Child-friendly space in Maban, South Sudan, 2016. LWF had to completely stop the program. Photo: LWF/ C. Kästner-Meyer
On World Humanitarian Day, LWF field staff highlight the impact of global funding cuts
(LWI) - On World Humanitarian Day 2025, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) staff from country programs worldwide are sounding the alarm: reductions in humanitarian aid are pushing the most vulnerable into deeper crisis. From early childhood education in South Sudan to refugee services in Cameroon, Uganda and Myanmar, the reductions of humanitarian aid are endangering those who already lost so much.
10,000 futures at risk
In South Sudan, the LWF country program has been forced to halt Early Childhood Development (ECD) services for children under six in 60 centers. The closures affect both Sudanese refugees and local communities, ending access to safe spaces that provided early learning, protection, and emotional support.
“Ten thousand young children in Maban County are currently not attending school,” says LWF South Sudan Education Coordinator Maureen Ogutu, who oversees ECD in four refugee camps in Maban, Upper Nile State. The area hosts large numbers of Sudanese refugees and is already prone to conflict and food insecurity.
When funding was cut, dozens of teachers — many refugees themselves — lost their jobs. The impact, Ogutu warns, will be long-term: “It will also negatively affect the enrolment of children in primary school”. For many this is the only education they will ever receive.
Left to fend for themselves
In northern Cameroon, the LWF office in Maroua saw its budget cut by two-thirds this year, effectively stopping aid to over 15,000 vulnerable people. The region hosts refugees fleeing violence in Nigeria, many now resorting to desperate measures to survive, says Program Coordinator Ezechiel Kodji: “Overexploitation of natural resources, land abandonment, prostitution, theft… Women and children face multiple traumas: loss of aid, family abandonment, heightened risk of sexual violence, and exploitation. Many are now left to fend for themselves in extreme vulnerability.”
Many are now left to fend for themselves in extreme vulnerability.
Ezechiel Kodj, LWF Cameroon Program Coordinator
The situation is similar in Uganda, where the cuts are hitting those least able to cope. Support for children with special medical conditions, older people, and people with disabilities had to be reduced, says LWF Uganda Project Manager Patrick Kyeyune.
Kyeyune notes that the reductions go beyond health care: reforestation projects, safe water access, and food support for people who fled war and atrocities have all been scaled back. “All of these services have been reduced because of the global funding cuts.”
Shared humanity
In Myanmar, Saw Tha Gay works for a local LWF partner delivering earthquake relief, mental health support, and emergency cash assistance. The drop in funding, he says, is having a devastating impact: “In recent years, humanitarian aid to Myanmar has declined dramatically. The latest cuts are severely limiting the support we can give to vulnerable communities in urgent need.”
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warns that 11.6 million refugees and internally displaced people are at risk of losing assistance this year — roughly one-third of those supported by the agency. “These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet,” UNHCR states, “they are families unable to afford food, medicine or shelter, and pupils deprived of education and their opportunity for a better future.” LWF is one of the UNHCR’s largest faith-based implementing partners.
Our shared humanity demands that we do not look away. On World Humanitarian Day, we urge everyone — donors, partners, member churches, individual households, young and old— to stand with those who are most vulnerable, in prayer and in action.
Allan Calma, LWF Global Humanitarian Coordinator
“When the world turns away from those in greatest need, the cost is counted in lives, futures and hope. In LWF World Service, we see this every day in the communities we serve.” says Allan Calma, LWF Global Humanitarian Coordinator.
“Our shared humanity demands that we do not look away. On World Humanitarian Day, we urge everyone — donors, partners, member churches, individual households, young and old— to stand with those who are most vulnerable, in prayer and in action”.
