Zakat and Sadaqah donations from the UAE and wider Middle East have become a critical humanitarian lifeline for displaced families worldwide as global aid budgets shrink, the UN refugee agency has said.
“In 2025, Zakat and Sadaqah from UAE-based and other MENA donors … raised $39.4 million to support over 1 million displaced people across 25 countries. Zakat represented 60 per cent of this amount, supporting more than 579,000 people in 17 countries,” said Dr Khaled Khalifa, Senior Advisor and UNHCR Representative in the GCC, in an interview with Khaleej Times tied to the agency’s Islamic Philanthropy Annual Report 2025.
Funds distributed through the UNHCR Refugee Zakat Fund primarily help displaced families cover their most urgent daily needs through direct cash assistance, helping families secure essentials such as food, shelter, and healthcare.
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Global funding crisis
UNHCR warns that it is facing one of the most severe financial crises in recent years, forcing the agency to scale back several programmes worldwide.
“The financial situation is significantly more severe than in previous years. Due to the global funding crisis, UNHCR is forced to roll back essential services and reduce its activities and workforce by approximately one-third, an unprecedented scale of contraction,” Khalifa said.
“In 2025, UNHCR received $3.5 billion in contributions, which is around $1.4 billion (28%) lower than in 2024.”
As a result, around 11.6 million forcibly displaced people are at risk of losing direct assistance, with programmes already suspended or scaled back in countries including Egypt, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Chad and Bangladesh.
“Every major sector has been affected: cash assistance cut by 60%, shelter by 40%, health programmes by 35%, education programmes by 34%, and the list goes on,” he said.
Impact felt in everyday life
For refugee families, the funding shortfall is already affecting daily survival.
“Refugees and displaced communities in these areas are experiencing significant challenges to secure their basic needs, including shelter, food, water, and access to services such as healthcare and education and child protection, due to ongoing funding shortages,” Khalifa said.
“Families are forced to choose between feeding their children, buying medicines or paying rent, while hope for a better future slips out of sight.”
He added that emergency response efforts are also being affected.
“Limitations on emergency response force UNHCR to pause the relocation of refugees from border areas to safer locations, restrict access to clean water and food, and disrupt the delivery of emergency relief items.”
Faith-based giving
With humanitarian funding under severe pressure globally, UNHCR says faith-based giving and private donations are becoming increasingly important in sustaining relief efforts.
“Yes, amidst unprecedented budget cuts, the humanitarian lifeline has been left fraying with millions of displaced families hanging on by a thread,” Khalifa said. “These cuts are not abstract figures – they are felt by real people who, after being forced to flee their homes, are being pushed to the edge of survival every day.
“Alternative sources of funding such as private sector donations and Islamic philanthropy are becoming crucial to bridging the funding gap and helping refugees and internally displaced families stay afloat and rebuild their lives with dignity.”
UAE partnerships
In addition to charitable giving, partnerships with UAE organisations are helping deliver tangible support for displaced communities across several countries.
“The support of the United Arab Emirates to UNHCR’s Islamic philanthropy programmes has been pivotal, particularly through organisations such as Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), which enabled UNHCR to reach around 70,000 beneficiaries in 2025 alone through emergency response, food security, livelihoods, and WASH programmes,” Khalifa said.
He added that collaboration with Sharjah-based developer Arada has also provided housing and water infrastructure for displaced families.
The ‘Home for Home’ initiative has delivered “durable housing for more than 3,300 refugees, established water infrastructure benefiting over 43,000 people in northern Kenya, and provided access to clean water for 30,000 and shelter for more than 14,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad. ”.
Source: Khaleej Times