The UN Refugee Agency says millions of displaced people face a harsher winter with substantially reduced assistance after sharp cuts in donor funding. UNHCR has launched a private appeal aiming to raise at least $35 million to repair and insulate shelters and provide blankets, medicine cash and heating supplies. It highlighted urgent needs in Ukraine, among returning Afghans and displaced Syrians, and warned attacks on energy infrastructure are worsening conditions.
UN Warns: Millions of Refugees Face a Freezing Winter as Global Aid Falls Short
The UN Refugee Agency says millions of displaced people face a harsher winter with substantially reduced assistance after sharp cuts in donor funding. UNHCR has launched a private appeal aiming to raise at least $35 million to repair and insulate shelters and provide blankets, medicine cash and heating supplies. It highlighted urgent needs in Ukraine, among returning Afghans and displaced Syrians, and warned attacks on energy infrastructure are worsening conditions.
11:30 AM, 11/11/2025Conflict
UNHCR warns millions of displaced people will face a harsher winter as funding falls
Millions of refugees and other displaced people worldwide are bracing for a colder, more dangerous winter as humanitarian assistance is sharply reduced, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
UNHCR representative Dominique Hyde said the agency’s winter support will be significantly smaller this year after funding from donor countries, including Germany and the United States, fell. "Humanitarian budgets are stretched to breaking point and the winter support that we offer will be much less this year," Hyde said. "Families will have to endure freezing temperatures without things many of us take for granted: a proper roof, insulation, heating, blankets, warm clothes or medicine."
Fundraising appeal and priorities
The UNHCR has launched a private fundraising appeal with a target of at least $35 million to help offset cuts in government funding. The money will be used to repair bomb-damaged homes, insulate shelters, distribute blankets and warm clothing, provide cash for medicine, and supply heaters, stoves and hot meals.
How donations help — cost examples
- $95 — winter clothing kit for a refugee child in Moldova
- $30 — a traditional stove to warm a family in Afghanistan
- $120 — materials and basic upgrades to winter-proof a shelter in Lebanon
Populations most at risk
UNHCR highlighted people in Ukraine entering their fourth winter of war, where temperatures can fall to -20°C. The agency says more than 12 million people in Ukraine need assistance and it is currently supporting nearly 400,000 people with cash payments, heaters, generators and energy-storage devices.
Other high-risk groups include more than 2 million Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan from neighboring countries — many arriving with few belongings or economic prospects — and Syrians who have returned to parts of their homeland only to find their homes partly destroyed.
"Russian attacks are increasingly targeting energy infrastructure, which hinders supplies of electricity, gas and water," UNHCR warned, noting that people living close to front lines are particularly vulnerable.
The UN agency is urging both governments and private donors to increase funding now to prevent a deepening humanitarian crisis this winter.