Re-aligning humanitarian impact with growing need

IN THE 2020s, humanitarian needs are increasing dramatically. Humanitarian crises are now affecting most continents. The Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO), published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and probably the best evidence-based assessment of such needs around the world, estimates that in 2024, US$46.1 billion will be necessary to assist 184.1 million people in need via 36 coordinated response plans, covering 73 countries.

Asia and the Pacific face a host of pressing humanitarian needs as well. For example, some 23.7 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance. We are also starting to see the impact of climate change on populations: in Mongolia, climate change has rendered very harsh winters – also known as “dzud” – more frequent and more severe, with temperatures dropping to minus 30 degrees Centigrade or lower, along with fierce winds, heavy snow, and ice. Right now, 200,000 vulnerable Mongolian herder families and other persons are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Unfortunately, the response plans in these countries are only partially funded. In most other countries around the world suffering from conflict or natural disasters, the challenge is similar: funding and efficiency remain the most pressing challenges. At the same time, the global donor base remains narrow: a handful of governments provide more than 80 per cent of all aid funding, and the funding gap is widening.