The United Nations (UN) on Monday appealed for $46 billion in funding for 2024 to help millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the globe, according to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2024.
In 2024, nearly 300 million people around the world will need humanitarian assistance and protection, due to conflicts, climate emergencies and other drivers, the report added.
The United Nations Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Middle East and North African region require $13.9 billion, the largest total for any region in 2024 and accounting for 30 percent of the total.
According to the number of people in need and the depth of their need, the five largest country appeals in the OCHA overview include Syria calling for $4.4 billion, Ukraine $3.1 billion, Afghanistan $3 billion, Ethiopia $2.9 billion and Yemen $2.8 billion.
Rising global conflicts, notably in Sudan and between Israel and Gaza in 2023, have led to a dramatic increase in civilian casualties, the OCHA overview said.
OCHA figures also showed that the scale of forced displacement across the world has doubled in the past decade, affecting more than 1 in 73 people worldwide. Conflict and climate disasters remained the main causes of such displacement.
Internal displacement reached a record 71.1 million at the end of 2022, a 20 percent increase from the previous year. The number of refugees is also at a record high of 36.4 million, with over half from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.
"Almost one in five children worldwide is now living in or fleeing from conflict zones," Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, highlighted.
According to the OCHA figure, a total of 258 million people across 58 countries face acute food insecurity, a consequence of armed conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes, poverty and inequality. Among them, 45 million children under five are at risk of wasting, with 13.6 million experiencing severe wasting, putting them in danger of death.
Griffiths said that without collective global efforts, the food security situation is expected to worsen in 2024, citing Burkina Faso, Mali, the occupied Palestinian territory, South Sudan and Sudan as areas of utmost concern.
He also said that 2023 is worrisome for humanitarian efforts because it's likely the first time since 2010 that funding for humanitarian aid will go down instead of up.
In 2023, levels of displacement, acute food insecurity, and malnutrition reached historically high levels but by November 24 of 2023, the humanitarian system received around $20 billion, just 35 percent of the 57 billion dollars appealed in the Global Humanitarian Overview 2023.
The Global Humanitarian Overview is a comprehensive assessment of global humanitarian needs. It provides a snapshot of current and future trends in humanitarian action for large-scale resource mobilization.
(With input from Xinhua)
(Cover: United Nations cars are parked next to trucks carrying humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, December 1, 2023. /CFP)