UN Layoffs in Somalia: Humanitarian Crisis Deepens as Funding Shortage Triggers Over 680 Job Losses in 2025

By: Juba Global News Network
Mogadishu, 8 December 2025

Somalia’s already fragile humanitarian system has been shaken to its core, as United Nations agencies have let go of more than 680 national and international staff since January 2025. Most of these layoffs have hit during the year’s final quarter. The agencies affected—UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), UNHCR, WHO, FAO, OCHA, plus a handful of smaller outfits—are now witnessing what’s probably the sharpest single-year staffing reduction the UN has ever seen in the Horn of Africa.

Why such drastic cuts? Senior UN officials lay the blame squarely on “an unprecedented funding shortfall” that’s left the 2025 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in serious trouble. The plan—launched last December—asked for US$1.87 billion to help 5.4 million of Somalia’s most vulnerable. But as of 30 November, they’d only managed to scrape together $637 million. That’s just 34% of what’s needed.

Behind the Numbers: Personal Stories of Loss

For hundreds of Somali staff, many who’ve spent a decade or more working with the UN, the news has been nothing short of shattering. Amina Hassan, a 38-year-old nutrition officer with UNICEF in Baidoa, received her termination letter on 15 November. She preferred not to use her real name when talking to Juba Global News Network. “I’ve been vaccinating children against measles and treating severe malnutrition since the 2017 drought,” she explained. “Now, suddenly, they say there’s no money for my salary, but those same children are still dying. It’s like the world has decided Somalia isn’t worth saving right now.”

And hers isn’t a unique story. In Mogadishu, 127 WFP logistics and warehouse staff were dismissed in October, which meant the agency had to stop food distributions in six districts of Banadir region. In Puntland, UNHCR ended cash support to 18,000 internally displaced families after letting go of 43 protection officers.

On the Brink: UN Programmes Gutted

The consequences have been swift and dramatic:

• WFP’s monthly food and cash assistance shrank from reaching 3.2 million people in January 2025 to just 1.8 million in November—lowest since 2021.
• UNICEF has now shut down 41 out of its 180 fixed and mobile nutrition centers across south-central Somalia, leaving about 87,000 kids under five without treatment for severe acute malnutrition.
• UNHAS, the UN’s shared air service that’s vital for accessing hard-to-reach places, has axed 30% of its flights, stranding both medical teams and critical supplies.
• And in Jubaland, the polio vaccination drive slated for December? That’s on indefinite hold, after 28 vaccinators were laid off.

During a press conference in Mogadishu on 4 December, Adam Abdelmoula, the UN’s Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, didn’t mince words: “We are being forced to choose which life-saving programmes to sacrifice. This isn’t a technical budgeting matter—this is a moral failure by the international community.”

Why Did Funding Dry Up?

What’s behind the collapse? Several overlapping reasons:

1. Donor fatigue: After years of drought, floods, and conflict, several traditional donors have cut their support, citing “competing global crises”—think Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan.
2. U.S. policy shift: The U.S., always Somalia’s top backer, has slashed its 2025 pledge by nearly 60% compared to last year, according to UN Financial Tracking data.
3. Concerns about how money’s used: Some donors, speaking off the record, say they’re worried too much funding goes toward overhead and security, not enough toward direct aid.
4. Plummeting Somali shilling: The currency’s dropped 28% against the dollar in 2025, so running programmes and paying salaries in hard currency is suddenly way pricier.

Somalia Already on the Edge

The timing? Couldn’t be worse. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report from 2 December says 4.4 million Somalis will face crisis-level or worse food insecurity (IPC Phase 3+) from October 2025 through March 2026. Of those, 1.2 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition. As if that’s not enough, Al-Shabaab is still blocking aid in parts of Lower Shabelle, Bay, and Bakool, and, for the second year running, desert locusts have damaged crops up north.

Hearing from the Front Lines

Dr. Mariam Ali, a Somali pediatrician who recently lost her job at a WHO-supported hospital in Galkayo, spoke to Juba Global News Network: “I used to treat 40, maybe 50 kids a day. Now the hospital has just two doctors for 300 patients. Mothers are bringing in babies who are literally skin and bones, and we can’t even give them therapeutic food. This isn’t just a layoff; for thousands of children, it’s a death sentence.”

Looking Forward: What’s Next for 2026?

Humanitarian leaders warn that unless at least another $400 million is found by the end of December, even deeper cuts are coming. Several agencies are now drawing up emergency plans—ones that could mean closing regional offices and suspending vital cash transfers to the 1.1 million households that rely on them.

The Somali federal government, grappling with its own budget limitations, has reached out to Gulf countries, Turkey, and China for emergency stopgap funding. But so far? No definite promises.

As 2025 comes to an end, these layoffs are more than just a statistic. They’re a stark reminder that in a world with crisis after crisis, the most vulnerable are increasingly left behind. For the 680-plus UN staffers now hunting for work in a country where youth unemployment is 70%, and for the millions of Somalis who relied on them, the international community’s message is hard to miss: Somalia’s suffering, once high on the global agenda, has quietly faded into the background.

Juba Global News Network will keep following the story and reporting on how these cuts are impacting everyday Somalis in the coming weeks and months.

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