Climate, wars and disease: 1 in 23 people in the world will need humanitarian aid in 2023

United Nations humanitarian agencies need $51.5 billion (€49.6 billion) next year, a 25% increase. The funds will enable them to fund their programs to help 230 million of the most vulnerable people in 68 countries. “Therefore, next year will be the biggest humanitarian programMartin Griffiths, head of the UN humanitarian agency, told reporters that it had “never been launched globally”.

⋙ War in Ukraine: UN warns of “hunger hurricane” in the world

However, the UN does not come to the aid of all those in need. A total of 339 million people on the planet, or one in 23 people worldwide – up from 274 million in 2022 – are expected to need emergency care next year.

Help in the face of deadly droughts and floods

339 million people…”this is a large and sad number“Mr. Griffiths confirmed. The British also stressed that the humanitarian needs experienced “peak“After the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately, it hasn’t abated since then.

“from droughts and deadly floods wreak havoc (…) From Pakistan to the Horn of Africa. The war in Ukraine has turned part of Europe into a battlefield. More than 100 million people have been displaced around the world. And all this is on top of the devastation the pandemic has wreaked on the world’s poorest“I expect 2023 to be in the same direction as 2022,” said Mr Griffiths.

⋙ Pakistan floods: UN appeals for donations to help more than five million flood victims

The UN appeal for financial aid indeed paints a bleak picture of a world state. At least 222 million people in 53 countries will be acutely undernourished by the end of 2022. 45 million people in 37 countries are at risk of starvation.

“Five countries are already experiencing what we call almost starvation (…) people die due to displacement, lack of food, lack of food“, – explained Mr. Griffiths. These are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan, the spokesperson of the Office for the Coordination of Foreign Affairs told AFP. UN Humanitarian Representative Jens Laerke.

Public health is under pressure around the world, particularly with Covid-19 and mpox (the name given to monkeypox by the World Health Organization this week), the re-emergence of Ebola in Uganda and the presence of multiple cholera outbreaks. around the world, especially in Syria and Haiti.

Global warming increases risks and vulnerabilities

All this increases risks and vulnerability in the face of climate change, especially in poor countries. According to the UN, extreme heat could kill as many people as cancer by the end of the century.

In 2022, the fundraising appeal was 47% funded, whereas previously “before the last two to three years we would have been 60-65% funded globally“, Mr. Griffiths explained. The generosity of donors does not really allow to compensate for the rapid growth of needs, he said he hoped.After 2022, 2023 will be a year of solidarity“.

⋙ Somalia is on the brink of famine, it has warned the UN in a “final warning”.

According to the UN, the funding gap has never been more significant and currently stands at 53%, forcing humanitarian organizations to make the sad choice of targeting populations that would benefit from aid. Next year, the country where the United Nations will need the most funds is Afghanistan ($4.63 billion), followed by Syria, Yemen and Ukraine, especially Ethiopia.

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