Without humanitarian aid, Abdul cannot undergo surgery

Abdul Karim, age 39, has been unable to walk without crutches since a gunshot tore through his lower spine years ago. He lives in a housing block in Suran camp with three children he raises alone.

Chronic skin infections in the paralyzed limb mean doctors have raised the possibility of amputation if no immediate surgery is performed.

The development aid to Syria decreased sharply in 2024. It fell to approximately $1.56 billion, a reduction of about 37% compared with 2023. It was 2.5 in 2023.

Abdul Karim is a single parent with no steady income and a disability that makes every errand cost more. This is what happens when humanitarian funding cuts hit a household with zero slack…

By the numbers:

• About 240,000 Syrian pounds (which is equivalent to $20 a month): It is his entire 4-person household income, including a small compensation payment and occasional help from relatives outside the camp
• 1–2 meals/day: This is what he and his kids currently eat; mostly bread, tea, rice, or bulgur with lentils
• 0: That is the number of his three children (ages 14, 11, 8) who are currently attending school
• 1/week: This is how often he used to get physical therapy, before the funding was cut

The shock of funding cuts

Before the cuts, Abdul Karim had a functioning, if modest, safety net, including monthly food baskets, free medical consultations, subsidized transport to hospitals, and a surgical referral to Akhtarin/Aqrabat Hospital. Then the money was gone...

Physical therapy and psychosocial support from an HI mobile team funded by GIZ, delivered at Al-Razi Hospital in Aleppo — stopped when that project's funding ended.

And most importantly, the scheduled surgery that doctors advised months ago to avoid further damage to his lower limb was cancelled. As a result, his mobility is decreasing, and his pain is growing every day.

"The assistance eased the burden of living and medical expenses and helped me provide for my children's basic needs. Despite the difficulties in my life, I felt there was support I could rely on. What hurt me most was the cancellation of the surgery I urgently needed. I felt helpless because I could not afford the treatment, even though my condition requires continuous medical follow-up."

His kids are absorbing the shock too

His 14-year-old child sells biscuits on the street to help cover costs, his 11-year-old handles chores and helps look after her younger sibling, and the 8-year-old, in poor health, mostly stays home.

None of them are in school, and aid workers flag a real risk they drop out for good.

People with disabilities are hit hardest

Abdul Karim isn't an outlier — he's a preview. Aid workers who documented his case say people with disabilities, along with children and older residents, are absorbing a disproportionate share of the damage from funding reductions, because they have the fewest alternatives when a service disappears.

Even the paper trail on his case is incomplete. Now that the GIZ-funded rehabilitation project has closed, the organization lost contact with him — so no one currently knows whether he's still getting any care at all.

"Reducing humanitarian assistance does not simply mean cutting a service or closing a program — it means worsening the lives of people who depend on these services to stay healthy and live with dignity."

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Global Official Development Assistance (ODA) has experienced record-shattering cuts since 2024, driven primarily by major reductions from top donors like the United States and European nations. According to data from the OECD, international aid fell by 23.1% between 2024 and 2025 alone—the largest single-year contraction on record. With decisions to reduce budget, millions of people around the world are now without any support.

Abdul Karim's testimony is one of many that will be included in a HI report on the impact of funding cuts on persons with disabilities, which is to be released by HI in December. Disability inclusion projects are vital for the well-being, independence and inclusion of people with disabilities, many of whom depend on foreign aid for their daily lives. In order to avoid exacerbating exclusion and inequality for persons with disabilities, donors must continue to support disability inclusion programs.