Sir, – Every year, the United Nations publishes the Global Humanitarian Overview, a state of the world snapshot which forecasts the scale of humanitarian needs, and the minimum budget required to meet those needs. And every year the appeal is underfunded, not by a little but by an average of 50 per cent.
A review of the past decade shows a damning picture of increasing humanitarian needs and insufficient funding to meet the most basic needs for survival.
In 2013, the budget required was roughly $13 billion to support 78 million people. The appeal for 2025 is $47 billion. This is to support 190 million people in 72 countries with life-saving assistance and protection.
The appeal comes at a time when a deadly combination of conflict, the climate crisis and rising food prices have pushed human suffering to unprecedented levels. Civilian deaths are on the rise, 122 million people have been forced to flee their homes, 343 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity – a 10 per cent increase from last year. Famine, something we should have consigned to history, is back in Sudan, while Gaza, Haiti, Yemen, and South Sudan are already in what is called “catastrophic food insecurity” – one step away from starvation.
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No one should die or be left to struggle because of a lack of humanitarian funding and yet there is no clearer evidence of the persistent bankruptcy of humanity than appeals remaining consistently underfunded; $47 billion is a lot of money, but it is nothing in comparison to total military spending worldwide, which last year amounted to $2.4 trillion.
What does this mean? It means where needs are greatest, impossible choices are being made.
When I visited the Central African Republic, where there was a budget shortfall of 63 per cent, the UN Humanitarian coordinator told me: “With such low levels of funding you become firefighters. We can only go for the most acute, we have to leave the moderate ones today, who in turn become the most acute tomorrow.”
Despite these challenges, humanitarian agencies were able to reach nearly 116 million people in 2024, delivering vital food, shelter, healthcare, education and protection services. Imagine how many millions more could be reached if global appeals were fully funded.
The ambition to reach everyone has not wavered, and the call to donors to dig deep is more urgent than ever. – Yours, etc,
DOMINIC MacSORLEY,
Humanitarian Ambassador,
Concern Worldwide,
Dublin 2.