Faced with the sudden suspension of funding from USAID and the knock-on effect of other donors, French humanitarian NGOs find themselves in a state of disarray. What if this upheaval, rather than a simple accident, revealed the need for a far-reaching strategic change?
The sudden suspension of strategic funding, particularly from long-standing donors such as USAID, has destabilised the heart of the humanitarian system. In the space of a few weeks, the main players in the humanitarian field – emergency relief and development aid – have seen vital programmes halted, missions scaled back, local teams weakened and community partners left without support.
This is not just a crisis of resources. It is the collapse of a balance that was thought to be stable. Humanitarian NGOs, which for years had been structured around relatively predictable institutional circuits, are suddenly faced with the brutal disappearance of whole sections of their funding.
For a long time, these donors – whether public or private institutions – ensured the continuity of a system based on a form of implicit delegation: entrusting NGOs with the task of repairing, filling in, making up. Year after year, they structured an economy of reparation, in which the NGOs became the operators of a permanent relief to disorders considered as lasting. The model seemed functional, balanced and even resilient. But it was based on a fragile principle: that of budgetary stability, which was thought to be guaranteed.
Now this paradigm is collapsing. The rise of a new international order, geopolitical polarisation, massive national indebtedness and the reorientation of public priorities are upsetting the balance. Against this backdrop, international solidarity – long held to be a universal moral duty – seems to be relegated to the status of an adjustment variable. And with it, the fate of millions of underprivileged people is in danger of being written off. Millions will die, big deal!
This is no mere cyclical accident. This is a historic shift. A cataclysm whose lasting effects are calling into question the very foundations on which modern humanitarian action was based.
In this moment of upheaval, one image stands out – that of a familiar place where people went every day to find sustenance, legitimacy and energy. A stable place. And then one day, that place is empty. You go back. You wait. You doubt. This place was a base, almost a given. Now it’s not.
Chaos as catharsis
Over the last four decades, the architecture of international humanitarian funding has enabled the construction of complex, interconnected programmes of great technical efficiency. But this same architecture is proving vulnerable. Too centralised. Too dependent on a small number of donors. Sometimes too remote from local dynamics.
The shockwave affects everything: partners in the field, beneficiary communities, but also the NGOs themselves in their most intimate aspects – their mission, their relationship with the world, their economic model.
Suddenly, a question runs through all the boards of directors: have we naively believed too much in the permanence of a system that lives only on predation, inequality and abysmal debts?
Time to be resilient, combative and inventive
There’s a little book that’s often quoted in the business world, sometimes mocked, but whose simplicity conceals a disturbing truth. Spencer Johnson’s Who Stole My Cheese features four characters in a maze. Every day, they find cheese in the same place. Until one day, the cheese is no longer there.
What sets the characters apart is not their intelligence, but their ability to understand that the world has changed – and to move with it. No longer clinging to an empty place, but exploring new avenues, getting out of the wait, unlearning certainties.
Today’s NGOs are exactly at that point. The source of their funding, their recognition and their role models has dried up. The temptation to wait, to complain, to be nostalgic is understandable. But it is dangerous.
Rediscovering the pioneering spirit
Humanitarian aid was not born of predictability. It was born out of disorder, out of urgency, out of a desire to act where structures were lacking. The strength of NGOs lies in their ability to read the cracks, to create in the midst of uncertainty, to build without a map.
This capacity still exists today. But we have to make the most of it:
By diversifying resources beyond traditional public funding sources: towards foundations, committed businesses, local authorities and citizens themselves.
By becoming more locally based, not by subcontracting, but by co-piloting with local players. This is what most of them are already doing.
By streamlining our systems, relying on cooperation, pooling and regional alliances.
By taking a strong stand in a world where humanitarian action is becoming a political issue: an independent, constructive, universal stand.
And afterwards? Because there is always an aftermath
The ‘cheese’ has disappeared. But perhaps, on closer inspection, this disappearance is more than just an inflection point? The real resource, the one that will keep us going over the long term, is perhaps to be found elsewhere: in agility, in the human link, in the ability to bounce back and get back on track.
NGOs don’t need a fixed model to be useful. They need movement, collective intelligence, and a direction: that of shared humanity.
Antoine Vaccaro
Antoine Vaccaro. Holder of a PhD in Organizational Sciences – Management of Non-Market Economies from Paris-Dauphine.
After a career in major non-governmental organizations and communications groups (Fondation de France, Médecins du Monde, TBWA), he went on to chair Force For Good, Cerphi (Centre d’étude et de recherche sur la philanthropie) and a number of associations.
He holds a number of directorships in associations.
He is also co-founder of several professional bodies promoting private funding of public-interest causes: Association Française des fundraisers, Euconsult and La chaire de Philanthropie de l’Essec, and co-editor of the Charte de déontologie des organisations faisant appel à la générosité publique.
He has published several books and articles on philanthropy and fundraising.
I invite you to read these interviews and articles published in the edition :