GENEVA: The UN refugee agency said Monday it will cut 3,500 staff jobs — slashing nearly a third of its workforce costs — due to a funding shortfall, and reduce the scale of its help worldwide.
UNHCR carried out a review of its activities, expenditure, staffing and structures following a plunge in humanitarian funding.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been among a host of UN and private aid agencies badly hit by funding cuts by the United States.
The United States — which was by far UNHCR’s biggest donor — has slashed its foreign aid under a radical spending review ordered by US President Donald Trump. Other countries have also cut humanitarian spending.
Washington previously made up more than 40 percent of UNHCR contributions received — $2 billion per year, the agency’s chief Filippo Grandi told the UN Security Council in April.
“In light of difficult financial realities, UNHCR is compelled to reduce the overall scale of its operations,” Grandi said in Monday’s statement.
He added that UNHCR would focus “on activities that have the greatest impact for refugees” while streamlining its Geneva headquarters and regional offices.
The agency said it had had to close or downsize offices worldwide and implement a nearly 50-percent cut in senior positions in Geneva and at the regional HQs.
“In total, approximately 3,500 staff positions will be discontinued,” the statement said.
Additionally, hundreds of temporary workers have had to leave the organization due to the funding shortfall.
“Overall, UNHCR estimates a global reduction in staffing costs of around 30 percent,” the agency said.
It said that programs ranging from financial aid to vulnerable families, health, education, and water and sanitation had already been affected by cuts.
UNHCR said it was working with other organizations and refugee-hosting countries to try to mitigate the impact on refugees.
UNHCR estimates that it will end 2025 with available funding at about the same level as a decade ago — despite the number of people forced to flee their homes having nearly doubled over the same period to more than 122 million.
“Even as we face painful cuts and lose so many dedicated colleagues, our commitment to refugees remains unshakeable,” said Grandi.
“Although resources are scarcer and our capacity to deliver is reduced, we will continue to work hard to respond to emergencies, protect the rights of refugees, and pursue solutions — including returning home, as nearly two million Syrians have done since December.”
Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, and ruler Bashar Assad was overthrown in December 2024.
Sudan is now the world’s largest forced displacement situation, with its 14.3 million refugees and internally displaced people overtaking Syria (13.5 million), followed by Afghanistan (10.3 million) and Ukraine (8.8 million).
At the end of 2024, one in 67 people worldwide were forcibly displaced, UNHCR said Thursday.

MANILA: Hernando Guanlao had just 50 books when in 2000, on a mission to encourage more people to read, he set out a sidewalk display. A quarter of a century later, the collection has grown to include thousands of volumes and a roadside library that is free and open to all, at all times.

Located in Barangay La Paz in Makati City, the Philippines’ main financial district, Reading Club 2000 greets passersby with the sign: “A good book is easy to find.”

Affectionately known as Tatay Nanie, Guanlao keeps books on the shelves in front of his house, on the ground floor and in his driveway, making them accessible to anyone looking for something to read. His vast collection ranges from fiction and non-fiction books to religious texts, academic theses, encyclopedias, dictionaries, children’s literature and magazines, as well as self-help and textbooks.

The library is open 24/7, has no rules, no membership fee, and no late return penalties. If a reader fails to return a book, it is no problem — more will soon arrive in its place.

“A lot of books came over here from donations, delivered personally by people from different kinds of economic groups — individuals who still love (and) value printed words, love what they learnt from reading. They share it. They become givers,” Guanlao told Arab News.

In the past, when Reading Club 2000 was still small and he started running out of books, there would always be people offering support — something that for him is intrinsically Filipino.

“I’m not alone. I was able to generate participation of the community,” he said. “The donors are reminded of our culture. Filipinos have different cultures: In Ilocos, they have the Ilocano culture; in Bicol, the Bicolano culture ... But there’s one (common) thing: They are heroes, the givers. They have that in their hearts.”

Those who borrow a book from the sidewalk library usually return. Most are surprised Guanlao’s books are all available free of charge.

But the 75-year-old bibliophile does not see himself as the owner of the books; rather, he their custodian, on a mission he hopes his children and grandchildren will continue.

He has not counted how many books have come through the library over the past 25 years but estimates that each day at least 200 leave — some never to return.

“These books are not mine. These are entrusted to me by a lot of book donors. I have to take care of the distribution of the books ... (to) readers that will contribute and be a force of change in the society,” he said.

“Reading is liberating ... As you read, you learn and learn and learn. And when you learn, you discuss and discuss and discuss. You are not alone in doing that ... You will (find) the answer you’re looking for in life — the purpose of why you are here.”