UNHCR prepares a Biennial Programme Budget, broken down into annual budgets based on globally assessed needs. The original programme budget is presented to UNHCR’s main governing body, the Executive Committee (ExCom), prior to the start of the biennium. Needs are re-assessed during the biennium and a revised budget is presented to ExCom for approval in October of each year. The current budget may be adjusted for unforeseen needs that arise in the course of the year by means of supplementary budgets. The final budget from the previous year is presented to ExCom’s Standing Committee at its June/July meeting each year.
The trends presented below highlight the increase in needs, as well as in contributions from donors, to UNHCR’s programmes worldwide. Over the past few years, UNHCR has been hugely challenged to respond to the needs of record numbers of people forced to flee by a growing number of conflicts. By the third quarter of 2015, 33 UN appeals were only 42 per cent funded, and UNHCR’s voluntary contributions stood at just 40 per cent of its current budget for 2015, including supplementary requirements. Never before has UNHCR had to manage its programmed operations with such a high funding gap between approved budgetary requirements and funds received.
The financial information displayed on this website is subject to frequent updates and may vary from the information published in governance documents presented to the Executive Committee and its Standing Committee at their formal meetings throughout the year.