The Norwegian Refugee Council Forced to Suspend Essential Aid for 100,000s

We have, in our 79-year history, never experienced such an abrupt discontinuation of aid funding from any of our many donor nations, inter-governmental organisations, or private donor agencies.

The consequences will be increasingly serious for people facing crises around the world. In Ukraine, NRC has had to halt the scheduled February distribution of emergency support to 57,000 people in communities along the frontlines.

This comes just as winter takes full hold, leaving people unable to heat their homes and access vital goods such as food.

We are being forced to lay off aid workers around the world, including female and male staff in Afghanistan who sustain a faltering lifeline to girls, women, and families still grappling with the fallout of the change in control and chaotic departure of the US and other NATO countries in 2021.

We welcome the temporary waiver announced by the US Secretary of State, intended to allow for ongoing life-saving humanitarian assistance programmes to continue.

But like many other organisations, NRC is unable to take advantage of this waiver unless the US government resumes payments to its partners for work completed before the foreign assistance pause and for these allowable lifesaving activities.

We currently have millions of dollars in outstanding payment requests to the US government. Without an immediate solution we may, at the end of February, be forced to halt US-funded lifesaving humanitarian programmes.

The impact of this will be felt severely by the most vulnerable, from deeply neglected Burkina Faso, where we are the only organisation supplying clean water to the 300,000 trapped in the blockaded city of Djibo, to war-torn Sudan, where we support nearly 500 bakeries in Darfur providing daily subsidised bread to hundreds of thousands of hunger-stricken people.

We are soon unable to advance millions of dollars on ongoing programmes with no clarity on when we are reimbursed.

Even if the immediate liquidity issue is resolved, hundreds of thousands of people will still be left without vital assistance previously supported by US humanitarian funding, but not covered by the current limited waiver.

This includes emergency education, livelihoods programmes, and protection activities that have given youth in Central and South America, and across the Sahel, hope for a future in their home communities.

In order to prevent disruptions to these and other programmes, stop-work orders should be fully lifted during the course of the foreign assistance review.

NRC has implemented US humanitarian assistance for close to 20 years, expanding our work with US support across multiple Republican and Democrat-led Administrations in line with growing global humanitarian needs.

We recognize the US Administration’s authority to conduct a legitimate review of US foreign assistance, but further steps must be urgently taken to avoid the disruption to ongoing humanitarian assistance while the assessment is undertaken.

The current process, including actions taken to dramatically reduce USAID staff and capacity, will only compromise current and future investments and results – on top of the irreversible human cost.

The US, the world’s largest donor in absolute terms, and Norway, the world’s largest donor in relative terms, are NRC’s most important contributors, to support nearly 10 million people impacted by crisis around the world. We hope this American compassion for the world’s most dispossessed will continue.

Facts and figures:

• NRC has not suspended all aid work in the almost 20 impacted countries, rather our work in those countries which is supported by US funding has been impacted, to a greater or lesser extent. Work supported by other donors is able to continue. The impact on our work will increase if funds are not released by the end of February.
• In 2024, NRC assisted 1.6 million people through US-supported programmes.
• Together with Norway, the EU, Sweden and Germany the US is among NRC’s largest contributors. Just under 20 per cent ($150 million) of NRC’s funding in 2024 came from the US.

About the Norwegian Refugee Council

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee.

We protect displaced people and support them as they build a new future. We started our relief efforts after World War Two.

Today, we work in both new and protracted crises across 40 countries. We specialise in six areas: food security, education, shelter, legal assistance, protection from violence, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

We stand up for people forced to flee. NRC is a determined advocate for displaced people. We promote and defend displaced people’s rights and dignity in local communities, with national governments and in the international arena.

NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva is a global leader in monitoring, reporting on and advocating for people displaced within their own country.

We work with partners across the world through NORCAP, our global provider of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding expertise. NORCAP collaborates with local, national and international partners on finding sustainable solutions to meet the needs of people at risk.

Around 15,000 humanitarians work with the Norwegian Refugee Council. Most of us are hired locally to work in the field, and a small number are based at our head office in Oslo. Many of our colleagues were once themselves forced to flee their homes.

Today, a record 117 million people are fleeing war and persecution. Not since World War Two have more people needed our help.

The Norwegian Refugee Council assisted almost 10 million people worldwide in 2023, and with your support, we can help even more.

*SOURCE: The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) . Go to ORIGINAL: https://www.nrc.no/news/2025/february/nrc-forced-to-suspend-essential-aid-work-in-almost-20-countries. 10 February 2025.

2025 Human Wrongs Watch