UN refugee agency to cut spending by a fifth as cuts bite

FILE PHOTO: A Congolese refugee looks on as a UNHCR volunteer checks on refugees and migrants rescued at open sea and waiting to be transferred to the Moria registration centre at the port of Mytilene on the Lesbos island, Greece March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. refugee agency plans to scale back its budget by nearly a fifth next year due to "financial constraints", even as the war in Sudan and other crises cause a surge in people fleeing their homes, its budget showed.

The UNHCR agency also plans to close its Southern Africa bureau and scrap nearly 4,000 jobs as cuts leave it with $8.5 billion to spend in 2026, down from $10.2 billion in 2025, according to the document published online on Monday.