The United Nations and partner organisations announced today that next year will set another record for humanitarian relief needs, with 339 million people in need of assistance in 69 countries, an increase of 65 million people from the same time last year.
Going into 2023, the estimated cost of the humanitarian effort is $51.5 billion USD, which is a 25% increase from the start of 2022.
“Humanitarian needs are shockingly high, as this year’s extreme events are spilling into 2023,” said the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths.
“Lethal droughts and floods are wreaking havoc in communities from Pakistan to the Horn of Africa. The war in Ukraine has turned a part 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.
“For people on the brink, this appeal is a lifeline. For the international community, it is a strategy to make good on the pledge to leave no one behind.”
The UN today released the 2023 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO), which presents a sobering outlook for the future in association with nongovernmental organisations and other humanitarian partners.
By the end of 2022, 222 million people in 53 different countries will be severely food insecure. 35 countries and 45 million people face starvation.
The COVID-19 virus, monkeypox, vector-borne illnesses, and cholera and Ebola outbreaks are all putting a strain on public health.
Risks and vulnerability are rising as a result of climate change. Extreme heat could kill as many people by the end of the century as cancer.
Global gender parity will not be attained for another 132 years, or four generations. 388 million women and girls live in extreme poverty around the world.
The response plans in the GHO outline how aid organisations can save and support the lives of 230 million people worldwide by cooperating on specific types of aid, such as shelter, food, maternal health, child nutrition, and protection.
Humanitarian groups have provided aid to 157 million people this year to fend off their most pressing needs. This includes providing 127 million people with food aid, nearly 26 million people with access to enough clean water, 24 million people with assistance with their livelihoods, 13 million children and their caregivers with mental health and psychosocial support, 5.2 million mothers with maternal health consultations, and 5.8 million refugees and asylum seekers with medical services.
In order to deliver water and food rations to communities in need, humanitarians have painstakingly negotiated access, most recently in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Additionally, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was renewed, guaranteeing a constant supply of food products from Ukraine to international markets.
Eighty percent of all Humanitarian Country Teams are composed of national and local organisations, which offer crucial leadership and direction. Additionally, local organisations led by women are involved in humanitarian planning and programming everywhere from Afghanistan to the Central African Republic.
As of mid-November 2022, donors had generously contributed $24 billion, but the gap between the financial support and the needs is growing. With a current funding gap of 53%, it is the largest it has ever been. As a result, charities must choose which groups to assist with the money they have.
