GENEVA: The new head of the UN humanitarian aid agency says it will be \u201cruthless\u201d when prioritizing how to spend money, a nod to challenges in fundraising for civilians in war zones like Gaza, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.
\nTom Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat who took up the UN post last month, said his agency is asking for less money in 2025 than this year. He said it wants to show \u201cwe will focus and target the resources we have,\u201d even as crises grow more numerous, intense and long-lasting.
\nHis agency, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on Wednesday issued its global appeal for 2025, seeking $47 billion to help 190 million people in 32 countries \u2014 though it estimates 305 million worldwide need help.
\n\u201cThe world is on fire, and this is how we put it out,\u201d he told reporters on Tuesday.
\nThe office and many other aid groups, including the international Red Cross, have seen donations shrink in recent years for longtime trouble spots like Syria, South Sudan, the Middle East and Congo and newer ones like Ukraine and Sudan. Aid access has been difficult in some places, especially Sudan and Gaza.
\nThe office\u2019s appeal for $50 billion for this year was only 43 percent fulfilled as of last month. One consequence of that shortfall was a 80 percent reduction in food aid for Syria, which has seen a sudden escalation in fighting in recent days.
\nSuch funds go to UN agencies and more than 1,500 partner organizations.
\nThe biggest asks for 2025 are for Syria \u2014 a total of $8.7 billion for needs both within the country and for neighbors that have taken in Syrian refugees \u2014 as well as Sudan at a total of $6 billion, the \u201cOccupied Palestinian Territory\u201d at $4 billion, Ukraine at about $3.3 billion and Congo at nearly $3.2 billion.
\nFletcher said his office needs to be \u201cruthless\u201d in choosing to reach people most in need.
\n\u201cI choose that word carefully, because it\u2019s a judgment call \u2014 that ruthlessness \u2014 about prioritizing where the funding goes and where we can have the greatest impact,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a recognition that we have struggled in previous years to raise the money we need.\u201d
\nIn response to questions about how much President-elect Donald Trump of the United States \u2014 the UN\u2019s biggest single donor \u2014 will spend on humanitarian aid, Fletcher said he expects to spend \u201ca lot of time\u201d in Washington over the next few months to talk with the new administration.
\n\u201cAmerica is very much on our minds at the moment,\u201d he said, acknowledging some governments \u201cwill be more questioning of what the United Nations does and less ideologically supportive of this humanitarian effort\u201d laid out in the new report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA: The new head of the UN humanitarian aid agency says it will be \u201cruthless\u201d when prioritizing how to spend money, a nod to challenges in fundraising for civilians in war zones like Gaza, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine. Tom Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat who took up the UN post last month, said his agency […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-447314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n