Latest news with #OfficeoftheUnitedNationsHighCommissionerforRefugees
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
UN agency to present annual world refugee report
The number of refugees worldwide has climbed to record highs in recent years, and the trend is expected to persist when the UN refugee agency publishes its latest annual report on Thursday. The agency is officially known as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Major humanitarian crises, including those in Sudan and several other African countries, remain largely unchanged. There has been one significant development, however: the fall of Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria in December 2024. Following more than a decade of brutal civil war, the regime's collapse has prompted some Syrians, particularly those who had fled to Germany, to return to their homeland. But it is still unclear whether this shift will significantly reduce the overall number of refugees worldwide.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UNHCR reducing aid to displaced Ukrainian refugees due to major funding cuts
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced to Reuters on April 26 that it has had to scale back support for newly displaced Ukrainians due to significant funding losses. The funding shortfalls have largely stemmed from recent U.S. aid suspension and broader donor cuts. "Some of the programs that we previously used to implement with the generous support of U.S. funding are on hold," Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine, said during a videolink briefing. The suspension affects crucial services like psycho-social support, emergency shelter material, and cash assistance. The agency said its $3.32 billion appeal to aid 8.2 million people is only 25% funded, with U.S. aid alone having accounted for 40% of last year's UNHCR budget. "We had to reduce the number of people we are prioritizing," Billing said, noting that nearly 9,000 newly displaced individuals have passed through UNHCR's transit centers in Pavlohrad and Sumy since January, often arriving "with little or no belongings and deeply traumatized." On March 10, the Trump administration announced the termination of 83% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) foreign aid contracts. The cuts have broad implications for humanitarian efforts, particularly in Ukraine, where USAID has provided $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and over $30 billion in direct budget support since Russia's full-scale invasion began. Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has spearheaded efforts to dismantle USAID, eliminating staff positions and attacking the agency's work in public. Read also: White House reportedly seeks to defund NATO, UN in State Department cuts We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
UN refugee agency suspends almost all medical aid in Egypt
The UN has suspended medical aid for refugees in Egypt due to severe funding cuts, its refugee agency said on Monday. Some 20,000 patients will be affected, a spokeswoman for the Geneva-based Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said, adding that treatment for cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease will be impacted. From now on, the UN agency can only fund emergency care in life-threatening situations, the spokeswoman said. Many of those affected are Sudanese refugees, she said. Egypt is home to over 900,000 registered refugees. They are authorized to seek medical care from Egyptian doctors but many lack the resources to pay for medical aid themselves, according to the spokeswoman. Relief organizations including Doctors without Borders are also active in Egypt and offer medical care to refugees for free. US President Donald Trump has ordered drastic cuts at international development agency USAID and other US institutions that support health projects abroad. Other major donors, including Germany and Britain, have also announced cuts to development funds. This is the first specific, comprehensive reduction in services for refugees that the UNHCR has announced since the suspension of US funds. So far, the US has shouldered some 40% of the UN agency's budget, amounting to some $2 billion in 2024. Germany was the second-biggest donor contributing some $333 million, according to the UNHCR, ahead of the European Union.
