On Thursday 2 December, the United Nations and its partners, including the European Commission, launched by video conference from Geneva and Brussels, a major humanitarian plan for 2022 to address unprecedented humanitarian needs around the world, according to the GHO Global Humanitarian Overview 2022 presented the same day.
According to the UN, 274 million people worldwide will need emergency and protection assistance in 2022 (one in 29 people), an increase of 17% compared to last year’s assessment.
And the estimated funding needs amount to US$41 billion to provide relief and protection to the 183 million people most in need and covered by humanitarian response plans.
In 2021, international donors have so far provided more than $17 billion for projects included in the GHO, but funding remains less than half of what the UN and partner organisations have requested.
“The climate crisis is hitting the world’s most vulnerable people first and hardest. Protracted conflicts continue and instability has increased in several parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Myanmar and Afghanistan. The pandemic is not over and poor countries are without vaccines”, said the UN’s head of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Martin Griffiths.
In a video message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that famine threatens 45 million people in 43 countries and said that the $41 billion appeal is for “life-saving assistance”. In 2022, he said, the links between humanitarian aid, development aid and peacekeeping should be strengthened - UN priorities echoed by the European Commission in March, with a view to enhancing the impact of EU humanitarian aid (see EUROPE 12675/1).
“The 2021 overview is a barometer of needs and an urgent call to action”, said EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič in a video message.
Alarmed by the funding gap, he recalled that global humanitarian aid currently relies on a limited number of donors even though it is a common responsibility. “Everyone should contribute, according to their ability. The EU and its Member States are determined to continue to be leaders, but will need to create partnerships”.
He hopes that the European Humanitarian Aid Forum in January 2022 will hopefully lead to progress.
By 2021, through UN, NGO, government and private sector projects at the national level, 107 million people have received aid, 70% of the target.
In South Sudan, more than half a million people have escaped starvation. In Yemen, more than 10 million medical consultations have been provided and hundreds of millions of dollars in cash assistance have been distributed to families with few other means of survival.
See the GHO 2022: https://bit.ly/3G4L8c4 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)