The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rise of 40% in the number of people requiring humanitarian aid

An estimated 235 million of people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2021 – a nearly 40 percent increase in 2020. This dramatic statistic was revealed by the United Nations which has appealed for US$35 billion of help from donors to tackle humanitarian needs in the forthcoming year.

“If everyone who will need humanitarian aid next year lived in one country, it would be the world’s fifth-largest nation,” UN aid chief, Mark Lowcock, was quoted as saying.

We won’t get a second chance to make the right choice.
Today we are launching the Global Humanitarian Overview.
For 2021, we will need $35 billion, to reach 160 million of the world’s most vulnerable with life-saving support. https://t.co/Y0r9cz9wsA #InvestInhumanity

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) December 1, 2020

The UN has warned that COVID-19 has severely affected those who are living in poverty and conflict zones and people who were displaced or impacted by climate changes before the pandemic have now been hit particularly hard by the crisis. The levels of poverty, famine, food insecurity, gender inequality, and gender-based violence have dramatically increased, which, of course, has significantly intensified the need for development aid organizations to deal with these problems.

For 2021, the United Nations has prepared 34 different humanitarian response plans that involve 56 countries. According to the organization, if entirely financed, the plans will help 160 million of the 235 million most vulnerable people globally, with the Red Cross being able to deliver support to most of the remainder who require assistance.

According to the UN, donors have allocated $17 billion in humanitarian aid which will reach 70% of the people that it had been planned to reach. Furthermore, the $35 billion that has been requested to meet next year’s aid requirements represents only a small percentage of the money that the governments of developed countries have spent and are planning to spend to help their own citizens. UN senior official added that wealthy nations have so far invested around $10 trillion to rescue their own economies.

The most important target of the UN next year is to prevent hunger, particularly in those states that are the most exposed, i.e. Yemen, Afghanistan, northeast Nigeria, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burkina Faso. However, there are many more challenges to be faced other than simply tackling famine. The UN’s Central Emergency Relief Fund wants to use donated money to deal with the skyrocketing levels of violence against women and girls that has increased dramatically due to extended lockdowns.

At the same time, COVID-19 has not been the only thing that has contributed to the dramatic growth in humanitarian needs. UN mentioned that 2020 was full of extreme events brought about as a result of climate change that hit the poorest countries the most, leading their populations to become even poorer. This refers particularly to the countries of the Global South.

Furthermore, poverty levels have risen sharply in regions where new military conflicts have broken out as has happened in Nagorno-Karabakh, northern Mozambique, Western Sahara, and northern Ethiopia.

The UN has stressed that its aid agencies have been overwhelmed by the ongoing crisis and that it will be extremely difficult to tackle or avoid forthcoming challenges without the expectation of additional financial resources. The UN has also warned that, if wealthy countries fail to raise their contributions, the progress that has been achieved in overcoming poverty will be lost.