A new report published on Friday states that up to 11.6 million refugees and others forced to flee could lose access to direct humanitarian assistance from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) this year due to major cuts to humanitarian budgets around the world. This figure represents approximately one-third of the people the humanitarian organization assisted last year.
While forced displacement is increasing worldwide, humanitarian aid is declining sharply, creating a "deadly cocktail" that endangers displaced populations, according to the UNHCR report. Critical support, such as medical aid, education, shelter, nutrition, and protection, is among the services that will be lost.
“This report highlights a deadly confluence of factors pummeling millions of refugees and displaced people: rising displacement, shrinking funding and political apathy. And women and children are, as ever, the hardest hit,” Dominique Hyde, UNHCR Director of External Relations, told journalists in Geneva today.
The funding crisis stems from large cuts to foreign aid by countries such as Sweden, France, and Japan, compounded by the United States' brutal slashing of humanitarian assistance. Out of the US$10.6 billion that UNHCR requires this year, only 23 percent has been fulfilled thus far.
Historically, at this point in the year, the UN agency has reached around 50 percent of the required funding.
According to the analysis of UNHCR programs and funds received this year, altogether, $1.4 billion of essential programs are being cut or put on hold, including a 60 percent cut in emergency relief in many countries, such as Sudan, Chad and Afghanistan. Millions now face deteriorating living conditions, heightened risks of exploitation and abuse, and potential further displacement.
“Behind these numbers are real lives, hanging in the balance. Families are seeing the support they relied on vanish, forced to choose between feeding their children, buying medicines or paying rent, while hope for a better future slips out of sight,” Hyde said.
“Every sector and operation has been hit, and critical support is being suspended to keep life-saving aid going.”
Due to the severe budget cuts, UNHCR has been forced to halt the relocation of new arrivals fleeing the war in Sudan. These individuals were set to be moved from border areas to safer locations in countries such as Chad and South Sudan. However, the cuts have now left thousands of people stranded in remote locations.
In Chad, one in ten Sudanese refugees are suffering from severe and acute malnutrition, and the malnutrition rate among children under five has exceeded the 15 percent emergency threshold.
In Uganda, malnutrition rates are also soaring in some reception centers due to limited access to clean water and food.
"Health and education services are being scaled back, with schools closing and clinics understaffed. In camps hosting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, education for some 230,000 children is at risk of being suspended. UNHCR’s entire health programmed in Lebanon is at risk of being shuttered by the end of the year," Hyde said.
Shelter programs have also been significantly reduced. In places like Niger, cuts in financial aid have left families living in overcrowded structures or at risk of homelessness. In Ukraine and across the region, financial aid has similarly been slashed, leaving displaced families unable to afford rent, food, or medical treatment.
Women and girls are disproportionately impacted. The UN agency will have to drop one quarter of its support to programs that provide protection and a response to gender-based violence, including for survivors.
In South Sudan, 75 percent of the safe spaces for women and girls supported by UNHCR have closed; this has left up to 80,000 refugee women and girls, including survivors of sexual violence, without access to medical care, psychosocial support, legal aid, material support, or income-generating activities.
“Cuts are also, worryingly, impacting resettlement and the safe and voluntary return of refugees. Around 1.9 million Afghans have returned home or been forced back since the start of the year, but financial aid for returnees is barely enough to afford food, let alone rent, undermining efforts to ensure stable reintegration,” Hyde said.
In several UNHCR operations, lack of funding has limited investments in digitizing and strengthening asylum systems and promoting regularization efforts.
"In countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Mexico, a lack of legal status means prolonged insecurity, deepening poverty as refugees are excluded from formal employment, and greater exposure to exploitation and abuse," she said.
“These cuts are undermining efforts made to find long-term solutions. Incentives for refugee volunteers have also been severely impacted, threatening vital services and cutting a regular source of income for those refugees.”
Against the backdrop of substantial cuts, the UN agency said its teams are focusing on saving lives and protecting those forced to flee.
In response to questions, the UNHCR official said that she could not quantify what the figures meant in terms of deaths. Children would die from malnutrition, while others would be born stunted.
“UNHCR is grateful to donors who have continued their support during these difficult moments and urges governments, institutions and individuals to significantly boost their financial contributions to bridge the current funding gap,” Hyde said.
In answering further questions from journalists, Hyde reminded them that, while everyone was aware of the significant decrease in funding from the United States, other major donors had also reduced their contributions.
However, she noted that there had been increases from the European Union, the African Development Bank, Canada, and the Mastercard Foundation, for which UNHCR was very grateful.
Further information
Full text: On the brink: The devastating toll of aid cuts on people forced to flee, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), report, published July 18, 2025
https://www.unhcr.org/media/brink-devastating-toll-aid-cuts-people-forced-flee