UN releases $125 million for 14 underfunded humanitarian crises around the world

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations (U.N) has released US$125 million from its emergency relief fund, Tuesday, to boost underfunded humanitarian operations in 14 countries around the world, saying needs are skyrocketing.

Afghanistan and Yemen top the list of recipients, with each getting US$20 million, followed by Burkina Faso and Myanmar at US$9 million each and Mali, Haiti and Venezuela at US$8 million each.

This is according to the Hill News on Wednesday.

It reported that the U.N. Central Emergency Relief would also provide US$6.5 million to both Central African Republic and Mozambique, US$6 million to both Cameroon and the Palestinian territories and US$4 million to Malawi.

The fund would also provide US$8 million to support refugee operations in Bangladesh and US$6 million for refugees in Uganda.

“It is a cruel reality that in many humanitarian operations, aid agencies are scraping along with very little funding right at a time when people’s needs compel them to scale up,” U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in announcing the new allocations.

Griffiths said the Central Emergency Relief Fund could fill some gaps and save lives thanks to the generosity of a wide range of donors.

“But we need individual donors to step up as well — this is a fund by all and for all,” he said.

The US$125 million from the Central Emergency Relief Fund brings the total amount allocated to underfunded emergencies this year to more than US$270 million, the largest amount since the fund was established in 2005.

The U.N humanitarian office said this reflected “skyrocketing humanitarian needs and the fact that regular donor funding is not keeping pace.”

UN Deputy Spokesman, Farhan Haq, said millions of people would go hungry this year unless donors provided the nearly US$39 billion still needed to meet the UN’s appeal.

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