Aid Groups Warn Germany's Budget Cuts Will Strain Global System

More than a dozen aid organisations, including UN agencies, have warned that fresh cuts to Germany’s development assistance and humanitarian aid would further strain a global system already facing unprecedented funding shortfalls.

The appeal came after Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet approved a draft 2027 budget that would further reduce overseas development spending while significantly increasing defence expenditure.

German aid organisations and UN agencies, including the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the UN children’s fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in Germany, warned in a joint statement that the proposed budget "fails to meet the scale of global crises".

“Only €1.05 billion (£900 million) has been allocated to humanitarian assistance in 2027, representing just 0.19 per cent of the overall federal budget”, the statement said “Following the sharp reduction in the previous budget cycle, funding for humanitarian aid would therefore remain at a low level,” it added.

Germany’s development ministry budget has fallen by around 20 per cent since 2023, while humanitarian assistance has been halved since 2024.

“The consequences of such cuts by Germany and other donor countries are already becoming apparent,” the statement said.

The spending plans must still be approved by parliament, and aid groups have urged lawmakers to reverse the reductions before next year’s federal budget is finalised.

Humanitarian organisations said more reductions from one of the world’s largest aid donors risks undermining relief efforts at a time when conflicts, displacement and hunger have driven global needs to record levels.

The cuts come as the international humanitarian system faces its worst funding gap in decades. According to the UN, donor governments provided just 23.4 per cent of the funding requested through global humanitarian appeals in 2025, despite around 300 million people requiring assistance worldwide.

At current funding levels, aid agencies say they will only be able to reach just over half those in need.

Germany overtook the US due to its own aid cuts to become the world’s largest bilateral donor in 2025, according to preliminary figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, making its budget decisions particularly significant for humanitarian agencies.

Humanitarian organisations say shrinking donor support has already forced them to reduce food assistance, close health programmes and scale back emergency operations in countries including Sudan, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gaza. There is a proposed six-percent reduction in the budget for the development department.

German climate groups have also criticised plans to transfer billions of euros from a special climate fund to the regular budget. Parliamentary debates on the budget will begin in September, and it is expected to be finalised by the end of 2026.

Researchers have warned that the consequences of declining development assistance could contribute to between 9.4 million and 22.6 million additional deaths by 2030, depending on the scale of reductions.

The latest cuts reflect a wider shift among major donors, as governments increasingly divert spending towards defence and domestic priorities while global humanitarian needs continue to rise.