Funding crisis puts 8.3m refugees at risk of losing UNHCR aid

A deepening funding crisis is putting emergency assistance and protection at risk for some 8.3 million refugees and displaced people, the UN refugee agency UNHCR has warned.

In a report released Tuesday (September 29), the UNHCR said prolonged and worsening funding shortfalls were increasingly limiting its ability to protect refugees, internally displaced people and stateless persons. Aid and protection programmes in refugee-hosting areas worldwide are also at risk of being disrupted as resources dwindle.

The agency received $5.2 billion in donor funding in 2024, but that fell to $3.9 billion in 2025 even as the number of people requiring assistance continued to rise.

The UNHCR said it needs at least $8.5 billion this year to provide protection and assistance to displaced people. By July, however, it had received only $2.7 billion, or 32 per cent of the required funding, leaving about 8.3 million people at risk of losing access to its support.

Dominique Hyde, UNHCR’s Director of External Relations, warned that protection systems can collapse entirely once their capacity falls below a critical threshold.

“When protection systems fall below a certain level of capacity, they do not simply become limited; they can cease to function altogether,” she said, warning that the most vulnerable people could be left without essential protection.

According to UNHCR figures, the global number of forcibly displaced people reached 117.8 million by the end of 2025, including 35.6 million refugees under the agency’s direct mandate. Nearly two-thirds of those refugees came from Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan.

The funding squeeze has also forced UNHCR to cut its own operations. The agency said it had to eliminate nearly 5,000 positions in 2025, more than a quarter of its workforce, as the United States and other major donors reduced foreign assistance.

The Geneva-based agency said the funding shortage was also hampering efforts to help refugees become more self-reliant and reduce their long-term dependence on humanitarian assistance. It is seeking additional funding while prioritising the most critical operations with its limited resources.