{"id":46884,"date":"2026-09-30T13:50:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=46884"},"modified":"2026-09-30T13:50:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:50:38","slug":"unhcr-warns-funding-cuts-threaten-aid-for-8-3-million-people","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/unhcr-warns-funding-cuts-threaten-aid-for-8-3-million-people\/","title":{"rendered":"UNHCR warns funding cuts threaten aid for 8.3 million people"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said available funding declined from $5.178 billion in 2024 to $3.932 billion in 2025.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By July, UNHCR had received only 32% of the $8.5 billion required for 2026, despite the number of people requiring assistance remaining historically high. \u201cWhen registration stops, safe houses close or child protection services disappear, the very risks that people fled, violence, exploitation and abuse, reappear in displacement,\u201d UNHCR Director of External Relations Dominique Hyde said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Afghanistan, where more than 1 million people returned during 2026, arrival assistance was reduced from $375 per person to $170 per household.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reintegration grants reached only 175 households during 2026, compared with 5 300 in 2024.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Afghan Returnee Haji Mohammad Shafi spent 44 years in Pakistan before returning with five children after selling the family\u2019s possessions. \u201cWhen there is little food, I give it to the children. If they are hungry, they cry,\u201d Shafi said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have nothing prepared for winter. If someone helps, we can manage. If no one helps, we have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Chad, registration delays have left 319 000 refugees without documentation and exposed to possible detention. About 233 000 children could lose access to protection services.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Ethiopia, the number of safe houses has fallen from 29 to 13 within a year, while child-protection coverage declined by as much as 85% in some areas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The UNHCR report warned that protection services could not be rationed in the same manner as food or shelter. \u201cBelow a certain threshold, the system doesn\u2019t shrink, it fails,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UNHCR reduced the workforce by one-third in 2025 and closed offices in 140 locations. However, funding shortages are now affecting even the agency\u2019s highest-priority operations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The proportion of financing reserved for specific projects increased from 19% in 2022 to 51% in 2026, limiting UNHCR\u2019s ability to respond where needs are greatest. \u201cFlexible funding helps us move the right expertise and funds to where they are needed the most,\u201d Hyde said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UNHCR urged donors to provide immediate and more flexible financing to prevent protection systems from collapsing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n

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