As the northern hemisphere winter sets in, the UN refugee agency UNHCR has warned of a humanitarian crisis caused largely by the Trump administration’s gutting of global humanitarian funding.

The agency says that as temperatures start to drop in many regions, millions of refugees and people displaced within their own countries will facing a gruelling winter with far less assistance as humanitarian giving plummets.

UNHCR’s Director of External Relations Domique Hyde, who has just returned from Syria and Jordan, says many people will be left with little to protect them from the bitter cold.

“Humanitarian budgets are stretched to breaking point and the winter support that we offer will be much less this year,” she said.

“Families will have to endure freezing temperatures without things many of us take for granted: a proper roof, insulation, heating, blankets, warm clothes or medicine.”

UNHCR has launched a global winter fundraising campaign to help forcibly displaced families and returnees in a number of hard-hit locations meet their urgent needs in the coming months.

“This year, with governments slashing their assistance to partners like UNHCR, it’s more important than ever that individuals and private donors step up to save lives as the mercury drops,” a statement from the agency said.

UNHCR plans to raise at least $US35 million to help repair homes that have been bombed, insulate houses, provide warmth and blankets to children and the elderly, and money to buy medicines and hot food.

In the Middle East, the situation remains extremely fragile with more than a million Syrians returning to the country since the fall of the Assad regime. But many are arriving to houses destroyed by years of war and fighting.

“The most vulnerable families face the cold with nothing to shield them; funding cuts risk leaving 750,000 people without vital support through the season, including blankets, mattresses, kitchen sets, solar lamps and winter clothing,” UNHCR says.

“Families I met in Jordan hold on to the hope of returning but are daunted by the immense challenge of rebuilding. With a bitter winter approaching, most are struggling to overcome the hurdles with almost nothing,” Ms Hyde said.

In Afghanistan, sub-zero temperatures are already leaving many families exposed. Nine in ten Afghans live in poverty despite the end of more than four decades of war.

The country is still facing an economic crisis, rising unemployment and public services and social support systems stretched to breaking point.

More than 2.2 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran this year in extremely difficult conditions. Many are coming back empty-handed and with few prospects.

Others have never even set foot in Afghanistan before because they were born to exiled families.

And two devastating earthquakes in the last months have left families even more vulnerable to the elements.

In Ukraine, millions of people will be facing a fourth winter of full-scale war including internally displaced people.

“Humanitarian needs continue to grow as intensifying attacks claim civilian lives and destroy infrastructure, cumulatively adding to disruptions to gas, electricity and water,” UNHCR says.

“Temperatures risk plunging as low as -20°C, and families who have already been overwhelmed by years of violence and destruction face an especially harsh season.

“As temperatures plummet in the northern hemisphere, so is humanitarian funding. Displaced families should not have to face winter alone. Our teams are on the ground, determined to protect refugees from the cold, but we are running out of time and resources. We need more funding to help make many lives slightly more tolerable,” the agency said.

UNHCR says among the needs are:

• In Afghanistan, $30 can provide a bukhary, a traditional heating device to keep a family warm during winter
• $53 helps one refugee access medical care in Jordan
• $80 can provide a rapid thermal kit to help people in Ukraine stay warm in their homes
• $95 can support a refugee child with winter clothes in Moldova
• $120 can provide a shelter kit to a refugee family in Lebanon to repair their shelter ahead of winter
• $181 can provide a winter kit to a family in Syria.

Click here to donate to UNHCR