Reforming the Humanitarian System: 5 Key Actions the EU must take!
Read the VOICE Statement “Reforming the Humanitarian System: 5 Key Actions the EU must take!”
The humanitarian sector is facing a dramatic financial shock. At the end of April 2025, only 9% of the financial requirements outlined in the Global Humanitarian Overview had been funded, leaving hundreds of thousands of people behind. This shortfall comes as the world faces a record 309 million people living in humanitarian crises.
In response, VOICE and the CEOs of 112 humanitarian NGOs called on the EU and its Member States to take a stand for humanity in an open letter in February 2025. Since then, efforts have been made to identify solutions, and many European Union (EU) and Member States actors expressed support for the ‘Humanitarian Reset’, proposed by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher. This is necessary, but it will not be enough. The dismantling of USAID and funding cuts from the US and some EU Member States are stark indicators of a deep humanitarian funding and legitimacy crisis. These are not isolated events, but symptoms of broader systemic issues that require bold and radical solutions.
In response, VOICE have outlined 5 key actions the EU and its Member States must take to enable a real humanitarian reform:
- Uphold their Commitments to fund principled Humanitarian Action
- Champion a System-Wide Reform Rooted in Principles and Local Leadership
- Protect Quality, Dignity and Inclusion
- Invest in Resilience: Preparedness, Anticipatory Action, and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus
- Deliver on Long-standing Reform Commitments and Support NGOs
With these five key actions, VOICE calls on the EU and its Member States to change the course of today’s humanitarian crisis. To use their power and resources to help build a deeply renewed humanitarian system - one that is more inclusive, fair, and accountable to all people living in humanitarian crises.
Read the full statement “Reforming the Humanitarian System: 5 Key Actions the EU must take!” here.
