OCHA Annual Report

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OCHA Humanitarian Affairs Officer Sara Al Saqqa talks with a displaced family seeking medical help at the Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium medical point near Al Mawasi camp in Gaza. Photo: WHO/Christopher Black.

Foreword

2023 was another gruelling year for millions of people – and one that stretched the humanitarian system to its limits.

It began with devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. In Syria, they hit people already struggling with their worst humanitarian crisis in more than 10 years of conflict.

So too across the world – in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Horn of Africa, Myanmar, Ukraine, Yemen and beyond – long-running conflicts, insecurity, instability and economic hardship kept millions of people reliant on humanitarian assistance and acutely susceptible to further shocks. Meanwhile, global warming broke all records in 2023 and the climate crisis deepened.

In February and March, Cyclone Freddy, one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones ever, battered Malawi and Mozambique. 

In May, Cyclone Mocha affected more than 3 million people in Bangladesh and Myanmar. In September, Storm Daniel caused monumental flooding in Libya. And across the world we saw record-breaking heat waves, catastrophic wildfires and numerous extreme weather events.

Martin Griffiths

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

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Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths (second from right) and OCHA’s Head of Office in Myanmar, Sajjad Said (centre), meet Rohingya students at a site for displaced people in Sittwe, Rakhine, Myanmar
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths (second from right) and OCHA’s Head of Office in Myanmar, Sajjad Said (centre), meet Rohingya students at a site for displaced people in Sittwe, Rakhine, Myanmar. Photo: OCHA/Nyan Zay Htet

2023 OCHA presence

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Figures
Map
  1. OPT - Occupied Palestinian Territory
  2. Syrian AR - Syrian Arab Republic
  3. The Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa is located in Amman and Cairo
  4. Includes Ethiopia Country Office and AU Liaison Office
  5. Türkiye: Syria Crisis and earthquake response 2023

The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Final boundary between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan has not yet been determined.

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OCHA thanks its donors for their generous support to its activities in 2023

Through contributions to OCHA and/or pooled funds (the Central Emergency Response Fund and the Country-Based Pooled Funds)

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OCHA 2023 year in review

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Sections

Section 1: OCHA priorities

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OCHA’s Director of Operations and Advocacy, Edem Worsornu, talks with a woman displaced by the conflict in Sudan. The woman and 160 families were staying at the Red Sea University in Port Sudan. Photo: OCHA/Ala Kheir

Section 2: Funding

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Hilary Stauffer (left), Head of OCHA Ukraine’s Kyiv Hub, speaks with residents of a modular town in Irpin, while a psychologist from International Medical Corps conducts a mental health and psychosocial support session with art therapy for seniors and children.
Hilary Stauffer (left), Head of OCHA Ukraine’s Kyiv Hub, speaks with residents of a modular town in Irpin, while a psychologist from International Medical Corps conducts a mental health and psychosocial support session with art therapy for seniors and children. The town has been constructed with funds from the Government of Finland. Photo: OCHA/Yaroslav Berezovsk

Annexes

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A student at a school for girls in north-west Syria.
A student at a school for girls in north-west Syria. Following the earthquakes in February, local NGO Sadad rehabilitated the school with support from the OCHA-managed Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund. Photo: OCHA/Bilal Al Hammoud

Complete OCHA Annual Report 2023

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Staff from local NGO partner UCCEDH assess needs at a displacement camp at the Rex Medina theatre in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Staff from local NGO partner UCCEDH assess needs at a displacement camp at the Rex Medina theatre in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo: OCHA/Giles Clarke
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Past Annual Reports