About 3,500 posts should be cut at the UNHCR because of the lack of funding, the United Nations Authority announced today, which is planning a worldwide reduction of its staff by about 30%.

“Given the difficult economic reality, UNHCR is forced to reduce the overall range of its businesses. We are focusing on our efforts on activities that have the greatest impact on refugees, relying on rationalized structures at central and regional and regional offices, “said the High Commissioner for Refugees Filipou Grandi in a press release.

Following Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his decision to “freeze” US international aid, dismissal announcements are succeeded by each other in the vigor of relief, with many of them stressing that the US is not the only ones to reduce their financial support.

On May 20th, the President of the UN High Commissioner for Natalie Menett refugees had told reporters from Geneva that he was expecting “3,000-4,000 job cuts worldwide”.

In today’s press release, UNHCR said that “it had to close or reduce the size of its offices around the world and implement almost 50% of its management positions at its headquarters in Geneva and its regional offices.”

“Overall, about 3,500 seats will be cut. In addition, hundreds of colleagues who temporarily support UNHCR had to leave the organization because of the lack of funds, “the service said.

Overall, UNHCR estimates that “staff costs will be reduced by about 30%”.

The UN service points out that its priority is to continue businesses in the areas where refugees are more urgent, however, it says that “necessary programs such as financial aid to vulnerable families, health, education and water and hygiene have been affected”.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees predicts that “it will end this year with available funding close to the same level as it was 10 years ago, although the number of people who were forced to abandon their homes almost doubled in the same period, now rising to more than 122 million.”

At the end of last year, one in 67 people worldwide was violently displaced, ie 123.2 million people. This number included, among other things, 73.5 million people internal displaced and 31 million refugees under UNHCR.