Red Cross to cut 1,500 jobs as budget for humanitarian aid decreases

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is cutting around 1,500 jobs in certain locations as it expects the budget for humanitarian aid to decrease. It said that it will close some of its programmes too. 

The Geneva-based organisation said that its governing board approved cost reductions for 2023 and early 2024 to the tune of $475.30 million. 

In a statement on Tuesday, ICRC said that 1,500 jobs will be cut worldwide in the next 12 months. “At least 20 of currently 350 locations around the world will close — where, for example, the area can be covered by another ICRC office, or where other humanitarian or development partners can take over. We will also be scaling back and closing some of our programmes,” it said. 

ICRC said that several end-of-the-year pledges by donors had not come through at the level anticipated. It added that costs had been higher than planned in the last quarter of 2022. It had initially appealed to donors for 2.8 billion Swiss francs for its work this year, which was revised to 2 billion Swiss francs. It said that it began 2023 with a deficit.

It said it will need to be more deliberate in directing efforts towards programmes and places where they have the greatest impact. 

The Red Cross said that the number of people who are likely to be impacted will be reduced as much as possible through a recruitment freeze and reduction in positions. 

The ICRC has a staff strength of around 20,000, spread across 100 countries. 

Last month it had said that there might be a significant budget shortfall for 2023, leading to cuts. Of its 10 biggest operations – Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen – Ukraine was the only one fully funded. 

(With agency inputs)

Also read: Tech layoffs: IBM spinoff Kyndryl eliminates marketing, admin, HR roles in India

Also read: Apple layoffs: After Google, Amazon, Meta the iPhone maker may start laying off employees