UN calls for $46 billion to meet humanitarian needs by 2024
(Baonghean.vn) - According to Reuters news agency, the United Nations on December 11 called for 46 billion USD in funding for 2024 to help millions of people affected by ongoing crises around the world.
Accordingly, these crises occurred in the occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan and Ukraine.
In its Global Humanitarian Outlook for 2024, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said nearly 300 million people will need humanitarian assistance next year due to conflicts, climate emergencies and economic factors. This includes 74.1 million people in East and Southern Africa, most of whom are affected by the crisis in Sudan.
“We will be targeting our specific needs, with the agencies I represent, 181 million of those 300 million people,” said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths.
Other organizations, including the Red Cross and the National Red Cross, have put out their own calls for funding, he said.
In its annual assessment of global humanitarian needs, OCHA said the humanitarian system is facing a major funding crisis, with just over a third of the $57 billion needed to deliver aid funded last year.
Griffiths described it as “the worst funding shortfall in years”. He said it would be difficult to reduce the appeal for 2024 and ensure aid agencies were “realistic, focused and tough” in assessing needs.
“I think the Middle East in general, Gaza and the West Bank in particular, will probably be the area with the greatest need,” Mr Griffiths said. “But Ukraine is going through desperate times and a war is going to start up again in full force next year. It will need a lot of attention.”
