The agency has already cut nearly 5,000 jobs as a result of cuts by the United States and other countries.

With the addition of contributions from UNHCR's national partner associations, the amount pledged on Tuesday at a donors' meeting is even closer to $1.5 billion.“This is more than last year” at the same time, said High Commissioner Filippo Grandi, who will be leaving the UN agency at the end of December after ten years at the helm. But“concerns remain”, he told participants.

Among several countries, he thanked Switzerland for its“significant” announcement for next year. Bern has pledged CHF34 million, CHF18 million of which is unconditional, with the remainder earmarked for programmes such as Ukraine.

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But Switzerland cannot claim to be one of the biggest contributors, even though former Secretary of State for Migration Christine Schraner Burgener is a candidate to succeed Grandi. According to observers, Germany, one of the main donors, is exerting more influence in an attempt to persuade UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to appoint a Secretary of State from that country, Niels Annen.

While waiting to find out who the next head of the UNHCR will be, Grandi welcomed a“strong signal” for next year and“political support”. He called for the promises to be implemented swiftly to avoid cash flow uncertainty at the start of the year.

This content was published on Nov 26, 2025 Switzerland has threatened to deprive the ILO in Geneva of CHF4.7 million in savings over potential relocation.