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UN humanitarian agency appeals for $22.2bn in aid for 2017

Monday, 05 December 2016 11:17 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 06 December 2016 4:00 AM ]

This file photo, taken on October 24, 2016, shows Saida Ahmad Baghili, an 18-year-old Yemeni girl, suffering from severe malnutrition caused by Saudi military aggression and an all-out embargo on Yemen. (By Reuters)

The United Nations (UN)’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has requested a record sum of 22.2 billion dollars for its humanitarian work in 2017.

The OCHA said it needed the funds to launch worldwide humanitarian relief operations for more than 128 million people affected by conflict, displacement, and natural disasters.

“The scale of humanitarian crises today is greater than at any time since the United Nations was founded. Not in living memory have so many people needed our support and solidarity to survive and live in safety and dignity,” said Stephen O’Brien, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and head of the OCHA.

“This is a reflection of a state of humanitarian need in the world not witnessed since the Second World War,” he added, speaking at a news conference at the launching event of the Global Humanitarian Overview 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Stephen O’Brien, the United Nations (UN)’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, attends a news conference at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, December 5, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

O’Brien added that 80 percent of the needs stemmed from man-made conflicts, such as those in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, as well as Nigeria and South Sudan.

More than one-third of the total, or 8.1 billion dollars, is targeted by OCHA to help Syrians alone.

Such appeals usually fall short of their targets and are based on estimations.

According to the OCHA, droughts from natural catastrophes and phenomena like El Nino are also “pushing vulnerable communities to the brink of survival.”

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