US adapt, shrink or die' terms for $2bn aid pot will mean UN bowing down to Washington, say experts

"It's a despicable way of looking at humanitarianism and humanitarian aid. She criticised the way the UN had praised Donald Trump and the pledge as generous despite the many conditions placed upon it. It also points to the fact that the UN system itself is now so subservient to the American system that it is literally bowing down to just one power without actually being more objective in how it views humanitarianism and humanitarian aid, Khan said."

"After a year of deep cuts in aid budgets by the US and European countries, the announcement of new money for the humanitarian system is a source of some relief, but experts are deeply concerned about demands that the US has imposed on how the money should be managed and where it can go. It also stipulated that the money be used for 17 priority countries chosen by the US, excluding some undergoing profound humanitarian crises such as Afghanistan and Yemen."

The US pledged $2bn (£1.5bn) with conditions requiring the money to be funnelled through a pooled fund run by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) rather than given to individual agencies. The pledge is restricted to 17 priority countries chosen by the US, excluding major humanitarian crises such as Afghanistan and Yemen. After deep cuts to aid budgets by the US and European countries, the new funding offers relief but raises concerns that conditionality will centralize control, tie aid to US political priorities, shrink UN flexibility, and marginalize needs-based responses. Observers warn the arrangement risks making the UN system more subservient to American influence.

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