Over 11 million refugees may lose aid access due to cuts, says UN agency

This is about one-third of refugees normally supported by the U.N. agency, it said.

"Our funding situation is dramatic. We fear that up to 11.6 million refugees and people forced to flee are losing access to humanitarian assistance provided by UNHCR," said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR's director of external relations.

Just 23% of the UNHCR's funding requirement of $10.6 billion has been fulfilled so far for this year, it said.

The funding crisis stems from large foreign aid cuts by donor countries such as Sweden, France and Japan, compounded by major U.S. aid cuts.

Forced displacement is increasing globally, while humanitarian aid is sharply decreasing, creating a "deadly cocktail" that places displaced populations at grave risk, according to a new report published on Friday by the UNHCR.

The agency said it has had to stop or suspend about $1.4 billion worth of aid programmes, including a 60% reduction in emergency relief supplies in many countries, including Sudan, Chad and Afghanistan.

Critical areas such as medical aid, education, shelter, nutrition, and protection are among the services being lost.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by UNHCR funding cuts, with the agency having to cut one quarter of its support to programmes that provide protection and response to gender-based violence.

Women and girls in Afghanistan are the hardest hit by cuts, the UNHCR said.

"Protection activities have been slashed by over 50%, undermining programmes on women's empowerment, mental health and prevention and response to gender-based violence," Hyde said.

Globally the agency is downsizing by 30%, cutting 3,500 staff positions.