The UN on Tuesday launched a record humanitarian appeal of 35 billion dollars (29 billion euros) for 2021, the pandemic having plunged hundreds of millions of people into poverty and looming famines.
With the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people in need of humanitarian aid around the world will reach a new record: 235 million, a 40% increase in one year, according to humanitarian response plans coordinated by the UN.
So if all of these people lived in one country, it would be the fifth most populous in the world.
The funds requested by the UN and its partners aim to help in 56 countries some 160 million people (of the 235 million) of the most vulnerable who face hunger, conflict, displacement and the consequences of climate change and of the pandemic.
This year, "
the increase is almost entirely due to Covid-19
", which has killed at least 1.46 million people in nearly a year, said UN Humanitarian Affairs Officer Mark Lowcock, in press conference.
"
The picture we present is the bleakest we have ever presented in terms of future humanitarian needs
," he added.
The pandemic has disrupted the lives of everyone, in every corner of the planet, observes the UN, noting that "
those who already lived on a razor's edge have been severely and disproportionately affected by the increase in food prices, the drop in income, interruption of immunization programs and closure of schools
”.
Multiple famines are looming
For the first time since the late 1990s, extreme poverty has increased.
Life expectancy is falling worldwide and the annual number of deaths from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria could double.
In addition, “
multiple famines are on the horizon,
” warns the UN.
"
The lights are red and the alarms are ringing,
" warned Mark Lowcok.
By the end of 2020, 270 million people could be acutely food insecure, 82% more than before the pandemic.
People in Yemen, Burkina Faso, South Sudan and northeastern Nigeria are on the brink of famine, while other countries and regions, such as Afghanistan and the Sahel, are also "
potentially very vulnerable,
”said Mark Lowcok.
The UN appeal shows war-ravaged Syria and Yemen topping the list of countries most in need of humanitarian assistance.
UN calls for nearly six billion dollars to help millions of Syrians at home and around the world and nearly 3.5 billion dollars to support around 20 million people in Yemen, in the grip of the most serious humanitarian crisis on the planet.
This year, international donors have provided record funding of over $ 17 billion for the collective humanitarian response, out of the $ 29 billion requested last December.