UN humanitarian agency set to lay off staff in Zimbabwe

The United Nations' emergency and disaster response agency will reduce its global workforce by 20% and scale back operations in nine countries, as it confronts a severe funding crisis and escalating global needs, it announced on Friday.

In a letter to staff shared on the agency's website, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) head Tom Fletcher outlined "brutal cuts" driven by a nearly $60 million funding shortfall for 2025, compounded by rising humanitarian demands.

OCHA will withdraw from or adjust operations in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, and Zimbabwe, and aim to prioritize "dynamic and full responses" in remaining locations where it operates.

The agency plans to lay off approximately 500 staff members from its workforce of about 2,600 employees across over 60 countries with a more concentrated presence in fewer locations, according to Najwa Mekki, director of communications at OCHA citing a separate letter Fletcher wrote.

The cuts follow months of austerity measures, including a hiring freeze and travel restrictions, which saved $3.7 million.

"The humanitarian community was already underfunded, overstretched and literally, under attack. Now, we face a wave of brutal cuts," Fletcher wrote, emphasizing that the reductions stem from financial constraints rather than diminished needs.

Fletcher stressed the agency's pivot toward a "lighter, faster" model focused on core priorities: crisis response, sector reform, and humanitarian leadership. The moves align with the UN's broader "Humanitarian Reset" – a 10-point plan agreed upon in February by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) - and Secretary-General António Guterres' UN80 reform initiative.

While OCHA frames the cuts as necessary for sustainability, aid groups told CNN they feared reduced capacity in crisis zones. An official with Baghdad-based rights group Al Amal Association told CNN that OCHA's cuts could "significantly impact humanitarian efforts in Iraq, particularly in supporting women's rights" and warned that its own staffers could face layoffs without OCHA's support.

Fletcher defended the decisions, insisting OCHA must "coordinate, not replicate" efforts to preserve lifesaving work. "We believe passionately in what we do," Fletcher wrote, "but we cannot continue to do it all."