(ANSA) - GENEVA, DEC 1 - The United Nations today launched a record humanitarian appeal for 35 billion dollars (29 billion euros) in aid in 2021, with the Covid-19 pandemic that has plunged hundreds of millions of people into poverty and because of the impending famine.
With the shock caused by the new coronavirus, the number of people in need of humanitarian aid in the world will reach a new record: 235 million, an increase of 40% in one year according to the humanitarian response plans coordinated by the UN.
Funds requested by the United Nations and their partners aim to help around 160 million people (out of the 235 million) of the most vulnerable in 56 countries facing hunger, conflict, displacement and the consequences of climate change and pandemic. This year, "the increase is almost entirely due to Covid-19," which killed at least 1.46 million people in nearly a year, Mark Lowcock, the UN's Humanitarian Affairs Officer, said in a press conference. "The picture we present is the darkest we have ever presented in terms of future humanitarian needs," he added. (HANDLE).