The European Commission has announced its initial €1.9 billion budget for 2026 for humanitarian aid. The decision stands at a time of unprecedented humanitarian need: an estimated 239 million people worldwide require assistance, while funding cuts by major donors reveal the scarcity of available resources.
The EU Commission and its Member States started providing humanitarian aid in 1992, with the commitment of “principled aid that reaches people in need, wherever they are”. In the course of the over three decades, people in over 110 countries received aid through humanitarian NGOs, international organizations and specialized agencies in the Member States. However, amid the current geopolitical and worsening environmental scene, the growing humanitarian need calls for diversification in funding, with an eye on the private sector.
Calls for private sector mobilisation
EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness, and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, arrived in Davos committed to mobilizing private sector finance and developing innovative solutions for public funding. In her speech at the “New Alliances in Aid and Development” forum, Lahbib said that public funding alone is insufficient to meet the scale of global crises, placing the humanitarian system under unprecedented strain. Thus, she called on the private sector to join resources to fill the gap between record humanitarian needs and insufficient resources.
“As the largest humanitarian donor, we are taking out political responsibility and leading the global response. That’s why I am in Davos: to mobilise the private sector to think bigger, move faster, and act together. This is a test of solidarity, and Europe is rising to the challenge,” said Lahbib.
Traditional model of humanitarian aid: public funding dominance
For decades, humanitarian aid has been understood as a public responsibility funded by governments and multilateral institutions. However, starting in the mid-2000s, with the more frequent occurrence of climate-related crises, prolonged conflicts such as in Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen, raised the system’s needs and uncovered the limits of the public budget.
The focus on private sector engagement is rooted in the growing gap between humanitarian needs and available public funding. The UN estimates that the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has nearly doubled over the past decade. At the same time, traditional donor budgets, such as those of the major EU Member States, have cut down on contributions due to competing priorities. Thus, EU policymakers and other international actors started to explore the private sector for burden-sharing and innovative financing.
Historical policy developments, such as the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, have also supported this shift. In the very event in Istanbul, governments, humanitarian organizations, and private sector actors agreed that traditional public funding alone is insufficient to meet the rising global needs. Since then, discussions on humanitarian financing have increasingly highlighted the complementary role of private actors.
How does the private sector contribution look like?
Private sector contributions to humanitarian action take many forms, ranging from corporate philanthropy and partnerships to innovative financial instruments. Companies from the private sector have supported aid delivery through direct funding to NGOs and UN agencies as well as logistical support such as transportation and technology-driven solutions such as providing digital payment platforms. In previous years, partnerships with private sector actors have helped respond to crises such as the Syrian refugee emergency, in the Yemen conflict and natural disasters in the Sahel, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, providing both funding and operational capacity. For example, Mastercard partnered with the World Food Programme to provide prepaid cards for refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.
Such initiatives illustrate the types of complementary roles the EU aims to encourage through partnerships with private sector actors in 2026.
How is the 2026 humanitarian aid going to be allocated?
- €557 million to West and Central Africa, the Sahel, the Lake Chad basin, North-West Nigeria, Central Africa, Southern Africa, the Great Lakes region and the Greater Horn of Africa;
- €448 million to the Middle East, particularly Gaza, further to last year’s fragile ceasefire, as well as Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon;
- €145 million to humanitarian needs in Ukraine, as Russia’s invasion enters its fourth year, and an additional €8 million for humanitarian projects in Moldova;
- €126 million is allocated to address humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran;
- €95 million to Central and South America and the Caribbean, a region facing complex humanitarian crises driven by armed conflicts, widespread violence, political instability, acute inequalities and environmental challenges;
- €73 million will be allocated to support Southeast Asia and the Pacific, in particular for the Myanmar crisis and its impact in Bangladesh;
- €14.6 million will be allocated to North Africa, a region that remains exposed to complex political, economic and social challenges.
And an additional €415 million is reserved to respond to sudden global emergencies as well as maintaining strategic supply chains.
Sources: European Commission, EEAS, EU Financing Decisions (HIPS), United Nations: World Humanitarian Summit, Global Humanitarian Overview 2025, European Disaster Risk Management, World Food Programme USA
