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Humanitarian policy and partnerships

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

2023-24 total Australian ODA [budget estimate]
$25.0 million
2022-23 total Australian ODA [budget estimate]
$25.0 million

* Australia’s development efforts are set out in Partnerships for Recovery: Australia’s COVID-19 Development Response.

Australia works with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance and safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, asylum seekers, stateless and internally displaced persons globally, including in the Indo-Pacific region.

There are now over 80 million people forcibly displaced around the world due to persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations.

In 2021-22, Australia has provided $35 million so far in core funding to UNHCR to:

  • implement COVID-19 preparedness and response activities, including increased water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in refugee camps, and provision of quarantine support and health care in high-risk displacement settings
  • provide critical life-saving assistance, including water, shelter and food, to the millions of refugees and other persons who have been forced to flee their home
  • protect vulnerable displaced persons, particularly women and girls from sexual exploitation and gender-based violence
  • strengthen international protection for refugees and internally displaced persons, including by supporting dialogue with governments hosting and resettling refugees
  • promote refugee resilience and self-reliance through livelihood support and vocational training.
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