NEW YORK– NY
On September 23rd, leaders in the humanitarian sector convened at the annual Clinton Global Initiative in New York City for a panel discussion on conflict and disaster recovery as international funding diminishes. The session, called “Rewriting the Humanitarian Playbook,” featured International Rescue Committee executive director David Milliband, actress and humanitarian Carey Mulligan, and CEO of The LEGO Foundation Sidsel Marie Kristensen, among other speakers.
“Humanitarian needs are outpacing resources,” said Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in his opening address. “We are speaking today at a time when there is an unprecedented record of forcibly displaced people around the world. Nearly 25 million refugees have been displaced for 5 years or more and around 14 and a half million remain dependent on humanitarian assistance for basic needs.”
As the refugee crisis grows, donor governments are retreating. In July of 2025, President Trump officially dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), exacerbating humanitarian crises worldwide. Just a few months before, the UK government announced a reduction in their foreign aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% of the gross national income, the lowest level in decades.
Philanthropists are stepping up where they can. Several foundation leaders announced new commitments to action at the Clinton Global Initiative on Wednesday.
Dr. Nahla Gadalla, CEO of the Sudanese American Medical Association, spoke about establishing a permanent humanitarian relief center in eastern Chad, which will provide essential services to over 1 million Sudanese refugees who fled the ongoing civil war. Laura Miller, CEO of the War Child Alliance, revealed a $100 million grant going toward mental health and wellbeing for 10 million children affected by conflict, to be distributed over the next decade. Direct Relief CEO Amy Weaver is launching a $40 million campaign to allocate towards maternal health in conflict and disaster zones.
Initiatives that focus on long-term recovery and delivering resources beyond food, water, and shelter, are a newer development in the humanitarian sector, where “emergency” is narrowly-defined, explained Carolyn Makinson, former executive director of the International Rescue Committee UK and the Women’s Refugee Commission. In an interview, she described early challenges she faced fundraising for maternal health. “In most places, they didn’t even have help for women with childbirth,” she said. “There was a kind of mindset in the humanitarian community that this was inappropriate for emergencies.”
At the conference, Salih encouraged the UNHCR’s partners to take the long view on recovery. “I do believe strongly that we really need to move beyond the concept of managing displacement year on end. We need to have a pathway to giving people the agency they deserve.”
But with budgetary restraints, long-term recovery might have to take the backseat. The rollback of foreign aid has problematized meeting even basic needs for survivors of war and disaster.
“This is painful. Lives are being lost. Lives will be lost because donors don’t want to put in sufficient funding to provide basic life-saving and life-sustaining aid to people,” said Princeton lecturer Doug Mercado, who has decades of experience directing emergency operations and post-conflict recovery.
He emphasized the importance of reestablishing a disaster response agency. “I’m not talking about USAID with all of this development programming, peace-building, economic development. I’m talking about an agency that’s solely dedicated to emergency response overseas.”
