Humanitarian crisis
The ICRC submitted to a budgetary appraisal in the humanitarian chaos
Benchmarked by a record number of victims among its teams and weakened by an unprecedented budgetary crisis, the International Committee of the Red Cross will have to reduce the sail.
The ICRC distributes food to the inhabitants in the village of Novoivanovka, near Popasna.
TDG
- The ICRC provides a budget reduction of 17% for 2026, threatening its humanitarian activities.
- More than thirty collaborators of the Red Cross movement have perished on a mission this year.
- The Geneva organization must delete positions in the face of the collapse of funding.
- President Mirjana Spooljaric describes the situation in Gaza as hellish.
Long considered the beating heart of global humanitarian action, Geneva has experienced an unprecedented period. THE Red Cross International Committee (ICRC)emblematic institution born on the verge of Lake Geneva and pillar of the humanitarian ecosystem, crosses one of the worst crises in its history. The organization, a symbol of excellence and stability, is now affected by unprecedented budgetary reductions, even though humanitarian needs explode around the world.
A 2026 budget down 17%
Since 2023, the organization has already had to greatly reduce its activities, remove 4000 positions and adapt its strategy. For 2026, the management provides for an additional contraction of its annual budget, heavily amputating the response capacities of the ICRC. “We are planning a 17% reduction in our annual budget. This is the figure on which our teams work, explains Achille Després, spokesperson for the ICRC. This budget must still be validated by the assembly by the end of the year. ”
Impossible, at this stage, to know how many positions will be deleted or how the cuts will be divided between the seat and the land. “We cannot reach this drop simply by reducing accessory expenses. Certain activities will have to be reduced, and unfortunately we expect job discounts, “said Achille Després.
Everywhere, needs explode. However, funding collapsed. “This situation is not specific to the ICRC: the whole humanitarian sector is currently undergoing high financial pressures while needs are increasing. We are witnessing a multiplication of crises, but funding does not follow, “adds the spokesperson.
Three delegates killed in Gaza
The year 2024 will remain the deadliest ever recorded for humanitarian workers. More than 30 employees and volunteers from the Red Cross and Red Crescent International Movement were killed in service. In Ukraine, three CICR delegates died During a bombardment. In Gaza, fifteen clearly identified humanitarian workers were killed in excruciating conditions. On the ground, the president of the ICRC, Mirjana Spoljaric, no longer hesitates to describe Gaza as “more infernal than hell on earth”.
Some fear that the new budget cuts will lead to relocation outside Geneva. The period is difficult, but The ICRC remains deeply rooted in Geneva And in Switzerland, in particular because of the history, the status of state depositary of the Geneva Conventions of Switzerland and the unique humanitarian ecosystem that exists here.
Internal tensions and a dark year
Since 2023, the organization has worked on a new strategy aimed at refocusing on its single humanitarian mandate, on neutral and protection intermediary activities. Post deletions had led to tensions between employees and management. This time, the feeling is different. Employees are aware that the ICRC is faced with a wider crisis than that of 2023. The entire humanitarian sector is going through similar difficulties.
Never, since its creation, the Geneva organization had faced such a bundle of crises. While her mandate, enrolled in Geneva Conventions, requires protecting civilians and enforcing international humanitarian law, she must reduce her footprint and review her ambitions. This painful contradiction shakes up the corridors of the avenue de la Paix.
In the city which saw the birth of the modern idea of humanitarian neutrality, the ICRC is perhaps the darkest year of its history-a symbol that is all the stronger since it reflects a weakening of the entire global humanitarian system. As Pierre Krähenbühl, CICR director of the CICR recently pointed out: “We face a terrible paradox: never humanitarian needs have been so immense, and we have never had so few means to respond.”
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