Secretary-General seeks $4.7 billion for twenty-six humanitarian crises in 2006

(New York: 30 November 2005): United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for $4.7 billion to provide urgent support to 31 million people in humanitarian emergencies in 26 countries worldwide.
"The past year has demonstrated our tremendous capacity for giving," said the Secretary-General. "This Humanitarian Appeal is an opportunity, which must not be missed, to extend that generosity to people whose plight may not capture the world's attention, but whose suffering is no less tragic. In a world of plenty, continued suffering is a terrible stain on our conscience. It is inexcusable that we not strive, with every resource at our disposal, to eliminate suffering," he added.

The "Humanitarian Appeal 2006" comprises individual Consolidated Appeals for Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, occupied Palestinian territory, Republic of Congo, Somalia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, the Great Lakes region and the West African region. Funding requirements for major ongoing emergencies such as those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan are also included.

"Unfortunately, many of these disasters have been largely forgotten by the international community," said Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. "We can no longer afford to neglect the majority of crises -- to play a humanitarian lottery in which only one or two crises capture the world's attention each year, and therefore its support," he added, stressing that "the funding of humanitarian assistance must be more predictable and more equitable."

"We need to see an expansion of the humanitarian donor community," said Mr. Egeland. "For too long we have relied upon the same donors to fund the vast majority of our humanitarian assistance efforts. In 2005, nineteen new donors made contributions to the United Nations appeals; at least nineteen additional new donors should contribute in 2006."

The United Nations launches the Humanitarian Appeal for the forthcoming calendar year each November. The Humanitarian Appeal is composed of all the Consolidated Appeals developed in individual countries or regions through a consultative process that includes the United Nations operational agencies and participating non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

To find out more and have your say, visit www.humanitarianappeal.net.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570.