UN Refugee Agency Warns Of Funding Crisis

Nearly 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people are at risk of losing vital assistance as severe funding cuts undermine the United Nations refugee agency’s ability to provide protection and support.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued the warning on Tuesday, saying its available funding had fallen from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion in 2025, while the number of people under its mandate remains near historically high levels.

UNHCR said it requires $8.5 billion this year to protect refugees and other displaced people but had received only $2.7 billion, or 32 per cent of the amount, by the end of July.

The agency said the prolonged funding shortfall was pushing refugee support and protection systems in major displacement situations towards breaking point.

“Continued severe funding cuts are pushing refugee support and protection structures towards breaking point in the world’s main displacement situations,” it added.

UNHCR said it had introduced reforms and prioritised its most critical work, but the scale of the funding gap meant even its highest-priority programmes were now being affected.

Its external relations chief, Dominique Hyde, said protection services could not be reduced indefinitely without threatening the systems that provide them.

She warned that once funding falls below a certain level, services do not simply reach fewer people but can stop functioning entirely, leaving vulnerable populations without the protection they need.

“Protection cannot be reduced indefinitely without systems collapsing,” Dominique Hyde said. 

“Below a certain threshold, services do not simply reach fewer people; they can stop functioning altogether, leaving those most at risk without the protection they need.”

The agency said the impact was already visible in several countries. In Chad, 319,000 refugees face registration delays that could leave them without documentation needed to access essential services, while about 233,000 children could lose child protection support.

In Ethiopia, child protection coverage in some areas has fallen by as much as 85 per cent, while in Sudan, tens of thousands of survivors of sexual violence and children considered at serious risk could lose access to critical protection services.

UNHCR warned that when registration and child protection services disappear, people can once again face the violence, exploitation and abuse they originally fled.

The agency said 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced at the end of 2025, down from a record 123.2 million the previous year. Of those displaced, 35.6 million were refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, with two-thirds coming from Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan.

UNHCR cut nearly 5,000 jobs in 2025, more than a quarter of its workforce, as the United States significantly reduced foreign aid and other major donors also tightened spending. The agency said the funding cuts were also affecting programmes intended to help displaced people become less dependent on humanitarian assistance.

In Iraq, up to 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers could lose access to economic inclusion programmes. Support for people returning to their home countries is also being affected.

In Syria, UNHCR said 162,500 vulnerable internally displaced people and returning refugees could miss out on initial financial assistance unless additional funding is secured quickly, reducing their ability to rebuild their lives.