“The financial reality forces us to make difficult decisions to ensure that we can continue to provide critical humanitarian assistance to those who need it most,” said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric after a meeting of the organisation’s assembly. She stressed, however, that “the ICRC remains determined to operate on the front lines of conflicts, where few other organisations can function.”

Humanitarian aid budgets are undergoing unprecedented cuts as donors now focus on defence, forcing humanitarian organisations to make tough decisions about whom to help amid multiple conflicts and record levels of population displacement.