UNHCR announces closure of its Southern Africa Bureau as part of realignment review

PRETORIA - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, will close its Regional Bureau for Southern Africa, effective 1 October 2025, as part of its strategic realignment prompted by a significant decline in humanitarian funding since early 2025.

The Regional Bureau for Southern Africa covered eight operations across 16 countries. While the regional office in Pretoria will close, support to the region will continue from UNHCR’s regional bureaux in Nairobi and Dakar. UNHCR is grateful to the Government of South Africa for hosting the Regional Bureau over the past six years and for its continued partnership.

UNHCR also had to adjust its operational modalities in Angola, Malawi, the Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe, transitioning to a much smaller physical presence. Efforts are underway to continue through alternative arrangements, including strengthened partnerships with local and regional partners and support from UNHCR offices in neighbouring countries.

Severe cuts in humanitarian funding globally announced earlier this year have caused upheaval across the humanitarian sector, putting millions of lives at risk. Despite intensified fundraising efforts, UNHCR was left with no choice but to take steps to significantly reduce its expenditure. Critical programmes, including financial assistance to vulnerable families, healthcare, education, and water and sanitation, have been impacted.

UNHCR urges the international community, development partners and private sector to continue to make investments that benefit both refugees and host communities across Southern Africa so that the progress made is maintained and improved.

UNHCR will continue to work with UN and NGO partners, humanitarian and development organizations, and host countries to try to minimize as much as possible the impact of funding cuts on people forced to flee and advocate for lasting solutions.

UNHCR’s Multi-Country Office in South Africa, which covers Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa, will remain based in Pretoria. UNHCR’s office in Zambia will become a multi-country office covering Malawi and Zimbabwe while UNHCR’s multi-country office in Mozambique will cover Angola. These three Multi Country offices will be overseen by the UNHCR’s Regional Bureau in Nairobi while its Bureau for West and Central Africa will take on coverage of UNHCR’s operations in the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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For more information, please contact:

Duniya Aslam, [email protected], +27 84 585 720

Faith Kasina, [email protected] +254 113 427 094