UNHCR deputy warns funding shortfalls and staff cuts imperil lifesaving refugee aid

Kelly Clements, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner, warned in an interview at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva that sharp declines in funding are undermining the agency’s ability to meet rising needs across multiple crises. “When I came in there were 62 million people that were forced to flee. We’re now at close to 120 million people,” Clements said, adding that available resources have dropped from roughly $3.5 billion when she arrived to “less than $3 billion” this year.

Clements said the decline in support has forced painful staffing and program decisions. “For UNHCR…we’ve had to say goodbye to 6,500 of our colleagues,” she said, and warned that local partners “can’t sustain themselves” as life-saving services — including food and cash assistance, protection programs for survivors of sexual violence, and schooling — are scaled back or closed.

On U.S. support specifically, Clements noted a notable decline: the United States provided about $2 billion in the fourth year of the previous U.S. administration but “last year…was just over $800 million,” and funding for the current year is even lower, she said. Clements framed appeals for donor support in pragmatic terms: investing in asylum systems and basic services overseas reduces downstream pressures and risk elsewhere.

The deputy high commissioner linked the funding crunch to immediate humanitarian consequences in active crises, including Sudan, where she described bombed infrastructure, and Syria, where she said aid reductions have increased the risks that people will seek riskier routes to safety. “We see programs shutting down, programs that are life saving, literally life saving,” she said.

Clements emphasized the operational and moral implications of resource shortfalls. “It’s devastating,” she said of the gap between need and funding, and singled out the difficulty of reaching people in places where access is limited: “It’s the people we can’t reach.” She urged renewed donor commitments and argued that assisting refugees and host communities is “in the American interests” because instability and unmet needs abroad can create broader problems.

The interview closed with Clements noting the consequences for UNHCR’s workforce and partners, and stressing that while some returns and positive developments have occurred in places such as Syria, the overall picture remains “mixed” because of continuing displacement, funding shortfalls, and ongoing violence in places like Sudan.