End of Year Reflections
End of Year Reflections
The Regional Director interacts with refugee communities in eastern Chad.
This year across West and Central Africa, the funding fell, the needs rose, and protection risks soared.
Our mandate remains unchanged: protect the women, men and children fleeing violence and persecution in this region and advance solutions to their displacement.
The two questions I have been asked most often this year are: what impact do funding cuts have on refugees and internally displaced people, and what is your plan.
Humanitarian funding across this region dropped by 43%, development funding by 9–17%, and contributions to UNHCR by 25%. Flexible funding to UNHCR, which sustains responses in areas with less donor interest, fell by 14%.
At the same time the refugee population rose by 27%. While the vast majority of forcibly displaced in the region remain in countries in the region, 12% more people from West and Central Africa sought asylum in Europe, with Malian nationals among the highest.
In a shifting trend, internal displacement decreased by 6% and over 42,000 refugees returned home, but these returns are fragile.
As we look ahead to 2026, let me focus on the plan, because this is how we hope to curb the impact.
As we navigate drastically reduced budgets across the 23 countries where we operate, we remain committed to three priorities.
Safeguard asylum processes and strengthen asylum systems to enable people who are fleeing violence or persecution to access international protection in another country.
Sustain life-saving protection and assistance for those who need it most.
- Foster socio-economic inclusion and self-reliance of the forcibly displaced through collaboration and partnerships with governments, development partners and the private sector, and accelerate solutions that end displacement.
To preserve these goals, we have had to radically adapt how we operate across all operations, scaling back, refocusing or fast-tracking.
In the Gulf of Guinea coastal countries, reducing our footprint means accelerating government capacity-building for refugee registration and strengthened national asylum systems.
In Mali, our core protection and humanitarian response will focus on the centre of the country, where needs are greatest. In the North and the South-West, we’ll transition to project-based work that strengthens self-reliance and opens pathways to durable solutions.
In Nigeria, a country with over 3.6M internally displaced people, this means working with the government, development partners, and the private sector on solutions by advancing inclusion, creating jobs and livelihood opportunities, reducing dependency on humanitarian assistance and supporting self-reliance.
In Chad it means prioritizing essential life-saving protection and social service systems, relocating refugees from borders to safe sustainable settlements for the continued influx of Sudanese refuges to Chad and the 1.3 million Sudanese refugees already in the country, and working with development actors to strengthen resilience of refugees and host communities alike
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, we will deliver urgent support to more than 5 million internally displaced people and thousands of refugees from South Sudan, Burundi, CAR and Rwanda. At the same time, we are investing with development partners in livelihoods and economic inclusion for refugees in safer zones and working closely with neighboring countries to accelerate voluntary repatriation where possible and requested by refugees, to pave the way for lasting solutions.
Our plans are designed to ensure every available resource achieves the greatest results.
But we cannot do this alone. With the context changing dramatically, collaborating where our interests align with our partners’ will be critical to protecting the most vulnerable and supporting them in rebuilding their lives.
As we enter 2026, here are six reflections I share with those we work alongside whose continued collaboration will be essential.
Finding Common Ground. Reduced funding is increasingly shaped by broader foreign policy priorities, yet we remain principled and pragmatic. Our starting point is to identify areas of convergence with partners that align with our protection mandate. For example, we are not in the business of migration management, but we are guided by the humanitarian imperative to save lives. Our work with IOM and governments across the region on the Route-Based Approach to mixed movements illustrates this: prioritizing protection and solutions for refugees and migrants along key routes and across countries, helping to reduce risks before individuals feel compelled to undertake dangerous journeys across Atlantic or Central Mediterranean and risk their lives.
Principled Dialogue with All Actors. By virtue of our mandate and the humanitarian principles we adhere to, we speak to whoever we need to, to deliver on our mandate for the forcibly displaced. UN agencies such as UNHCR become even more essential in the current dynamic context in West and Central Africa, as multilateral partners: convening stakeholders across the region and delivering government-endorsed, community-owned interventions at scale.
Investment in Inclusion and National Systems. Because this is where sustainable change happens. By strengthening national asylum systems, we ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers can access protection safely and integrate more fully into host communities. By advocating for the inclusion of the forcibly displaced in national and local development plans, we generate benefits for both displaced populations and host communities. This approach is aligned with the Global Compact on Refugees, which underscores the importance of strong national systems, international cooperation, and support to host countries. Investing in system strengthening requires collaboration among multiple actors but delivers measurable, long-term impact, improving lives and building resilient communities.
Bridge Humanitarian and Development Efforts.The average length of displacement in this region is 17 years. Closer synergy between humanitarian and development actors is essential to allow us to meet immediate needs while laying the foundation for sustainable, long-term solutions. There will always be a need for emergency humanitarian aid, but we must shorten the time that forcibly displaced people remain dependent on it by ensuring early and sustained development engagement.
Invest in Communities and Local Actors to Strengthen Resilience and Social Cohesion. Among communities surveyed by regional protection monitoring tool, Project 21 in the Sahel, 91% reported feeling integrated into the host community, and around 80% confirmed the presence of community-based conflict resolution mechanisms, with nearly 60% considering them effective. By investing directly in communities and supporting local actors, we strengthen local capacity and social cohesion, contributing to the wellbeing of the forcibly displaced, and host communities and their resilience.
- Don’t Lose Sight of Those Left Behind. As funding becomes more targeted, the human cost is undeniable. We must stand in solidarity. We must keep counting, documenting, and ensuring that the forcibly displaced and those at risk of statelessness in West and Central Africa remain visible. It is our duty to raise the alarm as people fall through the cracks — from the 235,000 refugees at the border in Chad to the almost 45,000 South Sudanese in DRC awaiting registration or relocation, and the 209,000 displaced in Niger no longer receiving shelter assistance, with many more at risk of being left behind.
The scale of need is immense, and our work together continues.
