The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

UNHCR to cut around 3,500 jobs worldwide

UNHCR to cut around 3,500 jobs worldwide
“We will concentrate our efforts on activities that have the greatest impact for refugees,” says High Commissioner Filippo Grandi. Keystone-SDA

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is to cut around 3,500 jobs as a result of financial cuts linked in particular to US decisions. Hundreds of temporary contracts will also be cut, the UN agency said in Geneva on Monday.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The figure is in line with that articulated by HCR union representatives a few weeks ago. In total, almost half of the senior management positions at the Geneva headquarters and around the world will be eliminated.

+ Swiss budget cuts increase pressure on International Geneva

Some offices are being downsized or closed. The UN agency estimates that staff costs will be cut by around 30%.

“We will concentrate our efforts on activities that have the greatest impact for refugees,” says High Commissioner Filippo Grandi.

International Geneva has been hit hard by cuts from several donors, especially the United States. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced up to 7,000 job cuts. The World Health Organization (WHO) has halved the number of its departments.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

Popular Stories

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR