Press. voanews.com
The United
Nations is appealing for a record $22.5 billion to provide humanitarian
assistance to 91 million victims of conflict and natural disasters in 2018. The
money is to be used to give tens of millions of the world's most vulnerable
people food, shelter, health care, emergency education, protection and other
essential relief next year, according to Mark Lowcock, the U.N.
undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief
coordinator.
"The big
drivers of humanitarian need for 2018 will continue to be conflict and violence,
which forces people to flee from their homes, denies them access to adequate
food and robs them of their livelihoods," he said. The appeal also will be
used to provide aid to victims of typhoons, hurricanes and other natural
disasters, Lowcock added. But, he says, Yemen, Syria and Democratic Republic of
Congo — homes of the world's three biggest crises — will receive most of the
aid.
Yemen, the
world's largest humanitarian crisis, is in a particularly precarious state
because of a blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia following a missile attack on the
Saudi capital, Riyadh, on November 6 by Houthi rebels. "We have been
calling for a full unwinding of the blockade, which has been preventing
humanitarian assistance and commercial food and fuel [from getting] into
Yemen," Lowcock said. "It needs to be fully wound down if we are to
avoid an atrocious humanitarian tragedy involving the loss of millions of
lives, the like of which the world has not seen for many decades." Needs next year will remain at exceptionally high levels in Nigeria and
South Sudan, and humanitarian crises are expected to grow in Burundi and
Cameroon, according to Lowcock.
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