UNHCR Chief Warns Funding Cuts Strain Refugee Protection

Barham Salih told UNHCR's Executive Committee in Geneva on Oct. 12, 2026, that the agency has secured only $3 billion of the $8.5 billion needed for 2026. Its workforce fell from about 20,000 in 2024 to just under 12,000 after 8,000 staff left, with 117 million people forced from their homes. Salih said "There is…a difference between doing more with less and being asked to do the impossible" and "Efficiency has limits," warning that below a funding point consequences fall on people who depend on aid. He said Sudan gaps threaten specialised care, legal aid and psychological support for more than 50,000 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, Chad risks services for thousands of unaccompanied children, and Ethiopia has halted registration for tens of thousands from South Sudan and Eritrea. Some coverage notes reduced donor support including U.S. aid cuts under President Donald Trump; UN News also carries his Security Council remark that conditions are "genuinely, truly, inhumane" and an initiative to halve protracted displacement reliance by 2035. Salih said success means lives genuinely improved, and "When we speak about refugees and displacement, we should do so with humility."