UN says 5.8mil refugee children out of school

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has reported that 5.8 million refugee children were out of school in 2025, a figure that could worsen due to funding cuts. UNHCR revealed that 44% of the world's 13.1 million school-age refugee children were not in school last year. Education is crucial, as it serves as protection and a pathway to opportunity and self-reliance, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih.

However, severe cuts to humanitarian and development financing are threatening to reverse decades of investment and deny opportunities to a generation of young people. Former Iraqi President Barham Salih emphasized that education had given him opportunities that displacement otherwise might have denied. While 65% of refugee children aged between 6 and 10 were enrolled in primary education in 2025, only 32% were enrolled in secondary school.

Tertiary education enrollment for refugees reached a record high of 11%. UNHCR data showed that its funding had dropped from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion in 2025, while the number of people it protects has reached historically high levels. The agency required $8.5 billion this year to continue providing protection services, but as of July, it had only received 32% of that amount, amounting to $2.7 billion.

Nearly 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced individuals faced losing essential assistance from UNHCR as protection services crumble due to the severe funding cuts.