States must do more to resolve the world鈥檚 crises as budget cuts force aid agencies to scale back their operations, a top Red Cross official said Thursday.
His comments came in the wake of drastic cuts to international aid funding by a number of countries, particularly the United States, which had long been the world鈥檚 biggest donor.
鈥業t is completely legitimate for humanitarian action to be questioned鈥�, Pierre Krahenbuhl, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Swiss daily Le Temps.
鈥榃e can be told to do better with less,鈥� he said. But states had to be more 鈥榗oherent鈥� in their response, he argued.
鈥楾hey tend to accept that conflicts drag on and that humanitarian action is there鈥� to step in, said Krahenbuhl.
鈥楢bove all, we need states to seek to resolve the conflicts in question,鈥� he added.
There was too much reliance on aid agencies, and it was deeply 鈥榬egrettable to see that some see dialogue and mediation as a sign of weakness鈥�, said Krahenbuhl.
鈥楾he nonchalance with which human beings go to war only to later say 鈥榥ever again鈥� is very disturbing.鈥�
Since US President Donald Trump took office, Washington has announced the cancellation of 83 per cent of programmes at the US Agency for International Development.
A number of UN agencies have already begun slashing jobs globally and have warned they will need to scale back their operations and lower their ambitions.
鈥楨veryone is very worried,鈥� said Krahenbuhl from Geneva 鈥� home not only to the Red Cross headquarters but also the United Nations鈥� European headquarters and hundreds of international organisations and NGOs.
Nor was Washington the only country cutting back its aid budget, he added.
鈥楽everal European states are doing the same, insisting that they must prioritise national defence issues and rearming (to justify) reducing their support for humanitarian aid,鈥� he said.
鈥榃ith the increase in conflicts and a partial disengagement of some donors, humanitarian aid is facing a particularly critical situation.鈥�
Even before the US cuts, the ICRC was grappling with a deep financial crisis. It had already undergone painful reforms, slashing its budget and workforce.
Krahenbuhl, a Swiss national, took over as ICRC chief a year ago with the mission to help reform an organisation to tackle that financial shortfall.
