The United Nations refugee agency is sounding the alarm as severe funding shortages force drastic cuts to lifesaving humanitarian programs. The UNHCR warned on Friday that more than 11 million refugees and displaced people are now at risk of losing access to critical aid due to a global collapse in donor support.
The agency has already suspended or scaled back $1.4 billion worth of operations across several countries, including food assistance, health care, and education programs. These cuts, the UNHCR said, could prove catastrophic for vulnerable populations already displaced by war, violence, and climate crises.
“This is a deadly cocktail of rising displacement, collapsing funding, and political apathy,” said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR’s Director of External Relations, at a press briefing in Geneva. “We are deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of refugees across the globe.”
The UNHCR had requested $10.6 billion for 2025 to provide aid to refugees worldwide but has received only 23% of that total so far. The shortfall has forced the agency to make painful decisions, including halting the relocation of refugees from border zones in Chad and South Sudan to safer areas—leaving thousands stranded in remote, unstable regions.
In Sudan and neighboring Chad, where civil war has driven a mass exodus, food rations and malnutrition screenings have been severely reduced. “The impact on children fleeing violence in Sudan has been devastating,” Hyde added.
The consequences extend beyond food. In Bangladesh, where nearly a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live in camps, education programs for around 230,000 children are on the brink of being shut down. In Lebanon, the UNHCR warned that its entire refugee health system may be forced to close by year’s end.
To make matters worse, the agency announced last month that it would need to lay off 3,500 staff members globally—nearly one-third of its entire workforce—because of the ongoing budget crisis.
The cuts have largely been triggered by major reductions in funding from key donors, including the United States and other traditional supporters of international humanitarian aid.
“The choices facing refugee families now are unbearable,” Hyde said. “They’re having to choose between feeding their children, buying medicine, or keeping a roof over their heads.”
The UN is urgently appealing for renewed international support to prevent a full-blown humanitarian disaster.
