2015 will be ‘tough year’ for humanitarian operations by OCHA Director of Operations John Ging UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 10:29pm 21st Dec, 2014   21 December 2014    The outlook for global humanitarian operations is “very, very bleak,” a top United Nations humanitarian official warned today saying that “it’s been a rapid deterioration through 2014 and sadly, as we move forward we’re expecting to face a tough year in 2015.”    “When we look back at where we were this time last year we had about 52 million people in humanitarian need and we are now ending the year with over 76 million people,” UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Director of Operations John Ging told UN Radio.    The cost of responding to that has grown by a similar rate from about $12.9 billion in 2013 up to $19.2 billion dollars right now, Mr. Ging added.    “The poor people who are affected by the crisis…are losing their lives in the hundreds of thousands, in the millions, in fact. And with tens of millions really subsisting in terrible misery and inhumane conditions, they certainly can’t afford for this situation to continue,” he said.    These people are relying on the generosity of those who have the means to help them. And while there are no clear indicators for optimism, it is important to stay hopeful, he said.    “We have to work to see an end to so many of these conflicts which have been raging on and intensifying. They are manmade conflicts so they can be ended. There is a basis there for progress if we can find a way to find political solutions.”    Mr. Ging stressed that 2014 was a very difficult as well as dangerous year for aid workers.    “Sadly we have lost 85 colleagues so far this year in over 230 attacks on humanitarian workers. It’s very frustrated for humanitarian workers to be out there on the frontlines, underfunded facing the inhumanity and suffering, unable to deliver the assistance that people urgently need.”    “But they just continue to do a heroic job. There’s no choice. We have to keep going and not give up. And the fact that they don’t give up and that they do keep going saves tens of millions of lives and reduces suffering,” he said.    When asked about why some crises get more attention than others, Mr. Ging said that it is a duty to treat all people equally in terms of support. But he admitted that it is easier said than done because political attention is often focused on some of the more politically important crises.    “There are places, for example, across the Sahel where 572,000 children died last year, malnourished, suffering from diseases that could be cured or prevented. There is a scale of suffering in so many places that I think the world has become quite numb in a way.”    Certainly, it is difficult to gain media attention for such a broad scale of disaster across the world, Mr. Ging said.    “Our job is to somehow work to raise that profile. And make sure that the way we do our humanitarian action we are focused on people and not the media spotlight and any other drivers of attention.”    08 Dec 2014    UN and partners launch $16.4 billion humanitarian appeal to bring aid to 57 million people in 2015.    Humanitarian organizations aim to help at least 57.5 million of the most vulnerable people in the world with assistance in 2015 and require US$16.4 billion to do so.    “Over 80 percent of those we intend to help are in countries mired in conflict where brutality and violence have had a devastating impact on their lives,” said Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, as she launched the 2015 global humanitarian appeal.    “We will continue to put people at the centre of our relief efforts and do everything we can to respond quickly and effectively,” she said, “but the rising scale of need is outpacing our capacity to respond”.    In 2014, there was a sharp rise in the number of people affected by conflict and millions were forced to flee and became dependent on humanitarian aid for their survival. The crises in Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan and Syria will remain top humanitarian priorities next year. Combined with the impact in their regions, these crises account for over 70 percent of the funding requirements launched today.    For Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic the associated regional impact is included in regional response plans.    The other major crises covered by the appeal are Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen.    "This is not business as usual in the humanitarian world," said António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.    "Today''s needs are at unprecedented levels, and without more support there simply is no way to respond to the humanitarian situations we''re seeing in region after region and in conflict after conflict."    In February next year the strategic response plans covering requirements in West Africa’s Sahel region and Djibouti will be launched. This will increase the number of people to be reached and the financial requirements for 2015.    International donors provided $9.4 billion in funding in 2014 but that was only half of what the aid community requested and there were large differences in the levels of funding provided for specific countries.    "Every year we ask our donors to do more - and they do. But as crises become more complex and go on longer, the gap between needs and resources grows. I hope we can close it in 2015 because if we don''t raise the money it means that we are able to help fewer children, women and men with medicine, food and shelter; the basics they need to survive,” said Ms. Amos.    Global Humanitarian Overview 2015 documentation is available on http://www.unocha.org/2015appeal and http://www.humanitarianresponse.info/appeals http://reliefweb.int/report/world/un-and-partners-launch-164-billion-humanitarian-appeal-bring-aid-57-million-people-2015 http://www.unocha.org/data-and-trends-2014/ http://www.unocha.org/ Visit the related web page
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