GENEVA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Donor governments pledged some 1.2 billion U.S. dollars to the UN refugee agency UNHCR Thursday at an annual pledging conference in Geneva to provide humanitarian assistance.

UNHCR said that the pledges include an initial 884.4 million dollars for 2020 to provide refugees and internally displaced people with shelter, food, clean water and other basic needs as well as to assist stateless people with obtaining a nationality.

In addition, some 310 million dollars has been pledged towards multi-year programming so as to make UNHCR more efficient and effective in its long-term planning.

However, UNHCR said that the gap between needs and available funding continues to be big, with a total of 8.7 billion dollars will be needed for the agency's programs next year.

According to the UN agency, voluntary contributions from governments, intergovernmental institutions, private businesses and individuals make up almost the entirety of UNHCR's funding.