Aid reduction threatens more than eight million refugees and displaced persons

“Protection cannot be reduced indefinitely without the collapse of the systems,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Under a certain threshold, services do not just reach fewer people, he warned.

“ They can cease to function completely, leaving the most vulnerable without the protection they need,” said Dominique Hyde, director of external relations at UNHCR, at the time of the publication of an organization report based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The organisation explains in the report that its ability to protect and provide assistance to refugees is being “minded by a worsening of the funding deficit”, which obliges it to “reduce essential programmes”.

The Agency's available funds have already decreased from USD 5.2 billion to USD 3.9 billion between 2024 and 2025 due to a reduction in contributions.

In addition, by the end of July 2026, the UNHCR had received only 32% of the 8.5 billion dollars needed for the year, although the number of persons covered by its protection mandate remained at levels considered “historically high”.

This puts about 8.3 million people at risk of being out of help, the agency adds. “When the refugee register ends, reception centres close down or child protection services cease to exist, the very risks that people have fled — violence, exploitation and abuse — resurface in the displacement zones,” Hyde points out.

The agency highlights several examples of countries under pressure, such as Chad, where 319,000 refugees face delays in registration, which deprives them of the documents needed to access the services and exposes them to the risk of detention.

In the absence of support, the UNHCR adds, up to 200,000 women and girls are at risk of losing access to safe spaces and prevention programmes in this country, and around 233,000 children may be deprived of protection services.

In Sudan, tens of thousands of survivors of sexual violence and children “in great danger” may lose access to essential protection services.

In view of the reduction of resources, the agency indicated having “had to take difficult measures to define priorities to preserve more essential activities.”.

However, the Agency points out that “the size and persistence of the funding deficit makes even the protection and search for solutions considered priority by the UNHCR now affected.”.

In addition, budget cuts undermine efforts to limit dependence on humanitarian aid, such as in Iraq, where some 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers are at risk of losing access to opportunities for economic inclusion.

In Syria, 162,500 internally displaced persons and refugees who have returned will not receive financial aid because of the lack of additional funds; in Afghanistan, the reintegration grants have benefited only 175 families since the beginning of 2026, as against 5,300 in 2024, also alerts the UNHCR, which “asks donors and partners to provide urgent support now”.