If 2024 was the year of polycrisis, 2025 was the year the aid architecture cracked and forced long-deferred questions into the open. As we enter 2026, those questions now demand answers.
The effective dismantling of U.S. humanitarian financing structures over the past 12 months has reshaped global aid flows. According to sectorwide tracking, humanitarian funding fell by an estimated 35% globally.
Localization has stagnated in terms of direct funding going to local groups, despite a decade of commitments to reach 25%. The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage underdelivered. AI adoption has outpaced governance. And humanitarian staff buckled under chronic overstretch.