UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United Nations’ (UN) humanitarian body on Friday announced plans to reduce its staff of more than 2,000 people by 20 per cent, citing “a wave of brutal cuts”.

In a letter to staff, UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) head Tom Fletcher wrote “We will reduce bureaucracy and reporting layers. We will become less top-heavy, substantially reducing senior positions… but have dynamic and full responses where we are present.”

In the letter sent Thursday, excerpts of which were posted on the office’s website Friday, Fletcher said the agency is facing a funding gap of almost US$60 million.

Since February, OCHA has implemented austerity measures to save US$3.7 million internally, but that won’t be enough.

The latest cuts will also “reduce its presence and operations” in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

The broader aid situation has grown dire since the Trump administration scrapped 83 per cent of humanitarian programs funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID had an annual budget of US$42.8 billion, representing 42 per cent of total global humanitarian aid.

“The context we face is the toughest it has ever been for our mission as OCHA, and the system we coordinate,” Fletcher wrote. “The humanitarian community was already underfunded, overstretched and literally, under attack. Now, we face a wave of brutal cuts.”

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is an advocacy arm of the United Nations that delivers reports from the frontline of conflicts “to amplify the voices of crisis-affected people”, according to its website.

It has long been active in response to ongoing violence in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and other conflict zones to provide humanitarian aid.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which employed nearly 20,000 people at the end of September, also indicated in March that it expects a “significant reduction” in its workforce due to the absence of American funding.