Only 47 percent of hunger funding needs through the United Nations humanitarian system are met, leaving a hunger funding gap of 53%, according to the international non-governmental organization (NGO) Action Against Hunger. Released Wednesday, the 2023 Hunger Funding Gap report also found that countries experiencing the worst hunger crises received less hunger funding than countries with lower rates of hunger.
While overall humanitarian funding rose slightly in 2022, support was spread even thinner as needs grew, the report said. As some donors increased donations in 2022, the number of people facing a hunger crisis rose far faster than funding.
In 2022, only 3 percent of hunger program needs were fully funded and the majority (65 percent) of appeals were not even fulfilled to the halfway point. In 2021, 7 percent of hunger programs were fully funded and 57 percent of were not funded halfway. Zero nutrition-related appeals were fully funded in 2022, down from 15 percent in 2021.
The Action Against Hunger 2023 Hunger Funding Gap report was issued shortly before the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, which increased the cost of food, fertilizer and energy. One in three households in Ukraine are estimated to be food insecure, and the war also has had far-reaching ripple effects. Approximately 828 million people â one in ten worldwide â are undernourished and as many as 50 million people in 45 countries are on the verge of famine.
For the report, Action Against Hunger identified 13 countries that experienced âcrisisâ levels of hunger or worse in 2021 and analyzed how much funding those countries subsequently received, both for ongoing and emergency hunger-related programs in 2022. The 13 countries are: Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan.
The analysis draws on food insecurity data from 2021 to show what funding decisions are made after donors see where hunger is greatest. This approach controls for the potential that hunger levels would be lower in countries that receive more funding. The report is the result of Action Against Hungerâs analysis of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Humanitarian Response Plan funding data, as well as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Population Tracking Tool.
Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian NGO that is committed to ending world hunger. Its main goal is to take decisive action against the causes and effects of hunger. Founded in 1979 by a group of French doctors, scientists, and writers as âAction Contre La Faimâ, the organization aims to save malnourished children from starvation, establish access to safe drinking water and create sustainable solutions to hunger. The NGO currently works across 50 countries.
Further information
Full text: 2023 Hunger Funding Gap Report, Action Against Hunger, released February 22, 2023
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/app/uploads/2023/02/02.22.23_Hunger-Funding-Gap-Report-Winter-2023.pdf