Policy Updates

On Decembr 2, 2025, donors pledged US$1.2 billion at the annual UNHCR Pledging Conference in Geneva for 2026 operations, slightly above the 2025 pledge and covering nearly 18% of UNHCR's projected funding needs.

UNHCR's National Partners committed an additional US$350 million from private sector fundraising, bringing total pledges to US$1.5 billion. Several governments confirmed multi-year contributions extending into 2027 and beyond to strengthen UNHCR's long-term planning.

UNHCR Comissioner Filippo Grandi stated that early and flexible funding provided a lifeline to respond quickly to new emergencies and deliver solutions in neglected crises. Top government contributors included Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway, with substantially increased contributions from Ireland, Luxembourg, and Iceland. The European Union confirmed significant funding already committed for 2026, while Austria and Spain joined the group of governments pledging support to UNHCR.

Unearmarked funding pledged dropped to 17% of total pledges, nearly half of 2023 levels, while earmarked funding for specific countries and activities increased. Norway, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Ireland pledged the largest amounts of unearmarked funding.

On November 21, 2025The Global Fund held its Eighth Replenishment Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, co-hosted by the governments of South Africa and the UK on the margins of the G20 Leaders' Summit, securing US$11.3 billion in pledges to sustain the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Partners from more than 30 countries pledged support to save lives and strengthen systems for health, marking the first replenishment held on African soil. The summit demonstrated global solidarity despite fiscal tightening, conflict, and global uncertainty, though total pledges fell short of the ambitious target set in the Investment Case and several donors had yet to confirm their pledges.

The US, the Global Fund's largest donor, committed US$4.6 billion. The UK pledged GBP850 million (US$1.1 billion), while Germany confirmed EUR1 billion (US$1.2 billion) and Canada pledged CAD1.02 billion (US$723 million). France noted that its support remained unchanged. Spain increased its pledge to EUR145 million (US$167 million), Italy pledged EUR150 million (US$173 million), the Netherlands contributed EUR146 million (US$169 million), and additional pledges came from many other donors. South Africa committed US$37 million, including US$10 million from the private sector. African countries made solidarity commitments totaling US$52 million. G20 member states reached US$9 billion in commitments.

Within the private sector, the Gates Foundation pledged US$912 million, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation pledged US$135 million, and (RED) committed US$75 million. Overall, private sector support reached US$1.3 billion.

The UK pledged GBP850 million (US$1.1 billion) to the Global Fund on November 11, 2025, ahead of the 8^th replenishment summit on November 21, 2025, representing a 15% reduction from the UK's previous GBP1 billion (US$1.3 billion) pledge in 2022.

The UK will co-host the Global Fund's 8^th replenishment summit with South Africa on November 21, 2025. The pledge marked the first time in Global Fund history that a host country reduced its contribution.

Chair of the International Development Committee Sarah Champion expressed disappointment with the GBP150 million (US$197 million) reduction. Champion stated that reducing the UK's commitment was short-sighted and risked undermining the UK's reputation as a global health leader. Champion noted that cuts of this scale would have real impact and result in avoidable harm, urging ministers to take seriously the commitments the UK makes to vulnerable populations.

On November 1, 2025, at the 21st Manama Dialogue Conference in Bahrain, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced GBP5 million (US$6.5 million) in urgent humanitarian funding for Sudan, focusing on El-Fasher, where 260,000 people have been cut off from aid following a surge in violence.

Cooper condemned the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, stating that the conflict had been neglected while suffering has increased, and that women and children are bearing the largest brunt of the crisis. The funding will support critical humanitarian services, including emergency food supplies and medical care, while GBP2 million (US$2.6 million) of the total has been allocated to bolster responses supporting survivors of rape and sexual violence.

This funding comes on top of the GBP120 million (US$156 million) the UK has already distributed to Sudan in 2025. The existing funding has supported the delivery of life-saving food and health assistance, as well as support to those facing sexual violence through partners such as the ICRC, Sudan Humanitarian Fund, and Cash Consortium Sudan.

Publish What You Fund released the report "Progress and Gaps: Transparency of UK Aid Beyond FCDO" report on October 23, 2025 2025, finding that the Home Office was the only UK government department to decrease transparency of ODA spending since 2020, while eight other departments increased or maintained transparency and published 500 additional activities valued at GBP468 million (US$621 million) to the International Aid Transparency Initiative Standard during the review process.

