Aid Cuts Threaten Gender-Based Humanitarian Work; UN Women Australia Responds

A new report by UN Women reveals shocking facts about cuts being faced in humanitarian aid being made available to organization’s that facilitate women's empowerment globally. While delving into the data focused conclusions of the report, the following article also highlights how homegrown initiatives like Australia's Leadership Network prove that one can act firmly at home without ignoring international gender concerns.

In a world experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis, from wars and climate disasters to hunger and public health crises, women often end up bearing disproportionate burden. However, women's organizations and advocates for women's rights are striving hard to support women across the world, working in the most distressing conditions with minimal resources. Such initiatives are largely dependent of humanitarian aids provided by nations or global organizations.

A recently launched UN Women report titled ‘At a Breaking Point: The Impact of Foreign Aid Cuts on Women's Organisations in Humanitarian Crises Worldwide’, states it has a bleak outlook: half of these life-saving organizations will likely shut down in six months because world aid was drastically cut.

GWL Team explores the seriousness of the situation outlined in the UN Women report that highlights the short and long-term consequences of the cuts in said fundings as well as the worldwide and grassroots efforts being made to keep gender equality programs afloat.

Aid Cuts Impels Women’s Organisations to the Verge

The UN Women survey was conducted across 44 crisis zones, involving 411 women-led and women’s rights organisations. According to the survey, a staggering 90 percent have already been hit by funding cuts. 47 percent of these organisations threaten to close down within six months if funding trends continue to exist. They offer life-saving services like gender-based violence support, reproductive health along with critical livelihood support.

The indication for a more troubling situation is that more than half i.e., 51 percent have already been forced to interrupt essential programs, including programs offering protection and multi-purpose cash assistance to women who have had to move through war zones, displacement and famine. In addition, 72 percent indicate having to lay off workers, a decision that considerably diminishes their capacity to meet increasing needs.

UN Women Humanitarian Action Chief Sofia Calltorp expressed grave concern, “The situation is critical. Women and girls simply cannot afford to lose the lifelines that women’s organisations are providing.” She underscored that the cuts not only undermine women’s rights but also threaten global humanitarian efforts where women’s organisations are often frontline responders.

Aid Cuts Impacting Women & Girls in Need

Amongst the 308 million individuals in need of humanitarian aid across the world, women and girls are always disproportionately affected. During crises, they are partially exposed to sexual violence, malnutrition and even maternal health complications, all of which are preventable with timely and targeted interventions.

Women-led groups have played a key role in filling the gap left by conventional humanitarian actors. They provide culturally appropriate and community-driven services in at-risk areas, which are frequently the only services of their kind. Nevertheless, their contribution remains underestimated and insufficiently financed. Calltorp made it clear that the investment in these groups is “not only a matter of equality and rights, but it is also a strategic imperative.”

The harsh underfunding also poses ethical and practical questions, while in the absence of local women's organisations, hundreds of thousands of women and girls could lose access to life-saving services that provide a difference between life and death.

Local Action in Australia

In response to the global challenges, UN Women Australia is scaling up action to influence change at the national level. Under the slogan “Think Global, Act Local”, the organization has introduced a new Leadership Network to bridge gaps in gender in Australia.

Padma Raman, PSM, Office for Women Executive Director at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, emphasized cross-sector collaboration. She said, “The Network is an unprecedented chance to bring private, government, academic and community leaders together to learn, work together and create change.”

Even with progress, there are still huge gender gaps in Australia. Women receive only 78 cents for every dollar paid to men, and 79 percent of employers continue to have gender pay gaps outside the desired range. UN Women Australia CEO Simone Clarke wrote, “While progress has been made, women remain dramatically underrepresented in leadership across most sectors.”

Through building conversation and collaborative action, the Leadership Network hopes to accelerate gender equality and enable more women to occupy leadership positions in every aspect of life.

A Call for Necessary & Sustained Support

The UN Women's report message is clear, women's organisations are not merely service providers, they are lifelines. Their impending crash from foreign aid reductions is not merely a gender problem, but an impending global humanitarian crisis. If it receives no urgent and targeted investment, the world stands to lose some of its most effective change agents and crisis responders.

Meanwhile, homegrown initiatives like Australia's Leadership Network prove that one can act firmly at home without ignoring international gender concerns. To actually make progress towards gender equality and humanitarian resilience, stakeholders at every level, governments, donors, and civil society, must make funding and support for women-led organisations a priority before it is too late.