For the first time in 79 years, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has been forced to suspend humanitarian programmes in nearly 20 countries due to the sudden withdrawal of US funding. This decision will affect hundreds of thousands of people in need of assistance in conflict and disaster zones.
In particular, in Ukraine, the NRC was forced to stop distributing aid to 57,000 people in the frontline areas, which is especially critical in the harsh winter. In addition, the organisation plans to reduce staff in various countries, including Afghanistan, where staff are providing support to women and girls after the withdrawal of US and NATO troops in 2021.
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Although the US State Department has announced temporary exemptions for life-saving programmes, NRC will not be able to take advantage of these exemptions without restoring funding for completed and ongoing projects. The organisation has millions of dollars in outstanding requests for payment to the US government and, without an immediate resolution, may be forced to completely halt US-funded programmes by the end of February.
This would have serious consequences for the most vulnerable populations, from Burkina Faso, where NRC is the only organisation providing clean water to 300,000 people in Djibo, to Sudan. It supports nearly 500 bakeries in Darfur that provide subsidised bread to hundreds of thousands of hungry people every day.
NRC is calling on the US government to immediately restore funding to avoid catastrophic consequences for people who rely on humanitarian aid.
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