UN says almost $13 billion in aid needed for world’s biggest crises
GENEVA — The United Nations said Monday it will need nearly $13 billion in aid in 2014 to reach at least 52 million people in 17 countries, including the millions of Syrians who have been displaced by their civil war.
“This is the largest amount we’ve ever had to request at the start of the year,” said Valerie Amos, the UN’s humanitarian chief. “The complexity and scale of what we are doing is rising all the time.”
The aid is to be provided by 500 organizations, including the main UN agencies for food, refugees and children.
About half of the requested $12.9 billion in aid — some $6.5 billion — would go toward delivering food, shelter and health care in Syria and neighbouring countries affected by the war.
“This is the largest ever appeal for a single crisis,” Amos said.
In Syria, there are 2.5 million people in “hard to reach communities” because of fighting and security concerns, she said.
The nearly three-year-old conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives and displaced millions, and even if it ends tomorrow the humanitarian aid would still need to continue, Amos said.
“We’re facing a terrifying situation here where, by the end of 2014, substantially more of the population of Syria could be displaced or in need of humanitarian help than not,” said the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres.
“This goes beyond anything we have seen in many, many years,” he said.
A year ago, the UN’s humanitarian request looking ahead to 2013 was for $8.5 billion, but Syria’s civil war forced the world body to revise that assessment upward to $13.6 billion. UN and other aid officials said Monday that their 2013 request will be only 60 per cent funded.