New York, Sept. 18 -- : Underfunding has left a "yawning gap" in the UN Refugee Agency's ability to protect forcibly displaced people worldwide from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.
The emergency tops their list of the 10 most underfunded situations in 2021. Only one-third of the budgeted requirements of USD924 million has been received, according to UNHCR's Chief of Public Health Section, Ann Burton, who called for more global attention and funding support.
Burton pointed out that the pandemic has hurt forcibly displaced and stateless people in ways that "reach far beyond the risk posed by the virus" itself. Failure "to adequately fund the response only deep...