An open letter from VOICE and the CEOs of 96 humanitarian NGOs to all decisionmakers in the European Union and its Member States.
It only took a few days for the U.S. decision to freeze its foreign aid and dismantle USAID to sever the lifeline of millions of people worldwide and disrupt the entire humanitarian system.
Almost overnight, vaccine and nutrition treatment distribution halted, clinics and schools closed, and access to clean water and sanitation – among other critical services – was jeopardised. This is a dramatic blow to the 307,6 million people projected to need urgent humanitarian assistance and protection in 2025. For example, with the US foreign aid suspension, 95 million people would lose access to basic healthcare and 23 million children would lose access to education programs, increasing poverty cycles. Many grassroots, local and national NGOs that are the backbone of humanitarian responses have already suspended programs, laid off staff and many face closure, severely impacting their capacity to respond to the urgent needs of affected communities.
The US decision is unprecedented in scale, form, and impact, and is part of a worrying long-term trend. The gap between humanitarian needs and available funding has more than tripled from $8.4 billion in 2016 to $26 billion in 2024, due to a massive increase in needs and, more recently, significant funding cuts from multiple donors, including European States.
In this challenging time, we urge the EU and its Member States to take unified and decisive actions to uphold the core values of its foundation – solidarity, the eradication of poverty, and the protection of human rights. This is not only a legal obligation from the Lisbon Treaty (article 214), nor merely the will of European citizens, it is also fundamental in reflecting European values within the broader global community. Guided by the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence, humanitarian action saves lives and strengthens communities’ resilience every day. To uphold these values, we urge the EU and its Member States to remain global leaders in solidarity by taking the following actions.
• We urge the EU and its Member States to stand by crises-affected communities, by increasing the humanitarian funding that ensure their continuous access to basic services. In particular, as discussions accelerate on the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework, the current global humanitarian crisis should serve as a wake-up call for adopting a stronger humanitarian budget.
• We call on the EU and its Member States to increase their dialogue with national and international partners, and demonstrate understanding, flexibility, and extensive support – administratively, financially, and legally – with actors delivering humanitarian assistance. International, national, and especially local NGOs are facing immense challenges in fulfilling their commitments to people affected by crises. Emergency support measures and enhanced quality, localised and flexible funding, as laid out in the Grand Bargain commitments, are critical to maintaining humanitarian actors’ operational capacity.
• In the longer term, we call on the EU to take the lead as a convener of a global strategic dialogue to shape a principled, sustainable and flexible new humanitarian system that works with and for the most vulnerable communities and that relies on a diverse range of actors, including new donors, private sector and robust EU and Member States’ support.
The far-ranging impacts of the decisions of one single state show how intertwined our world is. This is a call for all EU political actors to stand up for humanity and lead a new positive political dynamic that saves lives and makes a real difference for all, at home and worldwide.
Signatures
VOICE – Pauline Chetcuti, President
Acción contra el Hambre – Manuel Sánchez-Montero, CEO
ACODEV – Raphaël Maldague, Director
Act Church of Sweden – Erik Lysén, Director
Action Contre le Faim France – Chibuzo Okonta, CEO
ACAT France (Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture) – Solange Moume Etia, Directrice du
pôle programmes et plaidoyer
ADRA Croatia – Slavica Marcheta, CEO
ADRA Deutschland e.V. – Christian Molke, CEO
Agir Ensemble pour les Droits Humains (AEDH) – Carole Martin De Champs, Déléguée générale
Aktion Gegen den Hunger – Jan Sebastian Friedrich-Rust, CEO
ALBOAN – Mary Tere Guzmán, CEO
Alianza por la Solidaridad-ActionAid Spain – Cristina Muñoz Pavón, General Director
Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH) – Noanne Tenneson, Déléguée générale
Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland – Edith Wallmeier, Member of the Executive Board
Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) France – Anne Lutun, Déléguée générale
AWO International – Ingrid Lebherz, Executive Director
Ayuda en Acción – Jorge Cattaneo García, CEO
Bibliothèques Sans Frontières – Jérémy Lachal, Directeur Général
