GENEVA
\nThe UN appealed for record funds for aid next year, as the Ukraine war and other conflicts, climate emergencies and the still-simmering pandemic push more people into crisis, and some towards famine.
\nThe United Nations\u2019 annual Global Humanitarian Overview estimated that 339 million people worldwide will need some form of emergency assistance next year \u2014 a staggering 65 million more people than the estimate a year ago.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenal number and it\u2019s a depressing number,\u201d UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva, adding that it meant \u201cnext year is going to be the biggest humanitarian programme\u201d the world has ever seen.
\nIf all the people in need of emergency assistance were in one country, it would be the third-largest nation in the world, after China and India, he said. And the new estimate means that one in 23 people will need help in 2023, compared to one in 95 back in 2015.
\nAs the extreme events seen in 2022 spill into 2023, Griffiths described the humanitarian needs as \u201cshockingly high\u201d. \u201cLethal droughts and floods are wreaking havoc in communities from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa,\u201d he said, also pointing to the war in Ukraine, which \u201chas turned a part of Europe into a battlefield.\u201d
\n\u2018A lifeline\u2019
\nThe annual appeal by UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations said that providing aid to the 230 million most vulnerable people across 68 countries would require a record $51.5 billion.
\nThat was up from the $41 billion requested for 2022, although the sum has been revised up to around $50 billion during the year \u2014 with less than half of that sought-for amount funded. \u201cFor people on the brink, this appeal is a lifeline,\u201d Griffiths said.
\nThe report presented a depressing picture of soaring needs brought on by a range of conflicts, worsening instability and a deepening climate crisis.
\n\u201cThere is no doubt that 2023 is going to perpetuate these on-steroids trends,\u201d Griffiths warned. The overlapping crises have already left the world dealing with the \u201clargest global food crisis in modern history\u201d, the UN warned.
\nIt pointed out that at least 222 million people across 53 countries were expected to face acute food insecurity by the end of this year, with 45 million of them facing the risk of starvation.
\n\u201cFive countries already are experiencing what we call famine-like conditions, in which we can confidently, unhappily, say that people are dying as a result,\u201d Griffiths said.
\nThose countries \u2014 Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan \u2014 have seen portions of their populations face \u201ccatastrophic hunger\u201d this year, but have not yet seen country-wide famines declared.
\nOver 100m displaced
\nForced displacement is meanwhile surging, with the number of people living as refugees, asylum seekers or displaced inside their own country passing 100 million \u2014 over one percent of the global population \u2014 for the first time this year.
\n\u201cAnd all of this on top of the devastation left by the pandemic among the world\u2019s poorest,\u201d Griffiths said, also pointing to outbreaks of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, Ebola, cholera and other diseases.
\nConflicts have taken a dire toll on a range of countries, not least on Ukraine, where Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in February has left millions in dire need.
\nThe global humanitarian plan will aim to provide $1.7 billion in cash assistance to 6.3 million people inside the war-torn country, and also $5.7 billion to help the millions of Ukrainians and their host communities in surrounding countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA The UN appealed for record funds for aid next year, as the Ukraine war and other conflicts, climate emergencies and the still-simmering pandemic push more people into crisis, and some towards famine. The United Nations\u2019 annual Global Humanitarian Overview estimated that 339 million people worldwide will need some form of emergency assistance next year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-298896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n