UN seeks record $51.5 billion in aid to extend ‘lifeline’ worldwide

With more than 4% of the world’s people in need of assistance, the United Nations is seeking a record US$51.5 billion to help the most needy and vulnerable in nearly 70 countries.

Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s top emergency relief official, on Thursday described the needs as “shockingly high” saying that he expects that this year’s humanitarian emergencies to continue into 2023.

Speaking in Geneva at the launch of the Global Humanitarian Overview report for 2023, Griffiths cited the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing effects of climate change.

“I fear that 2023 is going to be an acceleration of all those trends, and that’s why we say … that we hope 2023 will be a year of solidarity, just as 2022 has been a year of suffering,” he said.

Outlook is grim

“If the humanitarian outlook for 2023 is so grim, it is in large part because relief demands are already so high,” Griffiths said. He called the U.N. appeal a “lifeline” for people on the brink.

While many developing nations have suffered through droughts and floods — from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted food supply lines and turned a large swath of Europe into a battlefield.

“More than 100 million people are now displaced worldwide. And all of this on top of the devastation left by the pandemic among the world’s poorest,” Griffiths said.

A daunting task

It will be difficult to raise the full amount from donors, both national and private, whose generosity cannot keep up with growing demands, he told reporters. This year’s U.N.-led Global Humanitarian Appeal is less than half funded.

Griffiths said at least 222 million people will face acute food insecurity in 53 countries by the end of this year.

Five countries “are already experiencing what we call famine-like conditions, where we can confidently and unhappily say that people are dying as a result — and it tends to be children — of displacement, food insecurity, lack of food, starvation,” he said.

The Global Humanitarian Overview forecasts that next year 45 million people in 37 countries are at risk of starvation.

More people than ever need help

One in every 23 people, or more than 4% of the world’s population are in need of humanitarian help, according to the agency that Griffiths oversees, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.

By next year, a record 339 million people will need assistance, up from 274 million people at the beginning of 2022. The U.N. and partner organizations aim to assist 230 million people who are considered the most in need across 69 countries.

High inflation, rising operational and commodity costs and expanding need all make the job of helping the most needy more difficult. As an example, the World Food Program’s monthly food costs are 44% higher than before the pandemic.

OCHA, in a new report, itemizes a dismal list of global trends and challenges to aid providers:

• Forced displacement shows no sign of slowing
• Violent conflict continues to take a heavy toll on civilians
• The largest global food crisis in modern history is unfolding
• Climate change is contributing to humanitarian crises worldwide
• The global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is no longer achievable
• Global public health is not improving
• It will now take four generations, or 132 years, to achieve global gender parity
• Global education is in crisis due to the pandemic’s ongoing impacts

The results of funding for the 2022 Global Humanitarian Overview suggest a difficult year ahead for U.N. fundraisers. Of the record $51.7 billion funding target, with less than a month left in the year, less than half — $24 billion — was received.