The United States (US) government's continued failure to issue outstanding payments for completed and ongoing authorised work has created a liquidity crisis we, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), can no longer absorb. We are therefore forced to suspend our remaining programming funded by the US at the end of this week, 28 February. This includes even lifesaving programmes for which we have received waivers to continue implementation during the US government foreign assistance review.
To date, NRC has approximately 20 million US dollars outstanding which has been already spent on aid programmes across 21 countries affected by wars, disasters, and displacement. Many of these costs were incurred in 2024 and should have been reimbursed weeks ago, while others are ongoing costs that fall under the waiver.
Suspending this work means that 100,000s of people in critical need, from Sudan and DR Congo (DRC) to Colombia and Myanmar, will no longer receive the food, water, sanitation or emergency shelter they desperately need. It also means NRC has had to lay off hundreds of humanitarian workers, many of whom are local staff from crisis-affected communities that are breadwinners and may have few other opportunities for employment. This number will soon become thousands if the funds we are owed do not materialise.
The projects that have been or will be suspended include support to 700 bakeries providing affordable daily bread to people on the brink of starvation in Darfur, Sudan. Across both eastern Sudan and eastern DRC, we will have to end vital water and sanitation support to a total of around 100,000 people at a time of persistent cholera outbreaks. In eastern DRC, we will also be unable to provide emergency shelter to thousands displaced by recent violence, leaving them in precarious and dangerous conditions.
In Colombia, 50,000 people will be left without lifesaving support including in the north-east of the country where growing violence has precipitated a once-in-a-generation humanitarian crisis. This includes food, shelter, clean water and other basic items for people displaced in the region. In Mozambique, we will no longer be able to provide emergency shelter and support for families who lost everything after they were left homeless by the recent cyclone.
After receiving a number of waivers from the suspension of programmes at the beginning of February, NRC took the decision to absorb the cost of continuing US-funded lifesaving programmes across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia with the expectation that waivers would be followed by swift transfer of the funds to provide for programme implementation. Neither funding nor communication on when money will be transferred has since been received.
Additionally, a range of NRC’s vital programmes which we deem lifesaving have not received waivers to continue. This includes support to Ukraine where we have had to suspend emergency relief to freezing and hungry populations in frontline communities. NRC surveys this winter show that the number of people in these frontline areas reporting a need for food and water has risen from 44 per cent to 70 per cent in the last four months.
In order to avoid this catastrophic and unprecedented suspension of lifesaving assistance that millions of vulnerable people rely on to survive, it is essential that the US government immediately release outstanding payments to US implementing partners and to lift all stop work orders to best ensure lifesaving assistance is able to continue. Meanwhile, we urge other donors to step up by increasing flexibility and resources to help mitigate the disastrous effects of this urgent crisis.
Notes to editors
- NRC is not ending all support in the 21 impacted countries. Work supported by other donors is able to continue.
- In 2024, NRC assisted 1.6 million people through US-supported programmes.
- Together with Norway, the EU, Sweden and Germany the US is among NRC’s largest contributors. Just under 20 per cent ($150 million) of NRC’s funding in 2024 came from the US.
- It is usual for NRC and other humanitarian organisations to pay for project costs out-of-pocket and later be reimbursed by donors in a timely manner upon completion of activities.
To date, NRC has approximately 20 million US dollars outstanding which has been already spent on aid programmes across 21 countries affected by wars, disasters, and displacement. Many of these costs were incurred in 2024 and should have been reimbursed weeks ago, while others are ongoing costs that fall under the waiver.
Suspending this work means that 100,000s of people in critical need, from Sudan and DR Congo (DRC) to Colombia and Myanmar, will no longer receive the food, water, sanitation or emergency shelter they desperately need. It also means NRC has had to lay off hundreds of humanitarian workers, many of whom are local staff from crisis-affected communities that are breadwinners and may have few other opportunities for employment. This number will soon become thousands if the funds we are owed do not materialise.
The projects that have been or will be suspended include support to 700 bakeries providing affordable daily bread to people on the brink of starvation in Darfur, Sudan. Across both eastern Sudan and eastern DRC, we will have to end vital water and sanitation support to a total of around 100,000 people at a time of persistent cholera outbreaks. In eastern DRC, we will also be unable to provide emergency shelter to thousands displaced by recent violence, leaving them in precarious and dangerous conditions.
In Colombia, 50,000 people will be left without lifesaving support including in the north-east of the country where growing violence has precipitated a once-in-a-generation humanitarian crisis. This includes food, shelter, clean water and other basic items for people displaced in the region. In Mozambique, we will no longer be able to provide emergency shelter and support for families who lost everything after they were left homeless by the recent cyclone.
After receiving a number of waivers from the suspension of programmes at the beginning of February, NRC took the decision to absorb the cost of continuing US-funded lifesaving programmes across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia with the expectation that waivers would be followed by swift transfer of the funds to provide for programme implementation. Neither funding nor communication on when money will be transferred has since been received.
Additionally, a range of NRC’s vital programmes which we deem lifesaving have not received waivers to continue. This includes support to Ukraine where we have had to suspend emergency relief to freezing and hungry populations in frontline communities. NRC surveys this winter show that the number of people in these frontline areas reporting a need for food and water has risen from 44 per cent to 70 per cent in the last four months.
In order to avoid this catastrophic and unprecedented suspension of lifesaving assistance that millions of vulnerable people rely on to survive, it is essential that the US government immediately release outstanding payments to US implementing partners and to lift all stop work orders to best ensure lifesaving assistance is able to continue. Meanwhile, we urge other donors to step up by increasing flexibility and resources to help mitigate the disastrous effects of this urgent crisis.
Notes to editors
- NRC is not ending all support in the 21 impacted countries. Work supported by other donors is able to continue.
- In 2024, NRC assisted 1.6 million people through US-supported programmes.
- Together with Norway, the EU, Sweden and Germany the US is among NRC’s largest contributors. Just under 20 per cent ($150 million) of NRC’s funding in 2024 came from the US.
- It is usual for NRC and other humanitarian organisations to pay for project costs out-of-pocket and later be reimbursed by donors in a timely manner upon completion of activities.