Millions of refugee children could lose access to education because of a growing shortfall in funding for school programmes, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned. According to its data, 5.8 million refugee children didn't go to school last year - 44 percent of the estimated 13.1 million refugee children worldwide. Almost every second child.

At least two thirds of refugee children attended primary school, but secondary education was available to only one child in three. At the same time, a record number of refugees continued studying beyond secondary school: for the first time, in 2025 more than 450,000 refugees enrolled at universities or vocational institutions, and their share rose to 11 percent, from nine percent the year before. In other words, the model works - when there's money.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih, knows what he's talking about first-hand. Born in Iraq, he fled with his family to Iran and went to a school for refugees there as a child. He later studied in Britain, where he earned a doctorate in statistics and computer applications in engineering. "Education gave me opportunities that as a refugee I might not have had," he said.

His message to governments is blunt: "At a time when there is less and less money for humanitarian aid and development projects, cutting funds for education could undo the progress made so far and take away the opportunities of an entire generation of young people." UNHCR estimates it needs 8.5 billion dollars this year, and so far only about a third of that has been secured.

Many countries have cut their international aid budgets. Among them is Germany, one of the world's largest donors, which is set to cut funding for development programmes for the fifth year in a row in 2027. Governments that talk about values at summits are quietly deleting the budget lines for other people's children.

The Balkans remember the columns of refugees in the nineties and the children who went to school far from home. They also know that education is the only thing a refugee carries with them wherever they go. Will any of today's donors remember that when they sign off the next cut?