Planning and Funding Dashboard How To

The UNHCR’s Planning, funding and results Data Dashboard is designed to provide a unified, interactive platform for exploring, visualizing and downloading key financial, population, and operational data related to UNHCR’s global activities.
You can easily navigate between budget, expenditure, contributions, allocations, and population figures, applying filters and selecting specific locations and time periods to generate customized charts, tables, and maps.

The dashboard supports dynamic data exploration, enabling comparisons across regions, operations, and thematic areas, while offering accessible download options for data and visualizations. You will find more information on how to navigate the dashboard in the navigation section of this page.

You will first need to choose a dataset you want to explore in the “Show” dropdown menu. You can then choose the geographical level in the “At dropdown menu, and then the time. At the global and regional level, you can visualize the for a single year as a map, for all the other data combinations you can visualize it in a graph or in a table.

• Budget: What we need. This represents UNHCR budget at global, regional and operation level for each year. You have the possibility to compare the budget between regions, between operations, and between groups of operations within a year and across years. You can break down the budget by outcome, impact, or enabling areas. Population, contributions and expenditure function as an overlayer explanatory data in multi-year view.
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• Expenditure: What we have spent. Track total yearly spending, view by region, operation, impact, or outcome area. You can break down the budget by outcome, impact, or enabling areas. Population, and budget function as an overlayer explanatory data in multi-year view.
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• Contributions: What we have received. This represents the yearly contributions received by UNHCR. You can see the yearly contribution amount at global, regional, donor country level, or national partners amounts. You can then further break down the data by contribution category (such as the earmarking level: earmarked, softly earmarked, tightly earmarked, and unearmarked, or by contribution type: cash, in-kind, junior professional officers, and UN regular budget). You can as well break down the source of funding as government, private, UN pooled funding and intergovernmental, and UN regular budget.
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• Flexible funding: Flexible funding is the most vital support UNHCR can receive. It enables timely, effective responses - especially in emergencies and underfunded crises.
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• Funds available: Represents the resources UNHCR has on hand after accounting for expenditures and commitments, often highlighted in funding status reports to show liquidity for operations.
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• Funding gap: The shortfall between required budget and funds received, impacting program delivery. As of mid-2025, significant gaps have led to aid reductions.
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• Population Data: Accessing population figures by type of population, and trends. Explore demographics of refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless persons.
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The dashboard interface is designed for intuitive navigation. Key elements include:

• Top Navigation Bar: Use the "Show" dropdown to select datasets (e.g., Budget, Expenditure). The "At" dropdown sets the geographical level (Global, Regional, Country/Operation). Time selectors allow single-year or multi-year views.
• Visualization Controls: Toggle between Map (for global/regional single-year), Graph, or Table using buttons below the dropdowns. Hover over charts for tooltips with detailed values.
• Filters Panel: On the left sidebar, apply filters for locations, outcomes, or themes. Click "Apply" to update views or "Reset" to clear all.
• Download Buttons: Found in the top-right corner; options include CSV, PDF, or PNG exports. Click the share icon to generate embed codes or links.
• Keyboard Shortcuts:
  • Alt + S: Focus on "Show" dropdown
  • Alt + A: Focus on "At" dropdown
  • Ctrl + Enter: Apply filters
  • Esc: Close modals or clear focus
  • Tab: Navigate between interactive elements

For advanced tips, refer to the full user guide.

The Filter Bar at the top of the dashboard helps you customize your view. Here’s how to use it:

1. Show – Select what data you want to display (e.g., Budget, Contributions, Expenditure).
2. At – Choose the level of detail:
   • Global level – View overall data.
   • Summary level – See aggregated summaries.
   • Region level – Focus on specific regions.
   • Operation level – Drill down to individual operations.
3. In – Pick the year you want to view. The most recent year appears first; scroll down for previous years.
4. View Options – Decide how you want to see the data:
   • Map – Visualize data geographically.
   • Chart – See trends and comparisons.
   • Table – View detailed figures in tabular format.

This feature allows you to analyze differences between datasets and visualize changes over time. You can compare key metrics across regions, operations, or years, and identify patterns such as growth, decline, or funding gaps. Use charts and tables to spot trends, and maps for geographic insights.

You can download dashboard data for offline use or sharing. The Download icon (downward arrow) is located at the top-right corner of the map.

Steps:

1. Click the Download icon.
2. Choose your format:
   • CSV – For spreadsheets and detailed data analysis.
   • PNG – For saving the visual map as an image.
3. Save the file locally and share it with collaborators via email or shared platforms.

This feature makes it easy to export data for reports, visual presentations, and team collaboration.