GENEVA (Reuters) – The U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday that unprecedented cuts in donor funding this year will force it to scale back or shut down projects around the world, resulting in a severe impact on migrants and affecting over 6,000 staff.
The International Organization for Migration said that it expected funding to be reduced by a record 30% this year after a major decrease in U.S.-funded projects worldwide after President Donald Trump announced an overhaul of aid funding.
This would mean scaling back or ending projects affecting over 6,000 staff worldwide and over 250 staff in its Geneva headquarters, IOM said, without giving a full breakdown or details of the projects hit.
“The reduction in funding has severe impacts on vulnerable migrant communities, exacerbating humanitarian crises and undermining vital support systems for displaced populations,” IOM said in a statement.
A record 123 million people are forcibly displaced around the world by conflict, climate change and disasters. IOM seeks to ensure humane and orderly migration for them and intervenes where needed.
Since 2023, it has been led by American Amy Pope who was a White House adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, raising questions about how both she and the institution would fare under his successor Trump.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Friederike Heine and Thomas Seythal)
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