Among them is Nawal.*mother and widow struggling to meet the basic needs of her six children who do not receive enough food (the youngest of whom is constantly sick).
Support for refugees and asylum seekers
UNHCR assists arriving Sudanese through various services, including registration and refugee status determination, delegated by the Egyptian government, said UNHCR Egypt spokesperson Christine Beshay. UN News.
The agency provides protective services, as well as health, educational, child and psychological support, as well as cash assistance to the neediest families, including Nawal’s.
Sudanese refugees waiting at a UNHCR registration center in Cairo, Egypt.
But this support for refugees and asylum seekers is at risk due to what Ms Beshay described as a serious underfunding problem, not only because of the recent shift in funding reaching humanitarian and development agencies, but also because the total number of refugees in Egypt has risen from 300,000 three years ago to more than 1.1 million.
Funding Decrease
In 2025, funding levels remained almost the same as in 2022, i.e. before the outbreak of the Sudan crisis.
“The proportion of funding available to each refugee has decreased from $11 a month to just $4,” Ms Beshay said.
“The amount of $11 was already insufficient to cover all the needs of the refugees and therefore, with the number of refugees doubling and funding shortages, the support we provide has been reduced.”
Program threatened with suspension
Nawal and other beneficiaries of UNHCR’s cash assistance program receive approximately 1,530 Egyptian pounds (about $29) per month. She also works part time.
However, this is not enough, as Nawal has had to enroll only three of her children in school, while her eldest son dropped out of school to take care of his siblings while she was at work.
Ms Beshay said UNHCR often prefers to provide cash assistance to refugee families, allowing them to choose with dignity how to meet their needs, whether paying for rent, food, education or health.
A Sudanese refugee receives cash assistance provided by UNHCR in Egypt.
Fewer families receive help
It warned that the cash assistance program had received only two percent of the required funding, reducing the number of beneficiary families by “more than half.”
Furthermore, “the program is at risk of closing if we do not receive additional support in the coming weeks,” he added.
“The majority of families receiving cash assistance are headed by women and these families typically have school-age children.
“Therefore, when this support stops, the mother is forced to make very difficult decisions: feed her children or send them to school,” she said.
“In addition, when in a family with school-age children there is only one breadwinner (the mother), she cannot accept a regular job that provides a stable income for the family.”
Training and job opportunities.
UNHCR is working with several entities to provide support to refugees.
“We have recently seen something positive regarding the private sector, as companies have started, through their social responsibility, to provide support, whether through training or providing job opportunities,” he said.
This opens “new horizons” for refugees and asylum seekers to learn new skills that they could use in their countries of origin “when they have the opportunity to return safely and with dignity,” Beshay added.
*Only Nawal’s first name is used to protect her identity.