The United States on Monday signed a landmark humanitarian agreement with the United Nations, pledging an initial Sh258 billion to fund life-saving aid worldwide.
The deal introduces a new funding model aimed at improving efficiency, accountability and reform, with US officials saying it could save tens of millions of lives in 2026 while delivering significant savings to American taxpayers.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Geneva by the US Department of State and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
It outlines a new paradigm for US funding of UN humanitarian assistance, linked to OCHA’s so-called Humanitarian Reset.
According to the statement, US financial commitments made under the agreement are expected to provide life-saving support to tens of millions of people in dire need around the world in 2026.
The deal reaffirms Washington’s ironclad commitment to supporting critical life-saving humanitarian action, while introducing reforms to ensure aid is more impactful, efficient and accountable to the American taxpayer.
The United States said it has historically been both the largest funder of the UN system and the most generous humanitarian donor in history, contributing between Sh1.03 trillion and Sh1.29 trillion annually in voluntary humanitarian funding in recent years.
However, the statement said President Donald Trump has argued that the UN has increasingly failed to live up to its promise, accusing some UN bodies of abandoning their core mission, engaging in ideological creep, and undermining peace, sovereignty and shared prosperity.
It said this had driven historic reforms to US foreign assistance and a review of American participation in international organisations.
The new agreement focuses on reforming humanitarian agencies, described as performing some of the UN’s most critical work but suffering from overlapping mandates, duplication, inefficiencies and poor coordination.
US officials said the agreement balances the administration’s aim of remaining the world’s most generous nation with the need to use taxpayer funds responsibly.
Central to the deal is a shift away from what was described as an unaccountable morass of project-based grants. Instead, Washington will fund humanitarian assistance through consolidated and flexible pooled funding mechanisms at the country or crisis level, administered by OCHA.
These funds will operate under country-level policy agreements designed to ensure alignment with US interests and priorities, with a focus on highly prioritised life-saving activities, stronger accountability and improved efficiency.
The State Department said the new approach would allow it to achieve nearly double the life-saving impact for each US dollar spent.
As part of the agreement, the United States is pledging an initial Sh258 billion anchor commitment to support humanitarian operations in dozens of countries.
The contribution is expected to shield tens of millions of people from hunger, disease and the devastation of war in 2026 alone, while saving US taxpayers nearly Sh245.1 billion compared with older funding models.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher welcomed the deal, saying, “I warmly thank the United States for this extraordinary commitment to humanitarian action, a powerful act of leadership and generosity that will help save millions of lives.”
US officials framed the agreement as a turning point.
Jeremy Lewin, Senior Official for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs and Religious Freedom, said, “This agreement ushers in a new era of UN humanitarian action and US leadership in the UN system.”
US Ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz said the reset should deliver more aid with fewer tax dollars, providing more focused, results-driven assistance aligned with US foreign policy.
Over time, the State Department expects all US funding for UN humanitarian work to be channelled through OCHA pooled funds, with the agreement requiring the UN to consolidate humanitarian functions and reduce bureaucracy, duplication and ideological drift.
