December 1, 2017//-The UN has launched a record appeal for $22.5bn to help victims of conflict and humanitarian crises around the world.
From South Sudan to Syria and from Afghanistan to the refugees from Myanmar, conflict is the cause of the human suffering. And in most cases these are conflicts with no end in sight.
The UN says more than 135 million people across the world need aid. In terms of the numbers affected, Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
War has left more than 22 million people in need, with a severe food shortage and cholera crisis.
In Nigeria, 14.5 million people, particularly women, need aid and protection because of fighting between the military and armed groups.
Elsewhere in Africa, more than 13 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – many of them displaced by fighting – are in need of humanitarian help.
A similar number of Syrians are still caught up in a civil war in its seventh year.
A third of the money requested by the UN is to help Syrian victims of the worst humanitarian disaster on earth.
In Yemen, the people are suffering from conflict and an continuing cholera epidemic.
The situation only made worse by a Saudi-led blockade, stopping much of the food and medicine from getting to those that so desperately need it.
The UN appeal for 2018 estimates there are 22 million people in need in Yemen.
“The situation in Yemen is atrocious,” says Mark Lowock, UN humanitarian chief.
“The number of people in need out of a population of 28 million is approaching 20 million. Seven or eight million of those people are right on the verge of famine and starvation.
“We need to get the ports fully open so that the fuel to run the water systems can get in. The fuel to get the food around the country can get in.”
Yemen is just one of many simultaneous emergencies, making this a time of unprecedented need.
Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from New York City, said: “In its appeal for 2018, the UN says it believes there are almost 136 million people in need. The UN has come up with a plan to help almost 91 million people, which will cost $22.5bn.
“But I have to say, they don’t really think they’re going to get all that money. You just have to look at this year – 2017 – their appeal was 52.5 percent funded.” Al Jazeera News
