In 2024, 299.4 million around the world will need humanitarian assistance and protection, due to conflicts, climate emergencies, collapsing economies, and other drivers. The United Nations today launched its global humanitarian appeal for 2024, calling for US$46.4 billion to help 180.5 million people with life-saving assistance and protection, a significant reduction compared to 2023.
“This money will provide a lifeline to 181 million people in 72 countries – men, women and children whose lives have been shattered by war, climate change, economic hardship and other disasters.” said Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Chief, Monday in Geneva.
According to the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) 2024 report, the main drivers of needs are conflict, climate disasters, economic factors, disease outbreaks, and hunger. The GHO is a comprehensive annual assessment of global humanitarian needs, and it provides a snapshot of current and future trends in humanitarian action for large-scale resource mobilization.
“Although the amount we’re asking for is less than last year, this does not mean the global humanitarian situation has improved. It means we have had to focus our efforts on the people who face the greatest threat to their lives,” Msuya said.
More people are displaced now than since the beginning of the century. By September 2023, over 114 million people were estimated to have been forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations. One child in every five lives in, or has fled from, conflict zones in 2023. Some 258 million people face acute hunger or worse.
“Humanitarians are saving lives, fighting hunger, protecting children, pushing back epidemics, and providing shelter and sanitation in many of the world’s most inhumane contexts. But the necessary support from the international community is not keeping pace with the needs,” said Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
Donor funding this year fell far short of needs. 2023 will be the first year since the global recession that finance for humanitarian emergencies is lower than the previous year.
“We thank all donors for their contributions, which amount to $20 billion so far this year - but that is just a third of what was needed. If we cannot provide more help in 2024, people will pay for it with their lives,” Griffiths said.
Funding shortfalls in 2023 meant that humanitarian organizations reached slightly more than half of the people they aimed to assist - 128 million people out of 245 million. The sharp decline in resources has forced humanitarian agencies to make increasingly painful decisions, including cutting life-saving food, water and health programming.
For example, in Afghanistan, 10 million people lost access to food assistance between May and November. In Myanmar and Haiti, almost a million people were left in inadequate living conditions, without emergency shelters, exposed to extreme weather and natural disasters. In Yemen, more than 80 percent of people targeted for assistance did not have proper water and sanitation. In Nigeria, only 2 percent of women in urgent need of sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence prevention were reached.
As the humanitarian system is facing a severe funding crisis, aid organizations will target fewer people: nearly 181 million next year, compared to 245 million in 2023. Organizations are also appealing for less money: $46.4 billion for 2024 compared to $56.7 billion at the end of the 2023 global appeal.
The five largest country appeals in 2024 reflect the number of people in need and the depth of their need. The appeal for Syria requests $4.4 billion, Ukraine $3.1 billion, Afghanistan $3 billion, Ethiopia $2.9 billion and Yemen $2.8 billion.
The top five regional appeals for the coming year, covering mainly refugees and host communities in the crisis-affected countries’ neighbors, are the Syria Regional Appeal at $5.5 billion, the Venezuela Joint Refugee and Migrant Plan at $1.6 billion, the South Sudan Regional Appeal at $1.5 billion, the Sudan Regional Appeal at $1.3 billion and the Ukraine Regional Appeal at $1 billion.
In 2024, 74.1 million people will need humanitarian assistance in East and Southern Africa, with the crisis in Sudan accounting for almost 40 percent of this total. In West and Central Africa, 65.1 million people are in need. In the Middle East and North Africa, 53.8 million people require assistance, with the crisis in Syria resulting in 32.5 million people in need, both inside Syria and neighboring countries.
In Asia and the Pacific, 50.8 million people will be in need, of whom 30.6 million are due to the Afghanistan crisis. The Latin America and the Caribbean region is now home to 38.9 million people in need, 15.9 million of whom are impacted by the Venezuela crisis. And in Eastern Europe, 16.8 million people are still in need because of the war in Ukraine.
Further information
Website: Global Humanitarian Overview 2024
https://humanitarianaction.info/
Full text: Global Humanitarian Overview 2024, abridged report, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, released December 11, 2024
https://reliefweb.int/attachments/0b25dbc1-7844-4a1d-8fb4-25d312657da7/GHO-2024-Abridged-EN_final.pdf