Charity group states: Every tenth person experiences hunger
In a grim turn of events, world hunger relief efforts are facing significant challenges due to substantial cuts in aid funds from two of the world's largest donors – the United States and Germany. These reductions have raised serious concerns for organisations such as World Hunger Aid and Welthungerhilfe, which are struggling to maintain and expand their humanitarian operations amidst growing global crises.
The current situation shows significant cuts in aid funds, with the German federal budget for 2025 including nearly €1 billion less for the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development compared to 2024. Humanitarian aid funds, including emergency aid, are set to be slashed by over 50%, down to 1 billion euros, while development cooperation budgets also face reductions of around 8%. These cuts coincide with a major shift in government priorities favouring increased defense spending.
Aid organisations warn that these reductions endanger millions of lives, especially children, and undermine ongoing projects tackling malnutrition, climate crises, and conflicts in vulnerable regions such as Gaza, Sudan, and Syria. Welthungerhilfe reports that 733 million people currently suffer from chronic malnutrition worldwide, with numbers increasing by 152 million since 2019.
Similarly, the United States has drastically cut its global health and development aid, with reductions estimated at around 67% in 2025 compared to the previous year under the Trump administration. This has pushed global health aid to the lowest level in 15 years, threatening critical healthcare programs in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, impacting disease treatment and prevention for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
The combined effect of these aid funding cuts jeopardizes the capacity of international organisations like World Hunger Aid groups to maintain or expand their humanitarian operations. The cuts come at a time of growing global crises, including displacement, conflicts, and climate-related famines, increasing the urgency and scale of the need for aid. The cuts not only stall progress towards ending hunger but may reverse previous gains by diminishing resources available for emergency response, development cooperation, and climate resilience efforts.
In the Gaza Strip, the supply of food is largely in the hands of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, and the high cost of essential items such as wheat (currently 25 kilograms cost over 500 US dollars) is causing hardship for many. World Hunger Aid's operations in the region are further complicated by the fuel shortage for a water desalination plant, which often cannot reach the plant due to bombardments and evacuations.
Marlehn Thieme, the president of World Hunger Aid, has warned that cuts in financial resources can lead to hunger, displacement, or death for millions of people. Employees of World Hunger Aid themselves are struggling to feed themselves due to the high prices of available food items. In 2020, World Hunger Aid received 86.5 million euros in donations and 291.9 million euros from governments or other institutions, supporting approximately 18.7 million people through around 649 overseas projects in 37 countries.
These cuts in aid funds are causing concern for organisations like World Hunger Aid. Mogge, a representative from World Hunger Aid, has expressed shock at the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and considers it one of the worst he has seen and heard about in his over 30-year career. The budget for humanitarian aid in Germany has been reduced by 53% to less than one billion euros, further exacerbating the challenges faced by global hunger relief efforts.
In summary, the cuts in aid funds in the US and Germany are severely undermining global hunger relief efforts, creating a grim outlook for millions facing starvation. The work of organisations such as World Hunger Aid and Welthungerhilfe is crucial in addressing these issues, and stable and sufficient funding is essential for them to operate effectively.
- The German federal budget for 2025 includes a significant reduction in economic and social policy funds, particularly for the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, which may impact ongoing projects related to health-and-wellness, such as malnutrition and disease treatment, due to a drastic cut of over 50% in humanitarian aid funds.
- The current situation raises serious concerns for organizations like World Hunger Aid, as cuts in aid funds from the United States and Germany are threatening ongoing science-based initiatives, particularly in the fields of health-and-wellness and nutrition, such as disease prevention and treatment programs for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
