The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UN launch plan to alleviate suffering in 2022 as humanitarian needs continue to rise
A total of 274 million people worldwide will need emergency aid and protection in 2022, a 17 per cent increase compared to this year, UN Humanitarians said on Thursday. The amount is equivalent to “the world’s forth most populous country,” Martin Griffiths, UN humanitarian chief said at the launch of the 2022 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) in Geneva. The document, published annually by the United Nations and partners’ includes 37 response plans covering 63 countries. It estimates that $41 billion is required to provide relief and protection to the 183 million people most in need.
“The climate crisis is hitting the world’s most vulnerable people first and worst. Protracted conflicts grind on, and instability has worsened in several parts of the world, notably Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Afghanistan,” Mr. Griffiths said, “and of course the Covid pandemic, which we have recently been reminded has not gone away” with poor countries deprived of vaccines. “My goal is that this global appeal can go some way to restoring a glimmer of hope for millions of people who desperately need it”.
According to the report, more than 1 per cent of the world’s population is displaced and extreme poverty is rising again. In most crises, women and girls suffer the most, as gender inequalities and protection risks are heightened. There are also 45 million people in 43 countries at risk of famine, Mr. Griffiths noted. To prevent famine globally and to address the major threats driving food insecurity: conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19 and economic shocks, some 120 civil-society organizations – nearly 100 of them based in countries hard hit by hunger – have issued a joint letter urging world leaders to fully fund the response.
In 2021 “thanks to generous donors” the humanitarian system “rose to the challenge” and delivered food, medicines, health care and other essential assistance to 107 million people this year – 70 per cent of the target. Mr. Griffiths noted that in South Sudan, over half a million people were brought back from the brink of famine. Heath care was delivered to 10 million people in Yemen, “so kept famine at bay”. He also pointed out that aid agencies “never left Afghanistan. We have a programe for 2022, three times the size of programme for 2021 because of the needs”.
The humanitarian chief thanked international donors and member states who, so far in 2021, have provided more than $17 billion for projects included in the GHO, even during the Covid crisis. But he reiterated that it is “not a lot of money in comparison to the need”. Funding remains less than half of what the UN and partner organizations requested, the report noted. “Aid matters and can make a difference,” Mr Griffiths said, but emphasized “it’s no solution, as we see in Afghanistan. Assistance is not a remedy, it isn't a way to stabilize societies. It doesn’t replace development assistance, the funding of society and economy. It’s an extra, a life saver. We are aware we won’t get 41 billion, but we will try and get what we can” he added.
- ends -
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flags flying.
- Medium-wide shot, inside the press conference room, showing speakers and participants, a moderator walking near them with a microphone.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “We estimate for 2022 that there will be 274 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. That’s up by 17% from 2021. And to give it a different look, it’s equivalent to the world’s fourth most populous country. We aim through this program to help 183 million the most vulnerable. Again, an increase from last year and for this we are looking for a record 41 billion dollars for the world’s humanitarian needs of the most needy in 2022.”
- Medium shot, a photographer taking a picture, Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Laerke, captured from a low angle.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “The drivers of need are ones which are familiar to all of us, tragically. It includes protracted conflicts, political instability, failing economies which is something which has been very much to the forefront of our thinking in the last months, the climate crisis – not a new crisis – but one which urges more attention and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic of which we have been recently been reminded that it is not gone away.”
- Medium shot, two cameramen filming the press conference.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “One percent of humanity is displaced. That is a new figure like all these - dreadful achievements - that tell us so much about our world and it would be no surprise to any of us that women and girls continue to suffer the most just as civilians continue to suffer the most in war.”
- Close shot, a journalist taking notes of the briefing while Mr. Griffiths is delivering his speech.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “Aid does save lives, it can and it can do it here and now. It’s no solution and we see in many countries, Afghanistan is just one most recent example. Humanitarian assistance is not a remedy for the people of Afghanistan. It's ideally and we hope and we believe and we count on being able to deliver for the people of Afghanistan now in the first emergency term. But it isn't a way to stabilize societies.”
- Close shot, a journalist taking notes of the briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “Humanitarian aid can work, it has its own place. It doesn't replace development assistance, it doesn't replace the funding of the society and the economy which most governments do every day all over the world. It's an extra, it's important. It's an addition. It's a lifesaver we hope.”
- Medium shot, cameramen filming the press conference, while a technician supervises the briefing on Zoom.
- Medium shot, journalists attending the meeting, a cameraman and a photographer taking footage.
- Close shot, Mr. Griffiths answering a question, while a technician supervises the briefing on Zoom.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO , UNHCR , IFRC , ILO , UNCTAD
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Trade and Development.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , OSE , UNIFIL , UNICEF , OHCHR , WHO , FAO
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO
UN Geneva briefing: Ukraine's humanitarian crisis deepens, with 12,000 dead and 3.6M displaced.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.