GENEVA: On Monday, the United Nations announced a requirement of $46.4 billion for the upcoming year to deliver life-saving aid to approximately 180 million people facing dire circumstances worldwide.
The UN painted a grim picture for the global humanitarian landscape in 2024, citing conflicts, climate crises, and economic breakdowns wreaking havoc on the most at-risk populations. Despite widespread focus on the Gaza Strip conflict, the UN highlighted urgent needs in broader regions like the Middle East, Sudan, and Afghanistan, requiring substantial international aid efforts. However, due to a decrease in donations, the scale of the yearly appeal and its intended outreach have been reduced compared to 2023.
“Humanitarians are saving lives, fighting hunger, protecting children, pushing back epidemics, and providing shelter and sanitation in many of the world’s most inhumane contexts,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement.
“But the necessary support from the international community is not keeping pace with the needs,” he said.
In 2023, the appeal sought $56.7 billion but only secured 35 percent of that sum, marking one of the most significa
nt funding shortfalls in recent years. Despite this, UN agencies managed to provide aid and protection to 128 million individuals. With only a few weeks remaining, 2023 is poised to be the first year since 2010 where humanitarian contributions have decreased from the previous year. Consequently, the UN has revised its appeal for 2024 to $46.4 billion, prioritizing aid for those facing the most severe circumstances. Griffiths, upon launching the 2024 Global Humanitarian Overview, acknowledged the challenge of raising this substantial amount, especially with many donor countries grappling with their own economic hardships.
“Without adequate funding, we cannot provide life-saving assistance. And if we cannot provide that assistance, people will pay with their lives,” he said.
The appeal encompasses assistance for 72 nations: aiding 26 states grappling with crises and supporting 46 neighboring countries contending with secondary repercussions, such as a surge in refugees.
The primary individual-country appeals rank as follows: Syria ($4.4 billion), Ukraine ($3.1 billion), Afghanistan ($3 billion), Ethiopia ($2.9 billion), and other states ($2.8 billion).
Griffiths indicated that an estimated 300 million individuals worldwide will require assistance next year—a decrease from the 363 million in the previous year. However, the UN’s target is to aid only 180.5 million of them, with the remaining assistance being directed by NGOs, aid agencies, and the proactive efforts of frontline nations and communities.
The Middle East and North Africa necessitate $13.9 billion, constituting the largest funding requirement for any region in 2024.
Apart from Syria and the Palestinian territories, Griffiths emphasized the ongoing need for sustained global attention in regions like Sudan and its neighbouring countries, as well as in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Myanmar.
Ukraine is going through a “desperate winter” with the prospect of more warfare on the other side, he said.
Griffiths highlighted that, on a larger scale, climate change is poised to have a growing influence on the tasks of humanitarian aid workers, necessitating an improvement in their utilization of climate data to target aid resources more effectively.
“There is no doubt about the climate confronting and competing with conflict as the driver of need,” he said.
“Climate displaces more children now than conflict. It was never thus before,” he said.
