UN Warns 11 Million Refugees Face Aid Collapse Amid Funding Cuts
UNHCR Warns of a “Deadly Cocktail” as Aid Budgets Shrink
Massive cuts to humanitarian funding by the United States and other donors are leaving UNHCR and other relief agencies grappling with severe shortfalls. The UN’s latest report paints a stark picture of millions of refugees and displaced people fighting a “deadly confluence of factors” that the agency terms rising displacement, shrinking funding and political apathy.
Funding Gap and Program Cuts
- UNHCR needs $10.6 billion this year but has received just 23 % of that amount.
- Essential programs are being cut or put on hold, amounting to $1.4 billion.
- UNHCR warns that up to 11.6 million refugees and forcibly displaced people could lose access to vital humanitarian assistance.
Impact on Families and Children
- Families are forced to choose between feeding children, buying medicine and paying rent.
- Malnutrition is especially severe for refugees fleeing war‑ravaged Sudan. UNHCR has had to reduce food rations and nutrition screening, decrying the devastating impact on children who have fled to Chad.
- The agency has paused the movement of new arrivals from border areas to safer locations in Chad and South Sudan, leaving thousands stranded in remote locations.
Health and Education Services at Risk
- In camps in Bangladesh hosting nearly a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, education programs for some 230,000 children risk being suspended.
- The entire health program in Lebanon is at risk of being shuttered by the end of the year.
- UNHCR said it would need to cut 3,500 staff—nearly a third of its worldwide workforce—amid the budget shortfall.
Key Takeaways
UNHCR’s report underscores a humanitarian crisis that is not only a funding crisis but also a crisis of human lives. The UN’s leadership is calling for a concerted effort from governments and donors to restore adequate funding and protect the services that refugees and displaced people rely on every day.
