The United States is UNHCR’s top government donor and a key partner in protecting and assisting our persons of concern - refugees, stateless persons, returnees, and IDPs - around the world.
The United States is UNHCR’s top government donor and a key partner in protecting and assisting our persons of concern - refugees, stateless persons, returnees, and IDPs - around the world. As a member of our Advisory Committee since 1951, and a founding member of the governing Executive Committee (ExCom) since 1959, U.S. support for UNHCR and forcibly displaced persons has been steadfast and robust throughout the last seven decades.
The vital contributions of the United States enable UNHCR’s work to protect, assist, and seek solutions for refugees and displaced people. Funding from the United States supports critical UNHCR programs, including child protection, youth engagement, statelessness prevention, cash assistance, humanitarian and development coordination, and the comprehensive refugee response framework (CRRF). In particular, U.S. investment in the Safe from the Start initiative underpins our ability to address the needs of women and girls at risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) from the onset of a humanitarian emergency.
Both UNHCR and the United States share priorities in upholding accountability to affected populations, ensuring integrity and oversight of humanitarian responses, increasing efficiency and effectiveness of operations, and implementing the Grand Bargain and UN reforms.
In 2018, the United States donated a total of $1,589,776,543, with $467,400,000 in flexible funding. Flexible funding from the United States reaches nearly every UNHCR operation and further allows us to respond quickly in emergencies, continue supporting protracted situations, and maintain protection-related activities in neglected conflicts.
