UNHCR winter appeal: 9m people urgently need winter aid as resources dwindle and temperatures drop

GENEVA – Facing funding shortfalls and surging energy prices, at least 9 million people are estimated to require additional assistance to get through this winter across four war-affected countries – Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said today as it launched its annual winter fundraising appeal.

To help offset deep declines in its budget, UNHCR is aiming to raise at least $50 million for winter support in 2026-27, $3 million more than it raised last year, through its annual campaign aimed at individuals and the private sector.

“Resources are scarce and costs are spiralling just as winter looms in the Northern Hemisphere,” said Dominique Hyde, Director of External Relations at UNHCR. “Millions in these fragile, war-affected countries risk facing the elements without enough protection from the cold. They need the public’s support as never before. And we need to shield them immediately.”

Winter needs are vast across all four operations, with millions contending with a recent surge in energy and food prices, makeshift shelters, a lack of fuel for heating and cooking and insufficient clothing and blankets, further stretching household budgets. Even before winter, displaced people and their hosts had been hit by cuts to cash assistance, health care, education and livelihoods. Any money raised will buy, among other things, heaters in Afghanistan, thermal blankets in Syria and Lebanon, and kits to repair bombed houses in energy-starved Ukraine.

This will be the fifth winter of full-scale war in Ukraine. Temperatures risk plunging to -20°C amid accelerating Russian Federation strikes on civilians and humanitarians, with power outages heaping fresh misery on the war-ravaged population, including around 4 million displaced internally. Last winter, energy facilities were hit at least 423 times. UNHCR’s winter plan includes cash for around 310,000 people and better-insulated homes for 80,000. UNHCR monitoring found 75 per cent of people leaving Ukraine in December 2025 to February 2026 cited a lack of electricity, water or heating, underscoring how winter conditions can drive displacement.

In Dnipro, Svitlana told UNHCR about her fears after a drone blasted her apartment last winter. Seconds before the strike, she had grabbed her son Yosyp and entered the basement. “After, I saw a lot of glass scattered everywhere. If my child had been in the room at that time, the chances of him surviving would have been very low … [Outside], I saw Lego building blocks that Yosyp had been playing with. He played with them on the windowsill. And I saw the rails from the train set at the entrance to the building. Then I realized that we didn’t have windows.”

Afghanistan faces another difficult winter amid large-scale returns, massive humanitarian needs and severe funding constraints. Close to 4 million returned from Pakistan and Iran between January 2025 and July 2026, many with limited resources to rebuild. UN data indicates that 4.2 million people will need shelter support in 2026, while nearly a third of assessed households reported insufficient winter clothing. Funding gaps have limited the support available, including cash assistance for returnees, shelter repair kits, blankets and heaters.

“Families are making difficult choices between heating, food and health care. Last winter, many burned cardboard, paper or plastic waste to stay warm because coal and firewood were unaffordable,” Hyde said. “Children are especially vulnerable, and we fear more of what we saw last winter, with cases of pneumonia and respiratory illnesses.”

Syria has offered reasons for optimism as millions have returned from the region in the two years since the fall of the Assad regime. But without more funding this winter for the basics – a roof, clothes, heating oil – the fate of the returnees may become increasingly precarious. In Syria, 2.4 million people will need winter assistance in priority areas. UNHCR hopes to assist around 230,000 people, less than half of last winter.

In Lebanon, almost 300,000 people are expected to need winter assistance. However, due to funding constraints, UNHCR is able to reach only half of those in need. Surging heating costs are worsening vulnerabilities: diesel prices have nearly doubled since before the March 2026 regional escalation, with families reporting that assistance which once covered much of the winter may now last only a few weeks.

Help make a difference this winter to the lives of people forced to flee. Donate today.

For more information, please contact:

• In Damascus: Vivian Toumeh, [email protected], +963 (0) 988 098 860
• In Kabul: Ziad Ayad, [email protected]
• In Kyiv: Iryna Tymchyshyn, [email protected], +38 050 474 35 12
• In Beirut: Dalal Harb, [email protected], +961 70 113107
• In Geneva: Matthew Saltmarsh, [email protected], +41 79 967 99 36
  

For broadcasters, news organizations and other media professionals, b-roll, photos and human stories are available.

Notes to Editors

The figure of 9 million in need of assistance aggregates UNHCR’s winter-needs estimates for Lebanon (280,000) and Syria (2.4 million), a 2026 inter-agency shelter-needs estimate for Afghanistan (4.2 million), and the inter-agency 2026–2027 Winter Response Plan target population for Ukraine (2.1 million).

More information about the campaign is available here: http://donate.unhcr.org/winter. A donation of $35 can provide a traditional heating device (Bukhari) to an Afghan family affected by the crisis to keep them warm; $135 can provide a thermal kit including a heater, reflective insulation screens, transparent plastic sheets for window repairs, foam draft blocker and building tape in Ukraine.