In part due to U.S. aid cuts, the U.N. Refugee Agency, or UNHCR, reportedly cut 5,000 positions and scaled back 185 field offices.
Date: 10/25
Region: Global
Country: Global
Topic: Refugees & Displacement
Policy Lens: Moral Leadership
Entry Type: Operational Impact
Additional Context: This information was compiled as part of Refugee International's issue brief, "A Generational Collapse: Tracking the Toll of Trump’s Humanitarian Aid Cuts." The analysis draws on publicly reported humanitarian impact data, their own field reporting, and reporting from refugee-led organizations and community-based NGOs in multiple crisis-affected countries. It is not an exhaustive catalog of all impacts. This figure was articulated in the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' October 2025 speech.
Devex Researcher Note: Though this data is included in Refugee International's analysis as directly correlated to U.S. aid cuts under the Trump administration, the nature of U.N. financing makes it difficult to parse out exactly which funding lines comes from the U.S. as compared to other donors. That being said, as of February 2026, the U.S. has only paid $160 million of the $4 billion owed to the U.N. system, contributing to what has been described as "imminent financial collapse” by the U.N. Secretary General. The U.S. at this time makes up 95% of the outstanding budget.
Source: Refugees International

