The Red Cross is losing thousands of jobs. What will happen to its work?

The International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, will shed at least 2,900 positions next year as a result of declining donor contributions, the global humanitarian organization has announced. This represents about 16% of its 18,000-strong workforce, of which about 1,000 work at the ICRC’s head office in Geneva, Switzerland. The cuts are being driven by diminished funding from the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, among others, which has created a “complex financial situation” for the organization, according to ICRC chief spokesperson Christian Cardon, who spoke to Devex over the phone from Geneva. The dramatic loss of financial support comes at a time when conflicts are escalating and intensifying, he said. The ICRC’s budget for 2026 will be CHF 1.8 billion ($2.25 billion), a 17% drop from its CHF 2025 budget. “The U.S. remains our largest donor, and we received support from the U.S. in 2025,” said Cardon. “We expect this to continue, but at reduced levels compared to previous years. That prediction is also the case for many other donors.” ICRC plans to increase engagement with nontraditional donors and diversify its donor base as a result. Cordon clarified that some of the positions at risk were those for which ICRC had budgeted, but not yet filled. ICRC expects about a third of the total losses to be achieved through voluntary departures and not filling vacant positions. It will make cuts in regional offices and headquarters. “There is clearly a will to spare the field as much as possible … where we have our core mandate being implemented,” said Cordon. In the future, ICRC’s work will be more focused on conflict front lines and its core mandate of implementing international humanitarian law. These activities include visiting people deprived of their freedom, such as security detainees and prisoners of war, Cordon explained, as well as documenting humanitarian law violations and reuniting families separated by conflict. ICRC’s future budget prioritizes support in critical conflict zones, including Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cordon said important, neutral intermediary work between nations, such as between Israeli authorities and Hamas in the Gaza Strip to facilitate the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees, would continue — as would emergency health interventions, such as the medical supplies recently deployed to Sudan. But ICRC plans to limit its response where hostilities are less active. Cordon specifically named Iraq as one such place, but said ICRC would work with other local responders to coordinate support. Cordon said ICRC is not alone, as many other humanitarian organizations face the same challenge of ballooning needs and deflating resources. In a recent public statement, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric called for nations to do more to prevent conflicts, noting that some countries — such as the U.K. — have publicly stated they are reducing foreign aid to fund defense budgets. “As defence budgets surge, states must also put more effort and resources into preventing conflicts, defending the rules of war and providing humanitarian relief,” she said. “No amount of humanitarian funding can match the intensity, duration and scale of today’s conflicts.”