Caritas Europa – Maria Nyman, Secretary-General
Caritas Germany – Oliver Müller, International Director
Caritas International Belgium – Luc Van Haute, General Manager
CESVI – Stefano Piziali, General Manager
Christian Aid Ireland – Rosamond Bennet, CEO
COAST – Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, CEO
Community and Family Services International (CFSI) – Steven Muncy, Executive Director
Coordination SUD – Olivier Bruyeron, President
Cordaid – Heleen van den Berg, CEO
Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity (CROSOL) – Branka Juran, Platform Co-ordinator
DanChurchAid (DCA) – Jonas Vejsager Nøddekær, CEO
25/02/2025
Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe – Martin Keßler, Director
EDUCO – Pilar Orenes, CEO
Electriciens sans frontières – Hervé Gouyet, President & Alexandre Anjuere, Executive Director
Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM) – Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Délégué général
Estonian Roundtable for Development Cooperation (AKÜ) – Agne Kuimet, Director
EU-CORD – Ruth Faber, CEO
Finn Church Aid (FCA) / Kirkon Ulkomaanapu sr – Tomi Järvinen, Executive Director
Finnish Refugee Council – Annu Lehtinen, Executive Director
Foundation Terre des Hommes Lausanne – Barbara Hintermann, Director General
Fundación Entreculturas – Ramón Almansa, CEO
Fundación Mundubat – Antonio José Montoro Carmona, CEO
German Doctors e.V. – Dr. Christine Winkelmann and Dr. Harald Kischlat, Management board
Global Responsibility – Lukas Wank, Director
Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion – Manuel Patrouillard, Global Executive Director
Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V. – Dr. Thorsten Klose-Zuber, Secretary General
HelpAge Deutschland – Sonja Birnbaum, CEO
HIAS Europe – Ilan Cohn, Director
ICVA – Jamie Munn, Executive Director
INTERSOS – Konstantinos Moschochoritis, Director General
Johanniter International Assistance – Susanne Wesemann, Director
Kindernothilfe e.V. – Katrin Weidemann, CEO
La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo-Spain – Maite Serrano Oñate, Directora
Fédération internationale des ACAT (Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture) – Guillaume
Colin, Directeur exécutif
LM International – Josephine Sundqvist, Secretary General
LP4Y Alliance – John Delaporte, President
Médecins du Monde Belgique /Dokters van de Wereld Belgie – Federico Dessi, Directeur General
Médecins du Monde France – Joel Weiler, General Director
Médicos del Mundo España – Nicolás A. Dotta, Executive Director
Movement for Peace (MPDL) – Enrique Sánchez Antón, General Coordinator
25/02/2025
Mreža mladih Hrvatske / Croatian Youth Network – Marin Capan, President
Network LINK 2007- Cooperazione in Rete – Roberto Ridolfi, President
NGO Resource Center (NGORC) – Fredric Larsson, Director
Nonviolent Peaceforce – Tiffany Easthom, CEO
Norwegian Church Aid – Arne Næss-Holm, General Secretary
NRC Europe – Edouard Rodier, Managing Director
Oxfam – Amitabh Behar, Executive Director
People In Need – Simon Panek, CEO
Philippines Inclusive NGO Network (PINGON) – Steven Muncy, Convenor
Plan International’s EU Liaison Office – Niamh Nic Carthaigh, Head of Office and Senior EU
Representative
Plataforma Portuguesa das ONGD – Rita Leote, Executive Director
Plateforme des Droits Humains (PDH) – Charlotte Millereaux, Déléguée générale
Platform Sloga – Max Zimani, Director
Polish Humanitarian Action – Maciej Bagiński, CEO
Première Urgence Internationale – Thierry Mauricet, CEO
RefugePoint – Sasha Chanoff, Founder and CEO
Secours Islamique France – Mahieddine Khelladi, Executive Director
Solidarité Internationale LGBTQI (SIL) – Robert Simon, Président
Solidarités International – Kevin Goldberg, CEO
SOS AFRICAINES EN DANGER – Danielle Merian, Présidente
SOS Children’s Villages – Angela Maria Rosales, CEO
SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit – Lanna Idriss, CEO
Stichting Vluchteling / The Netherlands Refugee Foundation – Renske Boetje, Director a.i
Terre des Hommes Deutschland – Joshua Hofert, Spokesperson and Executive Director of
Communication
Terre des Hommes International Federation – Valerie Ceccherini, Secretary General
Terre des Hommes Italia – Paolo Ferrara, Director General
Terre des Hommes Netherland – Julie Verhaar, CEO
Terre des hommes Schweiz – Franziska Lauper, Executive Director
25/02/2025
Terre des Hommes Suissen – Anne Hassberger, Secretary General
Tournons la Page – Mathieu Pourchier, Directeur exécutif
Triangle Génération Humanitaire – Stanislas Bonnet, CEO
Trócaire – Caoimhe de Barra, CEO
VENRO (Association of German Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs) – Åsa Månsson, CEO
Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) – Pénélope Faulkner, Présidente
Vision Hope International – Stephan Kraemer, CEO
War Child – Rob Williams, CEO
WeWorld – Dina Taddia, CEO
ZOA – Chris Lukkien, CEO