The review, commissioned by the UK government, evaluated transparency of ODA spending by government departments beyond the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Eight departments increased or maintained transparency levels compared to the previous 2020 review.

The Integrated Security Fund and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published to IATI for the first time. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs expanded published results data, while the Department of Health and Social Care sustained strong output. The Home Office published less information than in 2020 and failed to update current activities.

By the review's end, most departments published over 95% of their 2024 ODA transactions, except the Home Office, Integrated Security Fund, and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The review noted that only 4% of ODA was published to IATI in 2023, demonstrating that transparency requires long-term attention.

On September 26, 2025, at a meeting of the AHLC, Norway and 11 other countries launched the Emergency Coalition for the Financial Sustainability of the PA, with Norway contributing NOK40 million (US$4 million) to a crisis package.

The coalition, which also includes Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK, was established to stabilize the PA’s finances and preserve its ability to govern. The launch took place during an AHLC meeting in New York chaired by Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa attending virtually. The coalition demanded that Israel immediately release all Palestinian clearance revenues, which constitute over 60% of the revenue the PA needs.

The crisis package aims to support essential services like hospitals and schools. Norway’s contribution is in addition to NOK200 million (US$20 million) in budget support transferred earlier in 2025. The coalition will also promote a sustainable and coordinated approach with IFIs to support reforms and ensure accountability, affirming the effort as an investment in regional peace and the two-state solution.

On September 22, 2025 at the UN General Assembly in New York, Australia launched the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, joined by more than 100 countries and supported by an AUD15 million (US$10 million) pledge to protect and honor humanitarian personnel

The declaration, developed in partnership with countries including Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, and the UK, pledges new measures to ensure the safety of humanitarian personnel. The measures include commitments to facilitate access, provide faster visas and work permits, and implement joint training for military personnel and humanitarian workers.

The funding will be channeled through the UNDSS, the OCHA, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Additional funding will support LAW, the RFF, and HO to maintain the AWSD.

On September 15, 2025, a UN Women report revealed that progress on women's rights is stagnating and regressing due to conflict, aid cuts, and a backlash against gender equality, and called on governments at the UN General Assembly in New York to commit to renewed action, highlighting that the US$420 billion needed annually to advance gender equality is a fraction of the US$2.7 trillion spent on the military.

The report, a gender snapshot monitoring progress on the SDGs, found that 676 million women and girls lived near deadly conflict in 2024, the highest number since the 1990s. Women are also more likely to be affected by rising food insecurity. The report projects that climate change could push an additional 158.3 million women and girls into extreme poverty by 2050.

Director of UN Women’s policy division, Sarah Hendriks, contrasted the US$2.7 trillion in annual military spending with the estimated US$420 billion needed to advance gender equality. The report also noted a digital gender divide, which if addressed, could lift 30 million women and girls out of poverty by 2050 and generate a US$1.5 trillion increase in global GDP by 2030. UN Women is calling for renewed commitments at the UN General Assembly, 30 years after the Beijing Declaration.

On September 5, 2025, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Yvette Cooper as the new Foreign Secretary, replacing David Lammy, with Shabana Mahmood replacing Cooper as the new Home Secretary, as part of a wider cabinet reshuffle.

The reshuffle followed the resignation of former Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner on the same day.

Cooper previously served as Home Secretary since July 2024. Mahmood was the former Justice Secretary. Lammy, the former Foreign Secretary, will now serve as Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.

As part of the reshuffle, Lucy Powell and Ian Murray were dismissed from their roles as leader of the House of Commons and Scotland Secretary, respectively.

On August 31, 2025, the UK government announced GBP3 million (US$4 million) in new funding through the UNFPA to provide life-saving support for pregnant women, new mothers, and girls in Gaza.

The announcement came amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis and famine in parts of Gaza. Minister for the FCDO David Lammy stated that the healthcare system has been decimated and called for an immediate ceasefire and a surge in humanitarian assistance. The UK government urged the Israeli government to allow sufficient aid into Gaza to address the man-made catastrophe.

The new funding is part of a GBP60 million (US$82 million) humanitarian funding package for the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the financial year. The support, delivered through the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency ( UNFPA), will deploy midwives and deliver emergency medical supplies. UNFPA Arab States Regional Director Laila Baker noted that the contribution will support mobile maternity units