Nigeria is among beggar nations that the United Nations and its partners are requesting a record $51.5 billion in aid funding for in 2023.
Tens of millions more people are likely to require assistance, pushing the humanitarian response system “to its limits.”
The appeal is a 25% increase over 2022 and more than five times the amount requested a decade ago.
According to the United Nations Global Humanitarian Overview, an additional 65 million people will require assistance next year, raising the total to 339 million across 68 nations.
That is more than 4% of the world’s population, or about the population of the United States.
“Humanitarian needs are shockingly high, as this year’s extreme events are spilling into 2023,” said U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, citing the war in Ukraine and drought in the Horn of Africa.
“For people on the brink, this appeal is a lifeline.”
Over 100 million people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of violence and climate change.
According to the research, nine months of war between Russia and Ukraine have interrupted food shipments, and around 45 million people in 37 countries are today suffering malnutrition.
Griffiths said at the launch on Thursday that the COVID-19 epidemic has hampered child immunisation programmes and stymied attempts to alleviate extreme poverty, fueling other illnesses like as cholera.
For the first time, ten countries – Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen – have appeals of more than $1 billion each.
However, donor funding is already stretched due to the multiple crises, forcing aid workers to make difficult decisions on priorities.
According to data through mid-November, the United Nations faces its largest funding gap ever, with unmet funding standing at 53% in 2022.
“The humanitarian response system is being tested to its limits,” Griffiths said.
Unlike in other sectors of the UN, where fees are based on a country’s economic size, humanitarian assistance is entirely voluntary and heavily reliant on Western donations.
The United States is by far the largest contributor, having contributed more than $14 billion so far this year, followed by Germany and the European Commission, while other major economies such as China and India have contributed less than $10 million apiece.
At the same United Nations event, EU Ambassador Thomas Wagner stated that it was critical to broaden and diversify the donor base, which he described as “disturbingly narrow.”
