Severe funding cuts are threatening vital protection and assistance programmes for 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people worldwide, the United Nations refugee agency has warned.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that its ability to protect and assist refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and stateless people was being severely constrained by a worsening funding shortfall.
The agency said its available funding fell from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion in 2025, while the number of people requiring its protection remained close to historically high levels.
UNHCR said it needed $8.5 billion to carry out its work but had received only $2.7 billion, or 32 per cent of its requirement, by the end of July. This left the agency facing a $5.8 billion funding gap and forced it to scale back programmes across major displacement crises.
Protection services under pressure
UNHCR said it had introduced reforms and prioritisation measures to preserve its most critical operations, but warned that the scale and persistence of the funding crisis meant even high-priority services were now being affected.
According to Dominique Hyde, UNHCR’s Director of External Relations, ‘When registration stops, safe houses close or child protection services disappear, the very risks that people fled – violence, exploitation and abuse – reappear in displacement, trapping families in a cycle of vulnerability and forcing some to move again in search of safety or fall prey to traffickers.’
He added that ‘Protection cannot be reduced indefinitely without systems collapsing. Below a certain threshold, services do not simply reach fewer people; they can stop functioning altogether, leaving those most at risk without the protection they need.’
The agency cited several examples of the impact of the funding constraints. For instance, in Chad, 319,000 refugees faced registration delays, leaving them without documentation needed to access essential services, while about 233,000 children could lose access to child protection services.
In Ethiopia, child protection coverage in some areas has declined by as much as 85 per cent.
In Sudan, UNHCR warned that tens of thousands of survivors of sexual violence and children facing serious protection risks could lose access to critical services.
Nearly 5,000 jobs lost
The funding crisis has also resulted in significant cuts to UNHCR’s workforce.
The agency shed nearly 5,000 jobs in 2025, representing more than a quarter of its workforce, after major donors reduced foreign aid.
The United States, traditionally the agency’s largest donor, has significantly reduced foreign assistance, while other major donors have also tightened spending.
UNHCR said the funding cuts were affecting not only emergency assistance but also efforts to help displaced people move away from dependence on humanitarian aid.
The agency said 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced at the end of 2025, down from a record 123.2 million in 2024.
Of the 117.8 million forcibly displaced people, 35.6 million were refugees under UNHCR’s mandate. Two-thirds of those refugees originated from Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan.
Nigeria faces continued displacement pressure
The funding constraints come as Nigeria continues to grapple with a large displaced population and significant humanitarian needs, particularly in the northern part of the country.
According to UNHCR Africa, the number of forcibly displaced people in Nigeria reached 3.7 million as of April 2025.
In August 2025, the World Bank approved $300 million to strengthen resilience and expand access to essential services for internally displaced people and host communities in northern Nigeria.
The funding aimed to support displaced people and host communities while strengthening their ability to cope with the effects of prolonged displacement.