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Tom Fletcher, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs chief, stated that with 300 million individuals needing assistance, recent cuts in humanitarian aid funds are having a “seismic impact” globally during a news briefing at the UN headquarters in New York.
“Many will die as that aid is dwindling,” said Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
“Across the humanitarian sector, programs are currently being halted. Staff are currently being let go. I believe 10 percent of NGO colleagues were laid off in February,” he said, referring to those working for non-governmental aid organizations.
Fletcher also discussed his recent visit to Gaza, stating that “supplies are running out very, very quickly” amid Israel’s renewed blockade on food, medicine, fuel, and other goods entering the region.
“The lack of fuel means incubators are being turned off, so this is already a reality, and it will soon become a humanitarian crisis again,” he stated.
Describing his visit to Gaza last month, Fletcher said one of the “first shocking things I saw when driving in is the dogs scavenging through the rubble.”
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for that,” he said, referring to the sight of stray dogs in Gaza searching for the bodies of people trapped under bombed buildings.