International donor funding to alleviate hunger in the world's neediest countries plummeted in 2023, despite exacerbating global food insecurity reaching record highs, aid agencies warn. Humanitarian appeals for the 17 countries bearing the brunt of food insecurity suffered a staggering funding gap of 65 percent last year, up 23 percent from 2022, according to an analysis released this week by the humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger.
Pakistan
The United Nations and partner agencies renewed a call Tuesday for countries to immediately suspend mass deportations of Afghan nationals, citing the onset of a harsh winter and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The call comes amid reports that Iran and Pakistan have collectively forced out more than 500,000 Afghans over the past two months, with the number of deportees growing by the day.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warn that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 18 hunger hotspots – comprising a total of 22 countries or territories including two regions – during the period from November 2023 to April 2024.
One year after historic floods devastated Pakistan and a national state of emergency was declared, millions of children continue to need humanitarian assistance and access to essential services, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned in a statement Friday. Meanwhile, this season’s monsoon rains are worsening already challenging conditions for flood-affected communities, tragically claiming the lives of 212 people across the country, including 87 children.
Acute food insecurity is set to increase in magnitude and severity in 18 hunger hotspots comprising a total of 22 countries, a new UN early warning report has found. The analysis issued Monday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods and prevent starvation and death in countries where acute hunger is at a high risk of worsening from June to November 2023.
The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world reached 71.1 million across 110 countries and territories at the end of 2022, a sharp increase of 20 percent from the previous year, according to a new report released Thursday. The Global Report on Internal Displacement 2023 (GRID 2023) by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) says rapidly escalating conflict and violence in countries such as Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and climate related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan forced millions of people to flee in the past year.
The United Nations (UN) has dramatically raised its humanitarian appeal Tuesday to help millions of people in Pakistan, where erratic rains and a combination of riverine, urban and flash floods have unleashed an unprecedented climate-related disaster since June 2022. The revised international funding appeal, jointly launched with the Pakistani government, is seeking $816 million for the coming months in the wake of the immensity of the calamity and growing needs.
More than three million children are in need of humanitarian assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today. UNICEF says it is working with Government and non-government partners to respond to the urgent needs of children and families in affected areas.