The UN’s top relief co-ordinator has told The National that regardless of a cash crunch, his agency is prepared to go into Gaza the moment a ceasefire is reached.
“Hundreds of trucks a day, unimpeded access, free access to the north and to the south; we could flood Gaza with aid,” Tom Fletcher told On The Record with Hadley Gamble. “It’s a drop in the ocean what we're [currently] allowed to get through. And we're facing horrific conditions on the ground.”
Despite a funding crisis he describes as critical, Mr Fletcher said securing a ceasefire in Gaza is the only barrier to scaling-up aid.
“I need three things,” he said. “Peace, the guns to fall silent because ultimately, without ceasefires, it's much, much harder for us to get our support through. I need access, particularly access lines, across the fighting lines. And … I need money.”
The UN’s core budget is expected to fall to $3.2 billion in 2026, a cut of about $500 million. The Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Relief addressed the UN’s “massive funding crisis”, saying the decisions he has had to make this year over where to allocate money have been brutal.
“With 20 per cent funded across our appeals, many of the appeals [just] 10 to 11 per cent funded, this is a massive funding crisis,” he said, in a wide-ranging interview. “We're making horrific, life-and-death decisions about which project to fund, which project not to fund.”
As of late September, US President Donald Trump's administration has withheld billions in funds for the UN system, contributing to a cash crunch. In a move that largely bypassed congressional review, the administration announced in late August a “pocket rescission” to claw back $4.9 billion in foreign aid, including $1 billion specifically for UN accounts.
“The decisions I'm having to make are funding cuts, and I'm not prepared to accept that. I'm not prepared to accept that the world's become less generous, less compassionate,” Mr Fletcher said. “We've got to find a way to be kind and to recognise our common humanity.”
Asked if he believes he can convince Mr Trump to do that, his reply was a resounding yes.
