UNHCR warns funding cuts threaten 8.3 million refugees

• UNHCR has received only 32% ($2.72 billion) of its $8.5 billion target for 2026.
• Approximately 8.3 million displaced and stateless people face imminent loss of vital protection and life-saving assistance.
• Significant reductions in service reductions are affecting Chad, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

Severe and ongoing budget reductions are straining international refugee support systems toward potential failure, forcing UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to curtail essential operations and leaving millions of displaced individuals without critical safety provisions, according to the UNHCR.

A new UNHCR report titled Protection Eroded: The Human Cost of Underfunding, nearly 8.3 million refugees, stateless individuals, and forcibly displaced people are at risk of losing access to essential assistance.

The agency's available funding dropped from $5.2 billion to $3.9 billion between 2024 and 2025. As of late July 2026, UNHCR had received only 32 percent of its required $8.5 billion annual budget, despite protecting a historically high number of displaced persons worldwide.

Dominique Hyde, Director of External Relations, warned that reductions below specific thresholds threaten the structural stability of aid systems. 

Hyde noted that when registration, child protection, and safe housing services cease, displaced populations face heightened risks of exploitation, abuse, trafficking, and further displacement.

The report highlights critical service reductions across several key regions:

• Chad: Registration delays affect 319,000 refugees, leaving them without documentation and increasing detention risks. Additionally, up to 200,000 women and girls risk losing access to safe spaces, while 233,000 children face reductions in specialized protection services.
• Ethiopia: Capacity at safe houses for gender-based violence survivors has decreased by more than half over the past year, with child protection coverage falling by up to 85 percent in certain areas.
• Sudan: Tens of thousands of children and survivors of sexual violence risk losing access to specialized emergency services.

The shortfall also impacts long-term economic integration and voluntary return initiatives. Livelihood and vocational training programs are threatened for 395,000 people in Chad and 350,000 refugees in Iraq. 

For returnees, financial support programs have contracted sharply; in Syria, 162,500 returning displaced individuals lack initial financial aid, while in Afghanistan, reintegration grants dropped from 5,300 households in 2024 to 175 households in 2026.

Compounding operational challenges, the proportion of UNHCR's funding restricted to specific projects grew from 19 percent in 2022 to 51 percent in 2026, limiting operational flexibility. 

The agency is calling on international donors to expand unearmarked, flexible funding to maintain emergency response capabilities and support long-term self-reliance initiatives.