Tens of millions of people in urgent need of help won't be getting much assistance next year. That's according to the United Nations which launched a $23 billion aid appeal on Monday (8 December) which is half of last year's request, acknowledging a plunge in donor funding.
The move comes at a time when humanitarian needs have never been greater.
UN Aid Chief Tom Fletcher revealed the steep drop in donor funding means agencies must focus on helping only the most urgent cases.
“It's the cuts ultimately that are forcing us into these tough, tough, brutal choices,” he told reporters.
“We are overstretched, underfunded, and under attack… And there is not enough water in the tank,” he added.
Fletcher also noted that humanitarian agencies face an increasingly dire scenario of hunger, disease, and record levels of violence.
“The appeal is laser-focused on saving lives where the shocks hit hardest - wars, climate disasters, earthquakes, epidemics, crop failures,” he said.
The reduced appeal comes after the UN had sought $47 billion for 2025.
Funding shortfalls by top Western donors, including the United States under President Donald Trump and Germany, have left the UN with only $12 billion raised so far.
Being considered the lowest in a decade, the raised funds cover just over a quarter of global humanitarian needs.
While the U.S. remains the top donor in 2025, its share has fallen from more than a third of total funding to 15.6% following aid cuts.
UN humanitarian work is overwhelmingly funded by voluntary donations from Western countries, with the United States historically the largest contributor.
Next year Fletcher said humanitarian groups faced a bleak scenario of growing hunger, spreading disease and record violence.
According to the organisation, the plan for 2026 prioritises 87 million people whose lives are considered most at risk, while roughly 250 million people globally require urgent assistance.
If sufficient funds are raised, the UN aims to help 135 million people at a projected cost of $33 billion.
The largest single appeal ($4 billion) is for the occupied Palestinian territories, mostly for Gaza, which has been devastated by the two-year Israel-Hamas conflict. Reports show that nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are homeless and rely on aid for survival.
The second priority is Sudan where the two-years war has devastated communities and deplaced millions of people, and also where climate change has impacted the country with deadly floods.
Within Sudan, approximately 4.57 million people have been internally displaced due to ongoing fighting. Around 1.1 million individuals have crossed into neighbouring countries, including the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan according to the UN.
Approximately 15 million people, constituting 31% of the population, are acutely food insecure from October 2023 to February 2024, nearly double the figures from the previous year, according to the UN World Food Programme.
The third priority is Syria where humanitarian needs remain immense according to the agency. The UN's chief, Antonio Guterres has urged the international community to “stand firmly behind this Syrian-led, Syrian-owned transition.” He said that success depends on sustained funding for humanitarian appeals, removing barriers to reconstruction, and promoting economic development.
In Syria, according to UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, more than 8.1 million people are in need of protection, and more than 7.4 million remain internally displaced (IDP) – one of the largest IDP populations in the world.
A total of 9.1 million people are food insecure. Both maternal malnutrition and acute malnutrition in children under 5 are at global emergency thresholds say the UN World Food Programme.
Armenia is looking to turn shared environmental challenges into opportunities for regional cooperation, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan highlig...
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It com...
In an interview with AnewZ’s Sabir Safarov, Houthi-aligned journalist Hussain al-Bukhaiti warns of possible attacks on Saudi Arabia’...
The Saudi-led coalition said early Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for the recent drone and missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, vowing to carry out more attacks in the coming days.
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It comes after a deadly Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed at least 13 people last week.
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, to pilot drones. A source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the restrictions would make it harder for Kyiv's army to down Russian drones.
Ukraine is set to restart attacks on Russian oil refineries following a two-day pause, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, amid growing tensions with Washington over energy strikes and U.S. military support.
A Norwegian teenager recruited by a Swedish criminal network to carry out a contract killing in Britain has been sentenced to 20 years’ detention after police uncovered the murder plot.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called it “a disgrace” that Ukraine has resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries. Attacks are continuing from Russia and Ukraine as media reports say Ukraine has almost run out of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Romanian rescuers resumed their search for seven missing sailors on Friday (16 October) after a drone strike set a chemical tanker ablaze near the country’s Black Sea coast. The attacks have raised fresh security concerns along a vital regional trade route.
Students, lecturers and university staff marched on Argentina’s Congress in Buenos Aires on Thursday to demand President Javier Milei’s government implement a university funding law which would boost staff salaries and increase financial support to institutions to cover operating costs
A 16-year-old shooter opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon in the United States, killing four people, including three children, before being killed by an armed member of the community who had pursued the assailant into the school, police said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment