Germany’s support for refugees is unwavering and multifaceted. Germany has become the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world and the largest in the EU, with 2.5 million refugees from all over the world, including more than 1 million refugees from Ukraine. In addition to these high numbers of spontaneously arriving people in need of international protection, Germany is also engaging in resettlement and has become a leading partner for UNHCR in this area.
Moreover, Germany’s outstanding role as a large donor has been reinforced by the provision of significant portions of its financial support through flexible funding by the Federal Foreign Office (FFO), which allows UNHCR to protect and assist displaced people in some of the largest emergency situations around the world, including Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan, and also in crises that receive less international media attention, such as the Sudan situation. Since 2021, over 80% of Germany’s funding to UNHCR has been softly earmarked, making it UNHCR’s most flexible donor.
Vital protection activities such as prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence, the identification and registration of refugees, documentation support, legal aid and counselling are just a few of the key interventions made possible through Germany's assistance.
For decades, Germany has been a pioneer in higher education for refugees. In 1992, UNHCR and the German government launched the Refugee Higher Education Scholarship Programme, known as the "Deutsche Akademische Flüchtlingsinitiative Albert Einstein" or the DAFI scholarship program. As UNHCR’s flagship tertiary education scholarship program, it is the cornerstone of the UNHCR 15by30 Roadmap, which aims at raising levels of refugee participation in higher education to 15% by 2030. In over 30 years, the DAFI program has helped more than 22,500 young refugee women and men in 55 countries to obtain an accredited higher education qualification in their first country of asylum.
Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has also become a key strategic partner for UNHCR, supporting the goals of the Global Compact on Refugees and setting a powerful example to the world on the need for increased responsibility-sharing.
86% of the contribution was softly earmarked and unearmarked
German support across the globe
