Can UNHCR maintain services after 3,500 job reductions?
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is facing its most severe operational crisis in decades, compelled to shed approximately 3,500 jobs worldwide due to a dramatic funding shortfall. This downsizing comes at a time when global displacement is at record highs, and the agency’s ability to deliver life-saving services is under unprecedented strain. This analysis examines the scale, causes, and consequences of these cuts, drawing on the latest statistics, official statements, and global context.
How extensive are the UNHCR job cuts?
UNHCR’s decision to discontinue approximately 3,500 staff positions—nearly a third of its workforce costs—marks the most dramatic downsizing in the agency’s recent history. Hundreds of temporary contracts have already ended, and nearly 50% of senior positions at Geneva headquarters and regional offices will be eliminated. The agency estimates a 30% reduction in global staffing costs as a result. As of December 2023, UNHCR employed around 20,000 staff in 136 countries.
This restructuring follows a comprehensive review of activities, spending, and structure, with the agency forced to close or downsize offices worldwide and focus only on activities with the greatest impact for refugees. The cuts are so deep that even core programs—providing cash assistance, healthcare, education, water, and sanitation—have already been affected.
What has triggered this crisis?
The primary driver of the cuts is a sharp drop in funding, most notably from the United States, which previously contributed over 40% of UNHCR’s budget (about $2 billion per year). Under President Trump’s administration, the US slashed its foreign aid, triggering a domino effect as other countries also reduced humanitarian spending. UNHCR expects its 2025 funding to match levels from a decade ago, despite the number of displaced people globally nearly doubling to over 122 million in that time.
Almost halfway through 2025, the UN as a whole has received only $5.6 billion of the $44 billion originally sought for humanitarian aid this year—just 13%. Other agencies are also reeling: the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced up to 7,000 job cuts, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has halved its departments.
What are the consequences for refugees and aid delivery?
The operational impact is severe and immediate. UNHCR is closing or downsizing offices globally, with a focus on maintaining only those activities that have the greatest impact for refugees. Programs providing financial aid to vulnerable families, health, education, and water/sanitation are already being scaled back or discontinued.
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, acknowledged the gravity of the situation:
“Given the challenging financial circumstances, UNHCR must scale back the breadth of its operations… We will focus our efforts on activities that have the greatest impact for refugees”.
Despite these painful cuts and the loss of many dedicated colleagues, Grandi emphasized:
“Our commitment to refugees remains unshakeable. Although resources are scarcer and our capacity to deliver is reduced, we will continue to work hard to respond to emergencies, protect the rights of refugees, and pursue solutions—including returning home, as nearly two million Syrians have done since December”.
The agency is working with partners and host countries to try to reduce harm to refugees who depend on its services, centralizing support functions, exploring new working methods (including placing staff in other UN offices), and leveraging technology to maintain operations in priority areas.
How is the Global humanitarian landscape changing?
The cuts come at a time of unprecedented global displacement. By April 2025, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide stood at over 122 million, nearly double the figure from a decade ago. Sudan is now the world’s largest forced displacement situation, with 14.3 million refugees and internally displaced people, overtaking Syria (13.5 million), Afghanistan (10.3 million), and Ukraine (8.8 million).
At the end of 2024, one in 67 people worldwide were forcibly displaced. The agency warns that without sufficient funding, there will not be enough food assistance and basic shelter support for displaced people, and protection services—including safe spaces for refugee women and girls at risk of violence—are likely to be terminated.
Tom Fletcher, Chief of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), summed up the dilemma:
“Brutal funding cuts leave us with brutal choices. We have been forced into a triage of human survival. The mathematics is cruel, and the consequences are heartbreaking”.
What are the broader implications and next steps?
The UNHCR’s prioritization now directs aid “to the people and places facing the most urgent needs,” focusing first on those in “extreme or catastrophic conditions”. Yet, the consequences of these cuts will be borne by those least able to afford it: the world’s most vulnerable refugees and displaced people.
Despite the crisis, there are glimmers of hope. Nearly 2 million Syrians have returned home since December 2024, showing that durable solutions are possible even amid financial constraints. The agency continues to advocate for meaningful progress on the root causes of displacement—conflict, disregard for international humanitarian law, and persecution.
Matter of internal restructuring
The 2025 job cuts at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are far more than a matter of internal restructuring or bureaucratic streamlining. They are a profound signal of the growing fragility of the global humanitarian system at a time when the need for protection and assistance is at its highest. With approximately 3,500 staff positions—nearly a third of UNHCR’s workforce costs—set to be discontinued, and hundreds of temporary contracts already ended, the agency is being forced to scale back its operations in ways that will have immediate and far-reaching consequences (UNHCR, 2025).
This crisis is driven by a dramatic collapse in funding. The United States, once the largest donor, has slashed its contributions, and other nations have followed suit. As a result, UNHCR expects its 2025 funding to match levels from a decade ago, even though the number of displaced people worldwide has nearly doubled to over 122 million (UNHCR Global Trends, 2025). The broader UN humanitarian system is similarly affected, with only $5.6 billion of the $44 billion needed for aid in 2025 received by mid-year—just 13% of what is required (DevelopmentAid, 2025).
The consequences of these cuts will reverberate globally. Programs providing cash assistance, healthcare, education, water, and sanitation are already being reduced or discontinued. Refugees in camps, urban settlements, and at borders will face even greater hardship, with less access to basic services and protection. As Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, warned, “Given the challenging financial circumstances, UNHCR must scale back the breadth of its operations… Our commitment to refugees remains unshakeable. Although resources are scarcer and our capacity to deliver is reduced, we will continue to work hard to respond to emergencies, protect the rights of refugees, and pursue solutions” (UNHCR, 2025).
The job cuts are also a warning to the international community: without urgent action from donor governments and renewed commitment to humanitarian principles, millions of displaced people risk being left without support. The world is facing a “triage of human survival,” as Tom Fletcher of OCHA put it, where aid must be directed only to the most extreme or catastrophic situations, leaving many needs unmet.
Ultimately, these cuts highlight the urgent need for a sustainable, adequately funded humanitarian system capable of responding to the ever-growing challenges of forced displacement. Without it, the world’s most vulnerable will pay the highest price.
