Faced with the effects of climate change, the risk of famine and the war in Ukraine, the UN presented this Thursday (1) an appeal to raise a record amount of 51.5 billion dollars in 2023 to offer humanitarian aid to 230 million of people.
“Next year will represent the biggest humanitarian program ever launched at the world level”, said to the press the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths.
UN humanitarian agencies will need $51.5 billion next year, 25% more than in 2022.
The resources will finance programs to help 230 million particularly vulnerable people in 68 countries.
The UN does not have the capacity, however, to help all people in need
In total, 339 million people will need emergency assistance in 2023, considerably more than the 274 million who needed assistance this year.
“It’s a huge and depressing number,” said Griffiths.
The senior UN official highlighted that humanitarian needs have not diminished since they peaked during the pandemic.
“Droughts and floods are wreaking havoc (…) from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa region. The war in Ukraine turned part of Europe into a battleground. More than 100 million people are displaced, and this all adds up to the devastation the pandemic has wrought among the poorest,” explained Griffiths.
The appeal for funds submitted by the UN on Thursday is based on a bleak scenario.
At least 222 million people in 53 countries will face “acute food insecurity” by the end of 2022.
Of the total, 45 million people in 37 countries are at risk of starvation.
– Insufficient generosity –
“Five countries are already experiencing what we know as conditions close to famine,” emphasized Griffiths.
The affected countries are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, told AFP.
Public health is also under pressure in many parts of the planet, as a result of the persistence of covid-19 and monkeypox, the resurgence of the Ebola virus in Uganda and the presence of multiple cholera epidemics in several countries, in particular Haiti and Syria.
All this in a context of climate change, which increases risks and vulnerabilities in the poorest countries. According to the UN, by the end of the century extreme heat could cause the same number of victims as cancer.
In 2022, the UN secured 47% of the requested funds, explained Griffiths. The deficit has never been greater, which forces humanitarian organizations to choose between populations that can receive aid.
The country in which the United Nations points out the greatest need for resources for 2023 is Afghanistan (4.63 billion dollars), followed by Syria, Yemen and Ukraine.
#calls #record #US51.5 #billion #humanitarian #aid #ISTOÉ #DINHEIRO