Daily Times

GENEVA: The United Nations (UN) on Monday appealed for a record $22.2 billion to provide aid in 2017 to surging numbers of people hit by conflicts and disasters around the world.

“It’s the highest amount we have ever requested,” UN humanitarian aid chief Stephen O’Brien told a press conference, “This state of human needs in the world has not been witnessed since the Second World War.”

He added that more than 80 per cent of the needs come from man-made conflicts many of which have had demands for relief year after year. The global appeal by UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations aims to gather funds to help the 92.8 million.

These numbers are staggering, especially when considering that three war-ravaged countries – Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan – alone account for about a third of all of those in need.

O’Brien said in the report that the appealed amount tops the $20.1 billion requested last December for 2016 – a year when humanitarian actors have saved, protected and supported more people than in any previous year since the founding of the United Nations.

In the end, the UN broadened its 2016 appeal to $22.1 billion, but donors coughed up just $11.4 billion for aid projects this year.