Geneva, Jun. 16, (dpa/GNA) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will make major reductions in staff numbers due to an acute shortage of funds, the global aid organization said on Monday.

Almost 50% of senior positions at the headquarters in Geneva and the regional offices have been cut – a total of 3,500 jobs.

Hundreds of temporary positions have also gone, helping to reduce overall personnel expenditure by around a third, according to a press release.

The suspension of much US foreign aid by President Donald Trump earlier this year has hit this and other United Nations agencies hard.

Other countries have also reduced their contributions amid national budget pressures.

The UNHCR helps refugees, asylum seekers and people forcibly displaced within their own countries.

“In light of difficult financial realities, UNHCR is compelled to reduce the overall scale of its operations,” said Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN refugee agency. “We will focus our efforts on activities that have the greatest impact for refugees.” 

As of June 2024, the UNHCR employed around 15,400 permanent staff and 4,400 other people in more than 130 countries, bringing the total to just under 20,000.

Under the current restraints it will have about as much money available at the end of the year as it did a decade ago, the agency said.

During this time, however, the number of refugees worldwide has almost doubled to 122 million.

Areas where the agency will try to maintain its support include health and education, in which other UN organisations are also active, it said.

GNA

PDC