as the systems designed to protect survivors were collapsing. UN Women found that 86 per cent of the women's organisations questioned reported an increase in gender-based violence in the communities they serve.

Rights Backlash and Societal Toll

The consequences can be devastating. “A woman seeking refuge from violence might show up at the door of a shelter that has shut down; a pregnant woman may have to walk for hours to reach a health clinic; or a mother may be denied food for her children,” UN Women pointed out.

The agency emphasised that the impacts extend beyond crippling the humanitarian response. “The dismantling of women's organisations is not happening in a vacuum but against a global backlash on the rights of women and girls,” it said. It pointed out that one in five organisations had already suspended work advancing women's leadership and gender equality, while over half reported witnessing declining participation of women in community leadership and local decision-making.

Combined with the cuts to women's organisations, the erosion of women's rights is taking a dire societal toll, Calltorp said. Around 90 per cent of the women's organisations questioned for Friday's report noted increased poverty among the women they serve. Eight in 10 saw growing numbers of girls dropping out of school, while around 70 per cent saw increases in forced marriages.

“Funding shortfalls deepen inequality and division, both of which come with an incredibly costly price tag,” she said.

Implications for ASEAN and Regional Governance

For Southeast Asia, the findings underscore the fragility of donor-dependent programmes in crisis-affected areas. As ASEAN member states like Myanmar and parts of the Philippines grapple with conflict and displacement, the report serves as a cautionary tale. The region's own women-led organisations, often reliant on international funding, may face similar pressures if donor priorities shift further. Singapore's model of efficient, self-sustaining governance stands in contrast, but the broader trend of aid cuts could destabilise neighbouring states, affecting trade and security.

The UN Women report highlights a critical need for regional mechanisms to fill the gap left by shrinking foreign aid, particularly in areas of gender-based violence prevention and economic empowerment. For investors and policymakers, the data suggests that without targeted intervention, the human capital losses from reduced women's participation could have long-term economic consequences.

Photo: CNA