Funding required: $25.27 B
Funding received: $6.26 B
Funding percentage: 24.8%
People in need: 130.6 M
People to receive aid: 95.3 M
Countries affected: 40
As of April 2018, UN-coordinated Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) and the Syria 3RP Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan require US$25.27 billion to meet the humanitarian needs of 95.3 million crisis-affected people in 26 countries.
Three significant humanitarian resource mobilization events took place in April: the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, 3 April, Geneva, co-hosted by the UN, Sweden and Switzerland, where US$2.01 billion in contributions for 2018 were announced by 40 entities and a further $20.2 million were announced in multi-year funding; the Humanitarian Conference on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 13 April, co-hosted in Geneva by the UN, the Netherlands and the EU, where $528.1 million were pledged by 22 donors for 2018 and a further $38.7 million for 2019-2020; and the Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region Brussels II Conference, 24-25 April, co-hosted by the UN and the EU. This drew 36 announcements of humanitarian funding totalling $4.4 billion for 2018 and an additional $3.4 billion for 2019-2020.
The humanitarian funding outlook for the protracted, entrenched humanitarian crisis in DPRK is particularly concerning, with a persistent risk that geo-political tension – even with the recent positive developments – could dampen funding. 10.3 million people in DPRK are estimated to be undernourished. More than one-quarter of children are stunted and 4% wasted, while about 30% of women of reproductive age are anaemic. The lack of safe water and the poor sanitation contribute to high levels of diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition, which are the most common causes of death among young children. The 2018 Needs and Priorities Plan released in April calls for $111 million to provide food assistance, health and nutrition services and improved access to safe water and sanitation for 6 million highly vulnerable people.
On 20 April, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine briefed Member States in New York on the dire humanitarian situation faced by 4.4 million conflict-affected people after four years of conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Disrupted access to critical facilities and diminished livelihoods mean that 3.4 million people are without basic supplies and services and need protection and life-saving assistance. Ukraine has the highest proportion of elderly people affected by humanitarian crisis in the world. Some 1.5 million Ukrainians have been displaced across the country, and some 200,000 live in daily fear of shelling. Funding for the HRP is urgently needed.In 2018, as many as 7 million people in South Sudan need humanitarian assistance to cope with unprecedented levels of food insecurity and grave protection violations including conflict-related sexual violence. This is the world’s third largest refugee crisis: more than 4.2 million people have been displaced, including 1.8 million IDPs and more than 2.4 million refugees.
Severe food insecurity continues to rise as people are unable to plant or harvest and have limited access to humanitarian assistance. With the lean season beginning in May, urgent funding is required to save lives and resources. On 27 April, the DSRSG/RC/HC for South Sudan formally invited the USG to support him in delivering three key messages when he visits the country in mid-May. Namely, calling for a sustainable political solution to the conflict to bring an end to the humanitarian crisis, with IGAD-led peace talks expected to resume in May; urging parties to the conflict, including the numerous splinter groups, to address the insecurity that affects civilians and aid workers; and advocating for resources towards the HRP which is currently funded at 21%.Humanitarian needs in the Central African Republic have increased from 2.2 million people in need in early 2017 to 2.5 million this year, with a multiplication of hotspots. The spike in tensions and armed violence that erupted in April is also affecting the capital, Bangui. Over the first quarter of 2018, the number of internally displaced people increased by 70% over the first quarter of 2017, and the number of refugees increased by 30%; effectively, 25% of Central Africans are currently displaced either as IDPs or refugees. Underfunding remains one of the biggest impediments to stepping up the humanitarian response. By end April 2018 the HRP had received less than 10 per cent of its $515.6 million requirements.
By 30 April, 21 donors had contributed a combined $278 million (including pledges) to 17 country-based pooled funds (CBPFs), which translated into financial support for 308 humanitarian projects implemented by 229 partners. These included international NGOs which received $55.3 million (42% of total budget allocations) while UN agencies received $42.6 million (32% of allocations). Support to national NGOs included $33.6 million (25% of allocations) and to the Red Cross / Crescent movement $0.6 million (0.5% of total allocations). The largest amounts were channelled to Yemen ($77.9 million), the whole of Syria response ($41.7 million), Sudan ($28.2 million) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo ($26.5 million). New reserve allocations were launched by the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (HF) for $16.2 million and by the occupied Palestinian territories HF for $2.2 million, on top of its first standard allocation of the year for $3.9 million, to respond to immediate health and protection needs in the Gaza Strip. The Turkey HF launched a second reserve allocation for $4 million to cover urgent life-saving needs of people displaced inside besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria.
Between 1 January and 30 April 2018, the Emergency Relief Coordinator approved a total of $246 million through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), including $146 million through the rapid response window and $100 million through the underfunded emergencies window. In April, $16 million in rapid response grants was approved for activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Somalia. For Somalia alone, $12 million was allocated to relieve food insecurity and malnutrition for over 183,000 IDPs and host community members in the northern regions of the country. The entire $246 million has been disbursed to agencies.