The humanitarian wing of the United Nations is firing 173 staff members amid 10 per cent cuts that amount to at least $20 million this year, following a damning review. 

The overhaul comes as part of a process of internal reforms inside the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), after its head, UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien said in November that donors hadn't met growing demands, according to a report by IRIN. 

Per Örnéus, Sweden's ambassador for humanitarian affairs, told IRIN: "It is unfortunate that OCHA's resources [have] not increased on par with the global humanitarian needs.

"But managed well, this change process can actually bring about a stronger, more effective, and more strategic OCHA."

Sweden is one of OCHA's top donors and increased its funding for 2017, partly in order to finance a new reform unit.

Documents seen by IRIN reveal that OCHA's opening budget figure for 2017 will be $260 million, which is about 10 per cent lower than the spending in 2015 and 2016, and more than $60 million lower than the original 2016 target.

The cuts are happening in parallel to what IRIN calls "extensive internal restructuring" recommended by an external study. A 155-page "functional review", obtained by IRIN, calls for major changes in the department's management, staffing, finances, human resources, priorities, and culture.

A survey by the Boston Consulting Group on organisational culture had already put OCHA at the bottom of 38 comparable non-profits. It accused the organisation of having a dysfunctional culture, adding that "challenges in the other areas of the review have had a negative impact on OCHA staff engagement and satisfaction."

According to IRIN, OCHA is planning to close offices in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Mauritania, and reduce its presence in Colombia, Haiti, Myanmar, Pakistan, and the Philippines. At the same time, it will cut spending on Ethiopia, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, but increase it in Cameroon and Libya. Meanwhile, large offices in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Sudan will be scaled back, and a Central Asia regional office will close. It is reported that some positions in New York and Geneva will also face the axe.

The Boston Consulting Group completed its lengthy "functional review" of OCHA in July 2016. O'Brien commissioned the review shortly after taking office the previous year.

The report highlighted several issues that were deemed to be undermining OCHA's work, including competition between offices in New York and Geneva and between the organisation's leadership.

The report acknowledged OCHA's "inherently complex portfolio", but included scathing criticisms of the way it is run.

"The leadership team does not work well together," it said. "There is entrenched polarisation and a lack of trust among many of OCHA's senior managers, who do not see themselves as part of a single, unified team." It added that shortcomings in the management model "have led to widespread organisational dysfunction."