Funding Cuts, Uncertainty, and Organisational Change Effects on the Psychosocial Well Being of UN INGO Personnel in Sub Saharan Africa

Recent reductions in international donor funding, including significant cuts to United States foreign assistance, have intensified uncertainty and organisational change across the humanitarian and development sectors. United Nations agencies and international non governmental organisations operating in Sub Saharan Africa have been particularly affected, with funding shortfalls triggering widespread organisational restructuring. These changes have manifested in contract terminations and non renewals, personnel relocation and job downgrading, and forced early retirement, raising growing concerns about the psychosocial well being of affected personnel. Despite increasing recognition of duty of care within humanitarian systems, empirical research capturing the lived experiences of personnel navigating such funding driven disruptions remains limited, particularly within African operational contexts.This study explores the effects of funding cuts, uncertainty, and organisational change on the psychosocial well being of UN and INGO personnel in Sub Saharan Africa. A qualitative research design was employed, drawing on semi structured interviews with twenty personnel members from UN agencies and international non governmental organisations. Data were collected between November and December 2025 and analysed using thematic analysis to capture shared patterns of meaning across participants' narratives.The study focuses on three key restructuring pathways contract terminations and non renewals, relocation and downgrading, and forced early retirement. By foregrounding personnel perspectives, the research provides significant insights into emotional distress, identity disruption, coping processes, and resilience in the context of organisational uncertainty. The findings contribute to the emerging literature on humanitarian workforce well being and offer evidence based implications for organisational change management, psychosocial support, and ethical leadership within UN and INGO settings in Sub Saharan Africa. Azinwi Terence Niba "Funding Cuts, Uncertainty, and Organisational Change: Effects on the Psychosocial Well-Being of UN/INGO Personnel in Sub-Saharan Africa" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-10 | Issue-1 , February 2026, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd100049.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/psychology/100049/funding-cuts-uncertainty-and-organisational-change-effects-on-the-psychosocial-wellbeing-of-uningo-personnel-in-subsaharan-africa/azinwi-terence-niba