IRC announces major budget cuts likely to impact international humanitarian work

A leading international humanitarian organisation is reportedly cutting staff and operational budgets in a surprise announcement that places its aid work in Gaza at risk.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been forced to cut department budgets for 2025 meaning staff jobs will be cut as it attempts to rework its books.

Staff were reportedly spooked after receiving an email from IRC CEO and president David Miliband earlier this week, according to a report published on Thursday in The New Humanitarian.

Miliband said there would be "quite significant reductions in levels of unrestricted funding", and that all departments would be impacted by the cuts. It is not clear how many staff would lose their jobs.

The global organisation works in more than 40 countries and has offices in 29 US cities as well as several in European countries, according to its website. It employed over 11,000 people in 2018.#

In response to an inquiry from The New Arab, the charity said that while its "annual revenues continue to grow" it is facing "some rapidly rising costs".

An IRC spokesperson said that it is determined "not to compromise on the quality or scale of our programs" and is working on a deficit reduction plan.

The IRC has an annual budget of $1.5 billion, but it has reportedly been operating in a deficit with a $50 million black hole due to overspending and fund-raising shortfalls.

Employees were said to have been left in the dark about the cuts and were shocked to receive the email this week announcing the charity's financial concerns.

IRC provides emergency and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by conflict, natural disaster or persecution.

It receives grants from the British government’s international aid package as part of its funding, including a £33 million package last year, according to reports.

Observers have noted that following the British government's slashing of the overseas aid budget in 2021, the charity might be facing smaller packages.

The humanitarian sector has been facing rising costs alongside the UK’s strained economy over the past few years following the coronavirus pandemic and state funding cuts.

Despite its established reputation as one of the world’s oldest humanitarian organisations, IRC has been facing internal criticism from disgruntled staff.

Employees are said to be irked at the large salaries of the charity’s executives.

Former Labour MP Miliband received an annual pay package of more than $1.25 million in 2022, the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday reported. It included a $150,000 bonus the paper said.

Staff have also lamented IRC’s apparent failure to take a stronger stance on the Gaza war, which has seen Israel impose a siege on the tiny enclave which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, triggered a humanitarian crisis and outbreaks of disease

The war is said to be a contentious subject for the executive amid speculation that Miliband could be appointed UK ambassador to Washington by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Mail on Sunday reported.

IRC says it is working in Gaza with Palestinian partners to deliver medical care in the few remaining hospitals.

It is also providing food parcels and supporting displaced families through psychological support and programmes for children.

It works in around 40 countries, including Syria, Haiti, Pakistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[This article was amended on 9 August to include comment from the IRC]