UN refugee agency has received $3 billion of the $8.5 billion it needs this year

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has received $3 billion of the $8.5 billion it needs this year, its chief, Barham Salih, told the agency's Executive Committee in Geneva on Monday. UN News, the UN's own news service, reported the speech. UNHCR is a UN agency, so the body that reported the shortfall and the body that suffers it are both part of the UN.

Mr. Salih, the High Commissioner for Refugees, said 117 million people are now forced from their homes. UN News reported that the agency has received less than one third of its funding requirement. Its Arabic-language report puts the $3 billion at 35% of the year's needs. It also says the High Commissioner pointed to rising demands on the global response while fewer resources are available.

It was his first keynote address to the committee. He called it an “exceptionally difficult year” for the agency, and said 8,000 staff have left since 2024. In the words UN News gave in English, he said the world's most vulnerable are going without the help they need.

Mr. Salih listed what the shortfall puts at risk. In Sudan, he said, funding gaps threaten specialised medical care, legal assistance and psychological support for more than 50,000 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. In Chad, services for thousands of unaccompanied and separated children, and for children with specific protection needs, are at risk. In Ethiopia, refugee registration has been halted for tens of thousands of people arriving from South Sudan and Eritrea. Hundreds of thousands more are waiting to be verified and added to the national identification system.

UN News said UNHCR has responded to 22 emergencies in 18 countries so far in 2026, from Yemen to the Horn of Africa and from Sudan to the Sahel.

Mr. Salih warned that countries that have hosted refugees for decades are frustrated at the lack of international solidarity. He said refugees are increasingly afraid for their safety as aid is cut. He said women and girls are more exposed to violence and exploitation, children are losing years of education, and people with disabilities face barriers to protection.

On funding and efficiency, he said: “Efficiency has limits. There comes a point when greater efficiency cannot compensate for fewer resources.” The Arabic-language report adds that he said the agency's reforms will make it leaner and give it stronger field authority.

Mr. Salih, a former President of Iraq, told the Security Council at the end of last month that the situation for refugees was “genuinely, truly, inhumane”.

He also described an initiative launched earlier this year. It aims to halve, by 2035, the number of refugees who live in protracted displacement and depend on humanitarian aid. He said nearly 14.5 million refugees in low and middle-income countries now rely on aid for basic needs. According to the Arabic-language report, he said countries representing 27% of global wealth host 80% of the world's refugees. It also says the agency will soon launch a global strategy on work, education, documents and other routes for refugees.

The reports do not say which governments have given funds or which have cut them. They do not say when the $3 billion figure was counted. They also do not say what the agency will drop if the gap stays open.