ICVA Statement on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the Erosion of Principled Humanitarian Action
27 June 2025
The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) expresses deep concern over the recent announcement by the United States government of $30 million in funding for the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). We join a growing number of humanitarian and human rights organisations in warning that this model undermines principled humanitarian action, politicises aid, and risks setting a dangerous precedent globally.
The GHF has been widely criticised for operating outside of established humanitarian coordination mechanisms, marginalising local Palestinian NGOs, and misrepresenting core humanitarian standards. Of particular concern is the misuse of the Sphere Handbook, a cornerstone of humanitarian quality and accountability. The Sphere Association has made clear that the GHF’s public justification for its selective aid model grossly distorts the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence.
ICVA is committed to upholding these principles and ensuring that humanitarian assistance is delivered based on need, not politics. The creation and funding of the GHF sidesteps the established aid system, ignores the leadership and knowledge of local and national organisations, and weakens the humanitarian coordination architecture that exists to ensure efficiency, transparency, and equity in aid delivery.
As a global network of NGOs committed to principled and coordinated humanitarian action, we are deeply concerned that this model risks not only failing the people of Gaza, but also legitimising an approach to humanitarianism that is exclusionary, politicised, and inconsistent with international humanitarian norms.
We call on all donors and other stakeholders, including the United States, to:
- Uphold and reinforce the centrality of protection and humanitarian principles in all aid efforts;
- Engage with and support local and national NGOs in Gaza and the broader occupied Palestinian territory;
- Avoid the creation or endorsement of parallel structures that weaken coordination, exclude legitimate actors, or promote politically motivated aid models;
- Reactivate and ensure that humanitarian funding is delivered through inclusive, needs-based mechanisms that reinforce, not replace, existing standards and architecture.
The humanitarian community must remain steadfast in defending the integrity of our work. The lives, dignity, and rights of people in crisis cannot be subject to political agendas.
ICVA Secretariat
www.icvanetwork.org
communications@icvanetwork.org
