World Humanitarian Day 2025 - Challenges and achievements

Since 2003, following the tragic attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, 19 August has become a symbolic date, reminding the world of those who risk their lives to help those affected by wars and natural disasters. In 2025, the day takes on a particularly troubling hue as the global humanitarian system faces the worst funding shortfall in its history.

The UN's original global aid plan, Global Humanitarian Overview, was supposed to raise $45 billion to help 177 million people in more than 70 countries. However, by mid-year, only 16% of the required amount had been raised. In response, the UN was forced to reduce its coverage to 114 million people and lower the amount needed to $29 billion. By comparison, this represents just 1% of global military spending for 2024. These are not just numbers - they are a reflection of the global priority in favour of weapons over lives.

Against this backdrop, Luxembourg is setting an example of a consistent, principled and high-tech humanitarian policy. Since the beginning of 2025, the Grand Duchy has already channelled €31 million to 24 countries, including Syria, Palestine, Ethiopia, Mali and Afghanistan. But it's not the amounts that matter - it's the speed, the focus on results and the application of cutting-edge solutions.

One of the flagship tools is emergency.lu, a mobile platform specialising in reconnection and emergency logistics. In the Gaza Strip, the system coordinated medical evacuations in partnership with WHO and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism: an infant removal in January, patient transport in March, and patient reception in Luxembourg in April. In the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, two mobile communication stations were deployed on the island of Mayotte in December 2024, ensuring the restoration of critical infrastructure. And in Myanmar, following the earthquake of 28 March 2025, tents, kitchen kits, warm blankets and portable toilets - everything needed to maintain basic hygiene and safety - were rushed to Myanmar.

One of the key reforms of 2024 was deep localisation: a record number of UN funds went directly to national and local organisations. Luxembourg has supported this shift since 2010, participating in 16 funds and adhering to the principle: "as national as possible; as international as necessary".

Luxembourg's humanitarian assistance is not limited to funding. In cooperation with UNOSAT, the country is developing emergency mapping technologies - in just 24-72 hours, maps of destruction are created, as was the case in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as analyses of damage to cultural and natural heritage - for example, in Mozambique and Myanmar.

In parallel, with support from CERN, the World Food Programme (PAM) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), AI models are being implemented to predict acute food crises. And the EWERS (Early Warning and Effective Response System), implemented with UNHCR, is developing algorithms for early warning of risks of mass displacement - be it war or climate disasters.

2024 was the deadliest year in the history of humanitarian action, with 382 deaths, and in the first months of 2025 alone, 247, of which 155 were in the Palestinian territories. Even worse, most of those deaths go unpunished. Luxembourg actively advocates for respect for international humanitarian law, including in cyberspace, promoting the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers at all diplomatic levels, from the Security Council to the UN General Assembly.