The new agreement between the Grundfos Foundation and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is based on a high level of trust and few requirements. In total, the Grundfos Foundation is donating DKK 7.5 million, which UNHCR can request with only 24 hours’ notice in the event of urgent humanitarian needs in both new and protracted conflicts and emergencies.
This gives UNHCR the flexibility to respond rapidly and direct resources to where the needs are greatest – including to situations that may not be in the media or public spotlight.
A strained financial situation
The agreement comes at a critical time. The number of people forcibly displaced around the world has never been higher – 124 million people. At the same time, UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations are facing a funding crisis that has severe consequences for people forced to flee, whom UNHCR is mandated to help and protect. People who are often completely dependent on UNHCR’s presence, emergency aid and protection services.
The need to rapidly mobilize financial support for victims of new conflicts and disasters is greater than ever. Life-saving humanitarian assistance – such as access to clean water, medical aid and protection – has been significantly reduced or shut down entirely in several countries. Without new and flexible funding for UNHCR’s emergency response, people forced to flee will be left without basic support when disasters strike in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.
First allocation already made
UNHCR has already identified where the first funds will be allocated – namely, to the emergency response in Chad, which, as a neighbouring country to the Sudan conflict, has received more than 760,000 Sudanese who have fled the brutal fighting in their homeland. The conflict in Sudan has now lasted for two years and continues to drive refugees across the border into Chad every single day – the vast majority of them women and children. This puts additional pressure on one of the world’s poorest countries, which is already severely affected by extreme weather events, conflict and economic instability.

Refugees from Sudan are received at the transit centre in Tine, Chad, where they are provided with emergency assistance, including food, clean water, shelter, and medical support. Phto: UNHCR
The generous donation from the Grundfos Foundation is helping UNHCR sustain parts of the most critical emergency response. The funds could, among other things, help secure emergency water supply for approximately 200,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad. This makes a huge difference in a situation where only 14% of the required funding for UNHCR’s humanitarian efforts in Chad is currently secured.
An innovative model
With the innovative, trust-based funding model, the Grundfos Foundation is taking the lead in strengthening an important philanthropic practice. The rapid and flexible support through the emergency relief partnership is a critical addition to the long-term strategic partnerships the Foundation already has with UNHCR.
Both UNHCR and the Grundfos Foundation hope and believe that the agreement is more than just a donation. It contributes to a critical way of doing philanthropy – one where trust and the ability to act fast are at the center when humanitarian crises strike.

Aboutengue Refugee Settlement, located in eastern Chad near the Sudanese border, is one of several camps established to shelter individuals fleeing the conflict in Sudan. Photo: UNHCR