U.N. African fundraising effort falls short
UNITED NATIONS — A high-level U.N. conference on Wednesday raised less than $1 billion of the more than $5 billion organizers were hoping for to help over 30 million people in the Horn of Africa cope with a major climate crisis and mass displacement after years of conflict, a major disappointment to aid agencies.
The U.N. appealed for $7 billion this year to provide food and other humanitarian assistance for the three Horn of Africa countries — Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, and had only received $1.6 billion. After pledges were tallied, the U.N. humanitarian office said the total funding for 2023 now stands at $2.4 billion.
That means only $800 million in new funding was announced Wednesday — over 60% from the United States which made an additional donation of $524 million. That brought its total to more than $1.4 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged wouldbe donors at the start of the pledging conference to make an immediate and major injection of funding to prevent the crisis caused by the longest drought on record, massive displacement and skyrocketing food prices “from turning into catastrophe.”
“People in the Horn of Africa are paying an unconscionable price for a climate crisis they did nothing to cause,” he said. “Without an immediate and major injection of funding, emergency operations will grind to a halt, and people will die.”
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who visited the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in September, said humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa are now greater than ever, “with over 23.5 million persons facing acute food insecurity” which is why the U.S. has pledged additional funds.
“Right now, the global community is simply not meeting the moment,” she told the conference, warning that “the threat of famine looms.”
“In a world abundant with food, entire communities should never, never starve to death,” Thomas-Greenfield stressed.
But the results of the pledging conference co-hosted by the U.S., UK, Italy and Qatar were anything but bold.
According to the U.N. humanitarian office, there were 25 countries that made announcements along with the European Commission, Islamic Relief and the U.N.’s emergency humanitarian fund. But it said some pledges included funds for 2024 and beyond.
Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Antje Leendertse told the conference the $226 million in humanitarian aid for the three countries in 2023 and 2024 doesn’t include substantial funding “for development and stabilization” in the Horn of Africa.
UK Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell said the country pledged $119 million for the three Horn of Africa countries. In addition, he said, the UK pledged $27 million for Sudan, $23 million for South Sudan and $9 million for Uganda, taking its total new funding up to $178 million.