UNHCR reducing aid to displaced Ukrainian refugees due to major funding cuts

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced to Reuters on April 26 that it has had to scale back support for newly displaced Ukrainians due to significant funding losses.

The funding shortfalls have largely stemmed from recent U.S. aid suspension and broader donor cuts.

"Some of the programs that we previously used to implement with the generous support of U.S. funding are on hold," Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine, said during a videolink briefing.

The suspension affects crucial services like psycho-social support, emergency shelter material, and cash assistance.

The agency said its $3.32 billion appeal to aid 8.2 million people is only 25% funded, with U.S. aid alone having accounted for 40% of last year’s UNHCR budget.

"We had to reduce the number of people we are prioritizing," Billing said, noting that nearly 9,000 newly displaced individuals have passed through UNHCR’s transit centers in Pavlohrad and Sumy since January, often arriving "with little or no belongings and deeply traumatized."

On March 10, the Trump administration announced the termination of 83% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) foreign aid contracts.

The cuts have broad implications for humanitarian efforts, particularly in Ukraine, where USAID has provided $2.6 billion in humanitarian aid, $5 billion in development assistance, and over $30 billion in direct budget support since Russia's full-scale invasion began.

Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has spearheaded efforts to dismantle USAID, eliminating staff positions and attacking the agency's work in public.