Humanitarian Status Report reveals record needs and growing funding gap

(Geneva 16 June 2015): The UN and its humanitarian partners today released its global humanitarian overview status report which reveals record-high financial requirements to respond to increasing numbers of people in need.

Six months ago, in December 2014, humanitarian partners launched the 2015 consolidated appeal requesting US$16.4 billion to assist 57.5 million people with humanitarian aid in 22 countries. The status report reveals that the funds required have increased by $2.4 billion to a record $18.8 billion to meet the needs of the 78.9 million vulnerable people across 37 countries.

For the current appeal, in early June only $4.8 billion has been committed, or 26 percent of requirements, leaving a funding gap of $14 billion. "While donors give more generously every year, the gap between funds needed and funds provided continues to widen," said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O'Brien. "This raises questions about our ability to continue to meet affected people’s needs, especially in protracted situations where 80 per cent of our work now takes place, and where we are asked to stay longer and to do more."

The humanitarian community faces other critical challenges ranging from the dramatic global rise of internally displaced people due to conflict (38 million people in 2014 compared with 33.3 million in 2013) to the escalating costs of delivering assistance, not least due to challenging security and operating environments. “Despite these challenges, the UN and its humanitarian partners are reaching more people than ever and humanitarian workers are still bravely delivering aid to those most in need, often in settings beset by insecurity,” Mr. O'Brien said.

You can download a copy of the report by going to http://bit.ly/1J1Rauf Today OCHA is also launching www.unocha.org/stateofaid - an interactive platform giving a global overview of current humanitarian needs and funding requirements, a snapshot of what we have done with the funds received thus far, and a sense of the challenges we continue to face.