The United Nations refugee agency has announced plans to slash its budget by nearly a fifth for 2025, even as the number of people displaced by conflict and disaster continues to climb worldwide. According to a document reviewed by Reuters, the Geneva-based agency will reduce its spending from $10.2 billion to $8.5 billion, citing mounting financial constraints. This move comes at a time when global humanitarian needs are surging, and new research is raising tough questions about how effectively aid is reaching those most in need.
The stark budget cut, confirmed on September 1, 2025, arrives against the backdrop of ongoing crises such as the war in Sudan, which alone has displaced millions. Yet, the agency is not alone in its struggle. A recent study by Dr. Netta Barak-Corren of Jerusalem's Hebrew University and Dr. Jonathan Boxman, presented in August 2025, paints a troubling picture of aid diversion across multiple conflict zones, implicating not just the United Nations but also a host of international aid organizations.
According to Fox News, the study finds that in regions from Gaza to Afghanistan, aid meant for civilians is routinely siphoned off by terror groups, authoritarian regimes, and corrupt intermediaries. The researchers highlight Somalia as a particularly egregious example. There, they found that only about 12.5% to 17.5% of aid actually reached Somalis in need, with the remainder lost to "diversion at every stage of the supply chain." Cartel transportation payments, fake "ghost camps," and so-called local gatekeepers all took their cut. A confidential United Nations report from July 2023, cited by Reuters, revealed that internally displaced Somalis were often coerced into handing over up to half their cash assistance to powerful figures under threat of eviction or exclusion from aid lists.
In Ethiopia, the pattern was similar. Between 2020 and 2024, the World Food Programme (WFP) "looked the other way" as Ethiopian military personnel commandeered 30 metric tons of looted grain, forcing local mills to grind it into flour for soldiers. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) eventually suspended aid when it uncovered these discrepancies, but Reuters reported that WFP had been aware of the issue for years. Cindy McCain, director of the WFP, publicly declared, "WFP has zero tolerance for theft or diversion." Yet, the facts on the ground suggest that oversight remains a major challenge.
The Syrian Civil War, raging from 2011 to 2024, saw the Assad regime dictating the terms of humanitarian assistance. The report states that about 51% of aid was siphoned off through currency manipulation and by restricting access to rebel-held areas. David Adesnik, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital, "It was not just that you’re losing some aid or wasting it, but that you’re actively making the conflict worse and causing more violence." The implication is clear: aid diversion is not merely a matter of inefficiency, but one of fueling further conflict.
Yemen's civil war, ongoing since 2014, has seen similarly disheartening figures. While the United Nations has reported that about 1% of aid disappears, the study by Barak-Corren and Boxman estimates that around 60% of intended beneficiaries never receive help. Instead, aid is diverted to Houthi loyalists or sold on the black market. In Sudan, where civil war has raged since 2023, aid has been openly looted by warring factions. The World Food Programme faced investigations into fraud and concealment, with two leading officials under scrutiny as of August 2024. The organization told Reuters its Office of the Inspector General was examining "allegations of individual misconduct related to irregularities in pockets of our operation in Sudan."
Afghanistan, too, has been a case study in the risks of large-scale aid operations in conflict zones. From 2001 to 2021, about 40% of aid was diverted by the Taliban, who taxed humanitarian organizations, demanded medical care for their fighters, and placed their own members on payrolls. The study found that international supervisors who discovered these abuses often "avoided reporting to donors." Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital he "suspects [diversion figures] are even higher. The Taliban was and still is adept at infiltrating aid organizations and diverting aid to fill their coffers."
Perhaps the most controversial findings center on Gaza. While the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has denied allegations of aid diversion, both the WFP and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees have reported problems. Barak-Corren and Boxman argue that UNRWA "should be seen as a streamlined aid diversion operation enjoying a unique level of international immunity and freedom from accountability." Israeli military officials, speaking to Fox News Digital, have accused Hamas of "controlling the aid, selling it, getting money out of it, paying salaries, and including [recruiting] other youngsters to fight against us." The official added, "The U.N. is not paying for it. The world is paying for it, and not being responsible enough in order to avoid Hamas’ hands. In this way, they are assisting Hamas and assisting to make this war longer."
Between May 19 and August 12, 2025, U.N. figures show that about 88% of aid intended for Gaza did not reach its destination. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) maintains that it has "strict monitoring in place, with oversight on deliveries when enabled to do so," but acknowledges the ongoing challenges. Responding to questions about diversion in other conflict zones, a UNOCHA spokesperson told Fox News, "We do not have evidence of systematic aid diversion from the U.N. to Hamas. The U.N. and our partners have strict monitoring in place, with oversight on deliveries when enabled to do so." However, Barak-Corren pushed back, saying, "UNOCHA’s answer demonstrates the exact phenomenon we pointed out in our research, which is that the U.N. prefers to avoid and suppress the issue of aid diversion as a general problem rather than confront it."
With the U.N. refugee agency now forced to cut its budget by nearly 20%, the stakes for effective aid delivery have never been higher. The evidence from multiple conflict zones suggests that without stronger oversight and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths, much of the world's humanitarian assistance may continue to fall into the wrong hands—leaving millions of vulnerable people without the help they desperately need.