• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%

Donors pledge more than US$450 million towards UNHCR programmes in 2009

News Stories, 10 December 2008

© UNHCR/P.Taggart
UNHCR works to begin the transfer of vulnerable displaced Congolese last month to a camp in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The agency will need funds to continue operations there in 2009.

GENEVA, December 10 (UNHCR) – As the number of refugees and displaced people around the world continues to rise, donors have pledged some US$463 million towards UNHCR's 2009 programmes. This amounts to about a quarter of the UN refugee agency's total needs for the year ahead – some US$1.86 billion.

This year's pledges, made on Tuesday at UNHCR's annual pledging conference in Geneva, were down 6 percent on the amount raised at last year's conference, when donors pledged some US$492 million towards the 2008 appeal.

"This is an encouraging outcome at a time when donors are faced by the uncertainties provoked by the current economic turbulence," said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. But he called on donor countries to come up with the balance of resources required to meet global needs. He appealed to countries to provide additional contributions early in the New Year to ensure that assistance and protection are not interrupted. "Without additional funds, the outlook for the world's displaced is uncertain", he said.

The High Commissioner paid special tribute to the 10 countries that provide more than 75 percent of UNHCR's total budget, while appealing to others to increase their support. The money is needed to help some 32 million refugees, stateless and internally displaced people around the world.

Several donor representatives at the conference praised reform efforts aimed at making UNHCR more efficient and ensuring that more resources were allocated directly to helping refugees and other persons of concern to the agency.

With almost 97 percent of UNHCR's budget coming from voluntary donations and only 3 percent funded by the regular UN budget, the agency is extremely vulnerable to any reduction in funding by major donors.

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Related Stories

more documents

The Global Report and Funding Reports

A comprehensive view of the refugee agency's challenges and achievements worldwide.

Donors

Governments, organisations and individuals who fund UNHCR's activities.

The Global Appeal and Supplementary Appeals

Alerting donors, organizations and individuals to the plight of millions of uprooted people.

Chad's other refugee crisis

While attention focuses on the Darfuris in eastern Chad, another refugee crisis unfolds in southern Chad.

A second refugee crisis has been quietly unfolding in the south of Chad for the past few years, getting little attention from the media and the international community. Some 60,000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) are hosted there in five camps and receive regular assistance from UNHCR. But funding for aid and reintegration projects remains low. Refugees have been fleeing fighting between rebel groups and governmental forces in northern CAR. 17,000 new refugees have arrived from northern CAR to south-eastern Chad since the beginning of 2009.

Chad's other refugee crisis

Iraqi Refugees in Syria: 2,000 New Arrivals Daily

The UN refugee agency is increasingly alarmed over the continuing violence in Iraq and distressed about the lack of an international humanitarian response to deal with the massive numbers of people being displaced. After an assessment mission in November last year, UNHCR officials warned that the agency was facing an even larger humanitarian crisis than it had prepared for in 2002-03. But UNHCR and other organisations are sorely lacking in funds to cope with the growing numbers of displaced.

In an effort to fill the massive gap in funding, UNHCR in January 2007 launched a US$60 million appeal to cover its protection and assistance programmes for Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey, as well as non Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people within strife torn Iraq.

The longer the Iraq conflict goes on, the more difficult it will become for the hundreds of thousands of displaced and the communities that are trying to help them – both inside and outside Iraq. Because the burden on host communities and governments in the region is enormous, it is essential that the international community support humanitarian efforts.

Posted on 5 February 2007

Iraqi Refugees in Syria: 2,000 New Arrivals Daily

New Arrivals in Yemen

During one six-day period at the end of March, more than 1,100 Somalis and Ethiopians arrived on the shores of Yemen after crossing the Gulf of Aden on smuggler's boats from Bosaso, Somalia. At least 28 people died during these recent voyages – from asphyxiation, beating or drowning – and many were badly injured by the smugglers. Others suffered skin problems as a result of prolonged contact with sea water, human waste, diesel oil and other chemicals.

During a recent visit to Yemen, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller pledged to further raise the profile of the situation, to appeal for additional funding and international action to help Yemen, and to develop projects that will improve the living conditions and self sufficiency of the refugees in Yemen.

Since January 2006, Yemen has received nearly 30,000 people from Somalia, Ethiopia and other places, while more than 500 people have died during the sea crossing and at least 300 remain missing. UNHCR provides assistance, care and housing to more than 100,000 refugees already in Yemen.

New Arrivals in Yemen