UNHCR cuts close to 5,000 jobs amid funding shortfall
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UNHCR cuts close to 5,000 jobs amid funding shortfall
The Geneva-based UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) needs an injection of at least $300 million (CHF240 million) by the end of the year to avoid a deficit. Nearly 5,000 employees have lost their jobs so far this year, said UNHCR head Filippo Grandi on Monday.
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Without additional funds, the UNHCR will face “a very difficult start to 2026”, the High Commissioner told member states. The UN agency, faced with funding cuts from the United States and several other countries, could run out of cash.
It had already announced cuts of between 3,500 and 4,000 posts this year. This figure has now risen to nearly 5,000, said Grandi at the start of the UNHCR Executive Committee meeting in Geneva. And he expects further cuts to be made.
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Ripple effect of aid freeze becomes real in Geneva
Changes or closures have taken place in 185 UNHCR offices around the world. While it was asking for more than $10 billion, an envelope approved by member states last year, the agency expects to receive only $3.9 billion between now and the end of the year. This represents a shortfall of $1.3 billion in one year, and is the worst situation for a decade, far greater than the UNHCR could have anticipated.
“I don’t think this is just a financial crisis,” said Grandi. He condemned “political choices that are having devastating financial effects”. It will take years to re-establish the expertise in the organisation, but he promised that the UNHCR will firmly pursue its assistance to refugees. For 2026, the UNHCR is requesting $8.5 billion from donors.
Translated from French with DeepL/gw
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