NEW YORK, 13th October, 2026 (WAM) -- The money is running out faster than needs are growing: with 117 million men, women and children now forced from their homes, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has received just $3 billion of the $8.5 billion it needs this year – and its chief, Barham Salih, warns that the global support system for asylum-seekers risks buckling.
In his first keynote address to UNHCR’s Executive Committee meeting in Geneva on Monday, Salih stressed that the world’s most vulnerable are going without the help they need.
“There is…a difference between doing more with less and being asked to do the impossible,” he said, while also highlighting the “exceptionally difficult year” at the agency, marked by the departure of 8,000 staff since 2024.
Conflicts are uprooting people faster than governments and aid agencies can help them. So far in 2026, UNHCR has responded to 22 emergencies in 18 countries.
Despite growing humanitarian needs, the agency has received less than one third of its funding requirement for this year.
Salih warned that countries that have hosted refugees for decades are frustrated at the lack of international solidarity, while refugees themselves are increasingly afraid for their safety, amid deep cuts to assistance.
“Efficiency has limits. There comes a point when greater efficiency cannot compensate for fewer resources. When funding falls below that point, the consequences are not abstract, they are borne by people who depend on it,” he insisted.