EU pledges $1.2 billion to UNHCR, urges reform and refugee self-reliance by 2035

The European Union and its Member States collectively allocated around USD 1.2 billion to UNHCR last year, according to a statement delivered on 17 June 2026 at the UNHCR 96th Standing Committee in Geneva. Speaking on behalf of the EU and its 27 member countries, the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva urged the refugee agency to seize moments of renewal amid budgetary shortfalls, an ongoing budget review, an independent management review, and leadership changes. The EU called on UNHCR to increase coordination, reduce duplication, and adopt a mandate-driven approach that reinforces long-term outcomes, while preserving protection capacity and proximity to affected populations.

The statement welcomed High Commissioner Filippo Grandi's goal to reduce by 50 percent by 2035 the number of refugees in need of international protection who depend on humanitarian assistance. The EU said it looks forward to further details on how the goal will be achieved and reflected in UNHCR's restructuring, and stressed that refugee self-reliance is a core priority. This requires an enabling environment including access to legal documentation, freedom of movement, the right to work, and inclusion in nationally led services such as education, health, social protection, and financial services. The EU encouraged UNHCR to prioritise inclusion and self-reliance through strengthened engagement with host governments, development actors, international financial institutions, and the private sector.

The EU and its Member States called on UNHCR to safeguard the centrality of protection in all interventions, maintain dedicated expertise on sexual and gender-based violence, and prioritise its core mandate on Refugee Status Determination in countries not party to the 1951 Convention. They welcomed a joint UNHCR-IOM initiative for a Route Based approach to provide coordinated protection along mixed migration routes, and requested regular joint updates.

The statement also endorsed UNHCR's engagement in the Humanitarian Reset, encouraging the agency to take a leading role and to align its internal review with the broader UN80 initiative. The EU called for greater integration between cluster and refugee coordination models, and for operationalising the principle of 'as local as possible, as international as necessary' to establish more equitable partnerships with local and national actors. Accountability to affected populations and meaningful participation of displaced persons and host communities should remain central to these reforms, the EU said.