GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations (UN) said Thursday it was allocating US$110 million from its emergency fund for life-saving assistance in several countries after “brutal” cuts in global humanitarian aid.

The announcement came after United States (US) President Donald Trump decided shortly after returning to office to freeze virtually all foreign aid spending.

“For countries battered by conflict, climate change and economic turmoil, brutal funding cuts don’t mean that humanitarian needs disappear,” said Tom Fletcher, United Nations aid chief.

The money will come from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Rights groups say the sweeping cuts by the United States, traditionally the world’s largest humanitarian donor, have already hurt millions.

The UN did not mention the US by name, but cautioned that “more than 300 million people around the world urgently need humanitarian aid, but funding has been dwindling annually, with this year’s levels projected to drop to a record low”.

It said the released emergency funds would help boost life-saving assistance in 10 of the world’s most underfunded and neglected crises across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

A third of the money would go to war-ravaged Sudan and neighbouring Chad, which is hosting large numbers of Sudanese refugees.

“The funds will also bolster the humanitarian response in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Honduras, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Venezuela and Zambia”, the statement said.

Life-saving initiatives to protect vulnerable people from climate shocks would also be supported, it added.

“Today’s emergency fund allocation channels resources swiftly to where they’re needed most,” Fletcher said.

The UN’s CERF fund typically allocates resources twice a year for underfunded emergencies as a way to spotlight the need for additional funding from member states and others.

Overall this year, the humanitarian community has said it will need US$45 billion to reach 185 million vulnerable people caught up in crises around the globe.

To date, just five per cent of that amount has been received, the UN said.