UNHCR winter appeal: 9m people urgently need winter aid as resources dwindle and temperatures drop

Baku, October 30, AZERTACFacing funding shortfalls and surging energy prices, at least 9 million people are estimated to require additional assistance to get through this winter across four war-affected countries – Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said today as it launched its annual winter fundraising appeal. To help offset deep declines in its budget, UNHCR is aiming to raise at least $50 million for winter support in 2026-27, $3 million more than it raised last year, through its annual campaign aimed at individuals and the private sector. “Resources are scarce and costs are spiralling just as winter looms in the Northern Hemisphere,” said Dominique Hyde, Director of External Relations at UNHCR. “Millions in these fragile, war-affected countries risk facing the elements without enough protection from the cold.

They need the public’s support as never before. And we need to shield them immediately. ”Winter needs are vast across all four operations, with millions contending with a recent surge in energy and food prices, makeshift shelters, a lack of fuel for heating and cooking and insufficient clothing and blankets, further stretching household budgets. Even before winter, displaced people and their hosts had been hit by cuts to cash assistance, health care, education and livelihoods. Any money raised will buy, among other things, heaters in Afghanistan, thermal blankets in Syria and Lebanon, and kits to repair bombed houses in energy-starved Ukraine. This will be the fifth winter of full-scale war in Ukraine. UNHCR’s winter plan includes cash for around 310,000 people and better-insulated homes for 80,000. UNHCR monitoring found 75 per cent of people leaving Ukraine in December 2025 to February 2026 cited a lack of electricity, water…