By Giwa SHILE
The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, on Tuesday said that international agencies would need 21.9 billion dollars to carry out their humanitarian work in 2019.
Lowcock said this at a news conference in Geneva, while presenting the Global Humanitarian Overview 2019 (GHO).
He said that in 2019, nearly 132 million people across the world would need humanitarian assistance.
“The world has exceptionally high humanitarian needs, driven mainly by armed conflicts that create immense suffering and displacement for years.
“The country with the biggest problems is Yemen,’’ he said.
Lowcock noted that there is 80 per cent chance of an El Nino climatic event, which could lead to drought in southern African countries, including Madagascar, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
He said the UN and its partner organisations aim to assist 93.6 million of the most vulnerable people with food, shelter, health care, emergency education, protection, and other necessary assistance.
“We are going to increase our cooperation with development agencies,” Lowcock said.
He explained that early action and innovative financing, such as risk insurance and contingency financing, can help close this gap.
“Improved coordination with development programming in 2019 can also help reduce overall future requirements by tackling the root causes of humanitarian need and strengthening community resilience,” said Lowcock.
So far in 2018, donors have provided a record 14.3 billion dollars, about 10 per cent more than in 2017, which was itself a record.
Lowcock stated that the 21.9-billion-dollar funding requirement does not include the financial requirements for Syria, which will be confirmed when the 2019 Syria Humanitarian Response Plan is finalised.
“Donors are increasingly generous, yet every year there is a gap between what is required, and the funding received,” he said.
According to him, the total requirements, including those for Syria, are likely to be comparable to the current needs of around 25 billion dollars.
The UN coordinator said large and protracted crises have commanded most of the resources for global humanitarian needs.
He said between 2014 and 2018, the crises in Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria alone accounted for 55 per cent of all funding requested and received.
According to him, the mission of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to mobilise and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors.
He added that natural disasters and climate change also have a high human cost.
Disasters affect 350 million people on average each year and cause billions of dollars in damage.
