GENEVA: The United Nations appealed for record funds for aid next year, as the war in Ukraine and other conflicts, a climate emergency and a still simmering pandemic push more people into crisis and some into famine.
gave United NationsThe annual Global Humanitarian Assessment estimates that 339 million people around the world will need some form of emergency assistance next year – 65 million more than the estimate a year ago.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told reporters that this is an extraordinary number and it is a disappointing number. GenevaHe added that this means “next year is going to be the biggest humanitarian program in the world”.
He said that if all the people in need of emergency aid were in one country, it would be the third largest country in the world after China and India.
And new estimates mean one in 23 will need help in 2023, compared to one in 95 in 2015.
As the extreme events seen in 2022 spread into 2023, Griffiths described humanitarian needs as “shockingly high”.
“Deadly droughts and floods are wreaking havoc on communities from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa, turning part of Europe into a battlefield,” he said, referring to the war in Ukraine. “
‘A Lifeline’
The annual appeal by UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations says a record $51.5 billion will be needed to provide aid to 230 million of the most vulnerable people in 68 countries.
That was more than the $41 billion requested for 2022, although that amount has been revised down to about $50 billion over the course of the year — funding less than half of what is needed.
“For people far away, this appeal is a lifeline,” Griffiths said.
The report paints a bleak picture of increasing needs due to various conflicts, worsening instability and the climate crisis.
“There is no doubt that 2023 will continue these trends on steroids,” warns Griffiths.
The UN warned that overlapping crises had already left the world grappling with the “biggest global food crisis in modern history”.
It pointed out that at least 222 million people in 53 countries will face severe food insecurity by the end of this year, with 45 million of them at risk of starvation.
“Five countries are already experiencing what we call a famine-like situation, in which we can say with confidence, unhappily, that people are dying as a result,” Griffiths said.
Those countries – Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan – have seen parts of their populations face “catastrophic hunger” this year, but have yet to see a nationwide famine declared.
Over 100 million displaced
Meanwhile, forced displacement is on the rise, with the number of refugees, asylum seekers or people displaced in their own country surpassing 100 million for the first time this year – more than 1% of the world’s population.
“And all of this is on top of the devastation caused by pandemics among the world’s poorest people,” Griffiths said, also pointing to the outbreak of M. pox, previously known as monkeypox, Ebola, cholera and other diseases. was known as
The conflict has hit many countries hard, not least Ukraine, where Russia’s full-scale invasion in February left millions in dire need.
The global humanitarian plan aims to provide $1.7 billion in cash assistance to 6.3 million people inside the war-torn country, and $5.7 billion to support millions of Ukrainians and their host communities in surrounding countries.
‘solidarity’
Meanwhile, more than 28 million people are considered in need in famine-stricken Afghanistan, which saw the Taliban return to power last year, while another eight million Afghans and their hosts in the region also need aid.
More than $5 billion has been requested to address the combined crisis, while billions more have been requested to help the millions of people affected by years of conflict in Syria and Yemen.
The appeal also highlighted the dire situation in Ethiopia, where a worsening drought and two years of conflict in Tigray have left some 29 million people in dire need of aid.
Faced with such overwhelming needs, Griffiths said he hopes 2023 will be “a year of solidarity, just as 2022 has been a year of suffering.”