Laila Soudi, founder of Rise with Refugees, is based in Jordan and is actively working in refugee camps to bring attention to the challenges and successes within displaced communities. Laila received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and her MS in Global Health Sciences from UCSF.

In recent decades, the global refugee crisis has escalated dramatically. Conflicts are lasting longer, displacing more people for extended periods. Compared to the 1990s, the duration of conflicts, the number of displaced individuals, and the average time of displacement have all more than doubled. Today, over 120 million people are displaced globally, and more than 300 million rely on humanitarian assistance for basic survival.[1] Yet the global humanitarian aid system—now with over a $46 billion annual appeal, a staggering increase from $2 billion three decades ago—is grappling with chronic underfunding.[2] For the past five years, it has faced a 40% annual funding shortfall, leaving critical services, including mental health support, dangerously underfunded.[3]

The provision of aid, funded largely by governments and coordinated by United Nations agencies and implementing partners, is inconsistent and fragmented. In the wake of acute emergencies, many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) globally converge to provide immediate relief to impacted populations.[4] But as the months and years stretch on, many of these organizations find themselves unable to sustain operations and withdraw due to funding limitations, competing priorities, logistical difficulties, and security risks, leaving refugees in a state of profound vulnerability. This transient approach is evident, for example, in the case of the World Food Program (WFP) in Jordan and Lebanon, where refugee families dependent on monthly food assistance often endure abrupt reductions or suspensions of critical aid, leading to food insecurity, undermining long-term stability, increasing psychological stress, and eroding trust in aid providers. Despite fundraising a staggering $8.3 billion in 2023, the WFP was $14.5 billion short of meeting global needs.[5] This chronic underfunding does not only hinder access to basic necessities like food and shelter for refugees, but it also leads to a critical gap in one of the most neglected areas of humanitarian aid: mental health.

Disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are among the leading causes of disability worldwide. Yet governments around the globe invest less than 2% of their health budgets in mental health services, a neglect mirrored in international development assistance.[6] In refugee populations, where exposure to violence and displacement is compounded by the loss of homes, livelihoods, and support systems, the absence of mental health care is catastrophic.

Consider the children born into conflict zones such as Syria, Gaza, and Sudan. Just days ago, I spoke with a Gazan mother who had fled to Egypt a few months ago after her home was reduced to rubble and much of her family was killed. Through tears, she recounted the most unbearable moment of her life: “I pulled my daughter’s body from the wreckage. What was left of her came out in burnt, unrecognizable pieces. There was nothing whole. We had to gather fragments of her small body into a plastic bag.” Although she had escaped the physical violence, her mind remains ensnared by the trauma. Clutching her phone, she anxiously awaits news of her two older children, still trapped in Gaza. Like millions of displaced people, she has no access to mental health services, illustrating the tragic gap in humanitarian aid that leaves the psychological toll of displacement unaddressed.

The broader consequences of neglecting mental health for refugees are profound. Left untreated, trauma festers, perpetuating cycles of suffering that transcend generations. Refugees without access to mental health services struggle to reintegrate into society and rebuild their lives, creating long-term dependency on aid.[7] This dependency is not born of choice but necessity, as individuals are stripped of the means to support themselves, even when they possess the skills and will to do so. Refugees are no different from you or me—they yearn for dignity, for opportunity, and for a future where they can control their destinies.

To address these gaps, the global health community must fundamentally rethink the way humanitarian aid is structured. Mental health and well-being must be recognized as integral components of recovery, not secondary concerns, and seamlessly integrated into all humanitarian aid responses from the outset. This requires increased funding and a concerted effort to train local mental health professionals capable of working on the frontlines. In conflict zones, the shortage of mental health professionals is exacerbated by security concerns and the lack of infrastructure, making it even more vital to develop innovative models such as telemedicine or mobile mental health clinics. Community-based approaches where non-professional providers deliver psychosocial interventions, such as those implemented in Uganda, Pakistan, and India, offer a scalable and cost-effective solution.[8]^,[9],[10]

By empowering refugees themselves and offering them skills-based training to take on roles in providing basic mental health care, we can address the chronic shortage of trained professionals. Short, skills-based training can equip laypeople within refugee camps to deliver impactful psychosocial interventions, fostering resilience and alleviating distress within their communities.[11] This not only improves access to care but also restores a sense of agency to refugees, empowering them at a time when they have been stripped of nearly all control over their lives.

Ultimately, addressing the mental health needs of displaced populations requires more than just immediate interventions—it necessitates comprehensive structural change at every level, from institutional frameworks to grassroots community efforts. While some argue that limited resources should focus on immediate needs like food and shelter, the reality is that untreated psychological trauma hinders refugees’ ability to rebuild their lives, making long-term recovery impossible without addressing both physical and mental health needs. As such, the global community must commit to a long-term vision of recovery, prioritizing physical survival and psychological healing. The cost of inaction is immense. Untreated trauma casts a lifelong shadow, with the potential to destabilize communities for years, even decades, to come. As the number of displaced people swells to over 120 million, the global health community must recognize that mental health is not an optional part of aid—it is fundamental to the survival, dignity, and future of those forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, or climate-related disasters.

To ignore the mental health needs of displaced populations is to condemn them to a lifetime of suffering—and to perpetuate this suffering through generations. It is time for the global health community, particularly funders, to rise to the challenge, to put mental health at the center of humanitarian efforts, and to empower refugees not just to survive but to truly rebuild their lives with dignity and resilience.